Brock Boeser to the Montreal Canadiens just got a little more realistic, and it starts with money problems in Vancouver.
Patrick Johnston of The Province reported that the Canucks' owner wants payroll cut by nearly $20 million this year.
That kind of number forces a GM's hand. Vancouver has already trimmed $12 million since last season ended, textbook rebuild behavior.
Two names keep surfacing in that cost-cutting conversation. Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser are both still under contract for five more years, which limits Vancouver's options.
Pettersson's $11,600,000 cap hit makes him a tough move even with heavy salary retention attached.
Boeser is a different story. At $7,250,000, he's the more realistic piece to actually get dealt.
Montreal has reportedly shown interest in Boeser before, and this financial squeeze in Vancouver could finally make that happen.
-
Brock Boeser to Montreal suddenly looks much more realistic
Boeser posted 48 points last season, 22 goals and 26 assists over 75 games, despite a brutal minus-48 rating on a team that struggled everywhere.
That number says more about Vancouver's team-wide collapse than it does about Boeser's own game.
Pair him with Ivan Demidov, who put up 62 points as a 20 year old rookie, and Montreal's second line suddenly looks a lot more dangerous.
Demidov posted 19 goals and 43 assists last season with 7 power play goals, exactly the kind of playmaking a scorer like Boeser could feed off.
Vancouver finished 25-49-8 last season, dead last in the league, which only adds urgency to the Canucks' need to move money out.
Adding Boeser wouldn't cost Kent Hughes a top prospect either, since Vancouver's motivation here is financial, not asset-driven, and Montreal already knows that.
Nothing is official yet, and Pettersson's name still complicates the picture for anyone trying to read Vancouver's next move.
But if Vancouver keeps cutting the way its owner wants, Montreal's window here only gets bigger the longer this drags into the fall months.
Should the Canadiens go all-in and trade for Brock Boeser this fall?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Oilers' massive Connor Hellebuyck trade package has been revealed
