"He took his foot off the gas" - Canucks GM criticizes Brock Boeser for failing expectations

Modified Sep 17, 2024 21:18 GMT

As the Vancouver Canucks continue preparations to begin training camp this week, last season's leading goal scorer Brock Boeser is healthy and ready to go after being diagnosed with blood clots that forced him to miss Game 7 of Vancouver's second-round postseason series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Boeser scored a career-high 40 goals and 33 assists during the regular season, helping the Canucks to the Pacific Division title. Additionally, he's entering the final year of his current contract which carries an AAV of $6.65 million.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin recently conducted an interview with The Athletic and was asked how he is approaching contract negotiations with Boeser, especially given his career-high output last season.

"Yeah, I think there are two sides to it," he said. "A player might be without an extension and might be hungry to prove that they deserve it. And with Brock, I’m happy that it looks like he’s going to be cleared here to attend training camp. He worked really hard this summer and it was a really unfortunate situation last year."

"I was pleased, last year, with how he changed up his offseason training and it translated into a better year. Now our expectations are higher. I’m sure Brock’s expectations are higher, too."

Allvin then stated that he wanted to see more consistency out of Boeser while noting that he felt he could have produced even more, but that he "took his foot off the gas."

"So I want to see the consistency. I want to see the hunger — from every single player, including Brock — to come in here and keep raising the bar. And when the time is right, I feel that I have a good relationship with Brock and with his agent Ben Hankinson, so we’ll talk. For now, his main focus is to come back here and play to the level that he showed last year. And even be more consistent."

"I told him that he could’ve scored 50 goals, but I felt he took his foot off the gas when he scored 30 and we want to see him pushing through."

Brock Boeser suffered from blood clots last season

Boeser has been busy with his offseason training in his efforts to remain healthy following his scare last season, explaining that he was on blood thinners and only began practicing with contact recently.

“I was on blood thinners from a few months during the summer and I could still skate and stuff, but I had to be careful with contact,” he admitted. “I’ve been off (the blood thinners) for a while now and started doing contact toward the end of the summer."

Boeser and the Canucks will report to training camp at the South Okanagan Events Centre this Thursday.