2. Brock Boeser
Brock Boeser has shown up in a big way this year.
The 23-year-old Minnesota native has been one of the better forwards throughout the first quarter of the season and is putting up numbers to support that cause.
He is currently riding a five-game point streak, registering two goals and three assists during that span, and has bounced back from his dismal performance against the Montreal Canadiens earlier this month, where he went scoreless and posted a minus-three rating.
Don’t get us wrong, there have been moments throughout the season where Boeser and his linemates have looked out of place on the ice, as indicated by their combined minus 13 rating. They still continue to give up the puck in the neutral zone, and desperately need to start outplaying other team’s top lines more in order to make a difference each and every game.
But, for the most part, they have started to regain their successful form from last season, and Boeser continues to be the most dangerous player out of the Lotto Line trio so far.
Boeser currently sits in second place for the league-lead in goals scored with 10 tallies, only trailing Rocket Richard-favourite Auston Matthews, and his 16 points rank second behind Quinn Hughes for team scoring. He has helped pull the team’s powerplay out of the dark, January shadows, notching two points over the past three games while on the man advantage, and sits tied for second for shots registered on net with 43.
Not to mention, he has accounted for two-thirds of the team’s goals in the past three games, including this in-tight goal against his former teammate:
He is currently on pace to finish the year with just over 30 goals, and even though he is bound to cool down at some point, it’s still very exciting and encouraging to see Boeser regain his form, health and release from his Calder-nominated rookie season.
Many people didn’t believe that Boeser would be the difference-maker on the first line, especially playing alongside two of the league’s biggest offensive studs (more on one of them below), but he continues to prove to us that he can be the elite, two-way, goal-scoring winger that we’ve all expected him to be.
Now, all we can do is hope that Boeser’s success will transfer over to the team.