Canucks: 3 takeaways from Brock Boeser’s radio interview

Contract negotiations with Pettersson, Hughes

And when you’re speaking about Vancouver’s top players, you can’t forget to mention Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.

As many fans are aware, the two young RFAs are still without new contracts heading into the 2021-22 season. It’s been a heated topic in the city for a while now, especially given the schedule crunch and Benning’s previous cap management decisions up until this point, and both Nizzar and Batchelor made sure to ask Boeser how he felt about the whole situation.

“I’m pretty confident that they’ll be here for the first game of the year,” Boeser responded. “It’s just about finding a fair deal for both sides.”

Of course, some fans might read this quote and go straight to the panic button. Yes, it would be great for both Pettersson and Hughes to finalize their new deals before training camp kicks off on Thursday, but it’s not the end of the world if they don’t, and Boeser fully understands that.

Just two years ago, Boeser was part of his own dragged-on contract negotiations that eventually had the former first rounder miss part of training camp. The two sides eventually came to an agreement before the start of the season, which is why Boeser is confident that Pettersson and Hughes will have a similar outcome to his.

When asked about missing the start of training camp in 2019, Boeser provided a similar response from the beginning of the interview. “It sucked, to be honest”.

“The first day of camp, you’re just missing out on something,” he followed up. “You want to be with the new guys, create new chemistry”.

Nizzar and Batchelor brought the focus back to Boeser to wrap up the interview, eluding to the fact that the right winger could be engaging in his own contract discussions soon. Boeser is entering the final year of his three-year, $17,625,000 bridge deal, and the team will have to qualify him an offer of $7.5 million in order to keep him as an RFA.

Like most players, especially given how different these past two seasons has been, the expiring contract hadn’t really crossed Boeser’s mind. His main focus? Returning to the postseason.

“We feel that we need to get back to the playoffs this year,” Boeser stated. “If I play like I did last year, things will take care of itself”.

And you better believe that all Canucks fans are hoping for the same thing when it comes to Boeser and his point production.

You can listen to the full interview here.

What are your thoughts on Boeser’s recent radio interview? Make sure to drop a comment below!