With the 12 p.m. NHL trade deadline come and gone, pending unrestricted free agent winger Brock Boeser remains with the Vancouver Canucks... for now.
The Canucks are reportedly yet to make any meaningful progress towards a long-term contract extension, and multiple NHL teams had a registered interest in Boeser's services leading up to the trade deadline. Ultimately, the Canucks decided against moving Boeser to one of the inquiring teams, as the value of the offers they received weren't up to snuff.
The last update on the 28-year-old's status told us that he and Vancouver's front office were not particularly close on an extension, and that the Canucks had even pulled their preliminary contract offer from the negotiating table.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman previously reported that the Canucks were looking at a five-year contract extension for Boeser, while Boeser and his camp were looking for six years. Of course, changes in term may also coincide with changes in compensation, which adds another wrinkle to the story.
With Boeser remaining in Vancouver and the Canucks standing pat, the organization's only move of substance inthe days leading up to the NHL trade deadline was the deal that saw defenceman Carson Soucy join former Canucks teammate J.T. Miller, previously dealt on Jan. 31, on the New York Rangers for a third-round draft selection.
General manager Patrik Allvin and the Canucks now play a dangerous game, as Boeser will be able to turn around and leave the team for free when free agency opens on July 1. While we do not know which teams around the league offered what, something is better than nothing.
The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes, for example, were among the teams linked to the former first-round pick, though the former had a quiet trade deadline and the latter was tied up with the Mikko Rantanen ordeal.