Carolina Hurricanes: Exploring the idea of a Brock Boeser trade

Could the Carolina Hurricanes seek a trade with Vancouver?

With rumors flying around about the uncertainty of the Canucks future, there are rumors about the scorer’s future being elsewhere than Vancouver. Could The Carolina Hurricanes be the answer?

I promise I do not make these just to stir up the speculation.  TSN reported on the 10th of July that Vancouver may be looking to move one of its young stars in order to free up some cap space to re-sign it’s free agents this summer. Vancouver fans that find this and say “this is a pack of lies” I’m just re-iterating what major networks have said. Don’t shoot the messenger.

That being said, I’ve voiced my concerns frequently about the inefficiency of the Carolina Hurricanes bottom 9 scoring, and Brock Boeser may be one of the pieces moved out. At just 23 years of age, Boeser still remains quite young and shows a lot of potential in his game. In 197 NHL career games, the Burnsville, Minnesota native has recorded 75 career goals and 161 career points.

For the wise mathematicians among you, that is a .82 point per game pace, roughly on pace for 89 points a season. It’s a very respectable production rate, and a delightful asset to have on a contender. Just this season he had 16 goals and 45 points in 57 games. A very sustainable production rate and a perfect fit for any top 6.

Now, what’s the problem? With numbers like this, Vancouver isn’t going to want to move him for no reason right? And you would be correct. Injuries. Boeser has never played more than 69 games in a season. Still a nice amount, but a player’s best ability is always available. If a player is injured, or not playing, what is the point in having the player?

So, where would he fit in Carolina? As Carolina has an issue with depth scoring, Boeser would slide perfectly onto the 2nd line. Slotting in alongside deadline acquisition Vincent Trocheck. On top of one of the best lines in hockey, Carolina would then have a dangerous second line. It’s also possible that Boeser would play more in Carolina because of Bill Burneston. He is a miracle worker.

So what would the price be? I think there are 2 ways to approach this. If Vancouver wanted a package of futures for the skilled winger, it would likely be based around Jake Bean and a 1st round pick. With a lot of expected departures on the back end, Vancouver could use a future top 4 LD man. They need D men in general.

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Vancouver needing Defensemen is exactly why I’d say that the piece Carolina would have to give up for winger is Brett Pesce. I know a lot of Vancouver fans are going to go “Hey, that’s not nearly enough” and to them, I say please bear with me. I know a lot of people are going to look at this and point out a trade involving a different Metro and western Canadian team in a 1-for-1 trade.

Pesce remains incredibly underrated. Pesce has had injury issues, the same as Boeser. But, Pesce’s defensive ability is second to maybe only 1 D man in the NHL. Analytically, he’s only behind one defender in his own zone. He’s not gonna win any Rocket Richard trophies but he’s still an absolutely phenomenal defenseman. It is also fair to say that he is probably going to get more exposure in Canada.

For the Carolina Hurricanes, there are 7 defenders under contract next season. It’s not exactly going to hurt to move one. Ideally, it wouldn’t be Pesce, but I think the chances of landing someone with the quality of Brock Boeser is worth considering. Is this another mound of garbage? Probably. Odds are Boeser stays in Vancouver but never says never especially in hockey.

Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: What do you think of the idea of trading for Brock Boeser?