Coming into the season, so much noise surrounded Brock Boeser. Two years left on a $6.65 million AAV deal, on pace for 30 goals for multiple seasons prior to this one, but never quite cracking that barrier. While the point totals were pretty consistent, Boeser seemed to lack the pop that he had in his rookie season. Would he recapture that?
Well, as it turned out, he did, and then some.
Brock Boeser’s 2023-24 season was the best of his career. Not only did the 27-year-old winger break the 30-goal plateau, he hit the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career. That came with a side helping of 33 assists for a total of 74 points on the season, another career high for Boeser. A four-goal performance in the opening game of the season seemed to set the tone for him, with three total hat-tricks on the year.
It was clear that the confidence was back in Boeser’s game this year. For the first time since 2018-19, the winger broke 200 shots on goal with a total of 204. He also attempted 403 shots in total, the second-highest mark in his career behind the 2018-19 season as well. But it wasn’t just shooting statistics that showed Boeser’s confidence. It was how he buzzed on each shift, getting involved in plays that, in previous years, he might not have. While not being the quickest skater, Boeser was still all over the ice making plays, and he was trying stuff that we hadn’t seen since 2017-18.
It’s probably not fair to describe Boeser’s 2023-24 season as recapturing the Rookie Boeser energy. This is someone who’s been through so much in his time in Vancouver and persevered through it all. The 2023-24 version of Brock Boeser showed maturity, along with finally putting together the scoring touch that he’s tantalized Canucks fans with for all these years.
In the playoffs, that was kicked up another notch. It is absurd to think that Boeser played with a broken finger since Game 3 of Round 1, because he still led the team in scoring. Boeser would finish with a team-high 7 goals and 12 points in his 12 games played, which was brought to an end prematurely by blood-clotting issues that caused him to miss Game 7 against the Oilers. From what was seen though, it was clear that Boeser wasn’t one of the passengers in the postseason with clutch production whenever Vancouver needed it.
The offseason will hopefully see Boeser make a full recovery. What he demonstrated this year was just what a difference-maker he can be in the Canucks lineup, and helped put a lot of the questions surrounding him at the start of the year to rest. Yes, Brock Boeser is a 30-goal scorer. He’s an integral part of Vancouver’s top 6 and is probably their one consistent threat on the wing to score these days (unless the Canucks make another addition). With him riding alongside JT Miller, the offence seemed to come in bunches.
But on the flip side, more questions have popped up. For one, can Boeser repeat his production from last year? He was shooting at a 19.6 shooting percentage, which is a good chunk higher than his career 13.8 S%. The last time Boeser had anything close to that was in the 2020-21 season where he shot 16.3%, his previous career high. Obviously, it isn’t as if he was Andrei Kuzmenko-levels of unsustainable, but it does raise a point to see if Boeser can replicate this kind of production in 2024-25. It’s probably not going to be another 40-goal season — but perhaps it still could be another 30-goal campaign.
Boeser’s contract is up at the end of next season too, on the verge of hitting free agency for the first time in his career. His value has never been higher after the 2023-24 season – but what will the 2024-25 season bring? How will that impact what management will do with Boeser, especially as the OEL buyout hit rises? If Boeser can continue to produce like he did last year, then there’s a possibility that he might price himself out of Vancouver as well.
But that’s looking too far in the future. This is about looking back on Brock Boeser’s 2023-24 season. In every sense but the ending, it was a great season for the winger. Career-highs in goals and points, clutch performances whenever Vancouver needed, it was the stuff of dreams – and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving player. While his 2023-24 Conn Smythe campaign came to an abrupt end, Boeser looks to keep that momentum rolling into the 2024-25 season.
