Building off a breakthrough: Brock Boeser

By Joey AlfieriAug 28, 2018, 2:13 PM EDT

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Each day in the month of August we’ll be examining a different NHL team — from looking back at last season to discussing a player under pressure to focusing on a player coming off a breakthrough year to asking questions about the future. Today we look at the Vancouver Canucks.

There weren’t too many positive storylines surrounding the 2017-18 edition of the Vancouver Canucks, but rookie forward Brock Boeser was definitely one of them.

The 21-year-old burst onto the scene by scoring an impressive 29 goals and 55 points in just 62 contests. Despite missing 20 games, he still managed to lead the Canucks in scoring (Daniel Sedin also had 55 points but he hit that number over 81 games). Only Pavel Bure (34) and Trevor Linden (30) have scored more goals during their rookie season in franchise history. That’s some pretty good company for Boeser to be in after his first season.

Boeser and Islanders center Mathew Barzal were in a tight race for the Calder Trophy until the Canucks forward suffered a season-ending back injury when he crashed into the boards awkwardly against the Isles back on Mar. 5. Thankfully for the entire organization, it sounds like he’s going to be 100 percent healthy for the start of training camp.

Asking him to carry this Canucks team to the playoffs might be a little much. After all, Vancouver has been near the basement of the NHL standings for the last three seasons. But for them to take a positive step forward they’ll need their talented youngster to build on his rookie season.

[Canucks Day: 2017-18 Review | Under Pressure: Benning| 3 Questions]

“There’s always pressure, at least you think there’s pressure, but I try not to let pressure situations get the most of me,” Boeser said, per NHL.com. “I definitely exceeded my expectations [last season], so I think I can take that into [this season].

“I really can’t get away from the style play that I play. I think I just need to go in there and hopefully be a better player than I was last year, make sure I come to the rink every day working hard and help make the team better.”

Boeser spent most of last season playing with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. All three players will be back this season, so you’d have to think that they’ll be even more comfortable suiting up together as a line now that they have that experience under their belt.

Even though Boeser and the Canucks probably won’t be competitive this season, they have to be thrilled that help appears to be on the way. Elias Pettersson is one of the better prospects in hockey, Quinton Hughes, who is going back to the University of Michigan this season, probably isn’t too far away from the NHL, either, and Thatcher Demko appears to be the future in goal. So, yeah, Boeser will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting this year, but there’s some talent coming to help out in the near future.

As of right now, all he has to do is worry about not falling into a sophomore slump.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.

Canucks’ Ilya Mikheyev to have season-ending knee surgery

Associated PressJan 28, 2023, 3:20 PM EST

Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Vancouver Canucks right wing Ilya Mikheyev is set to have season-ending surgery on his left knee.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Friday night the 28-year-old Russian forward tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the team’s first preseason game Sept. 25. Mikheyev will undergo surgery next week and is expected to be ready for training camp in the fall.

Mikheyev was originally listed as week-to-week with the injury and played 45 regular-season games, finishing with 13 goals and 15 assists. He scored in his final appearance Friday night, a 5-2 home victory over Columbus.

Mikheyev signed a four-year, $19 million contract as a free agent last summer.

Maple Leafs’ Matthews out at least 3 weeks with knee injury

Associated PressJan 28, 2023, 12:14 AM EST

Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will miss at least three weeks with a sprained knee.

The team announced the reigning MVP’s anticipated absence Friday, two days after Matthews was injured in Toronto’s victory against the New York Rangers.

Matthews is expected to miss at least six games and could be out for a few more. The timing of the injury coinciding with the NHL All-Star break and the Maple Leafs bye week prevents this from costing Matthews more time out of the lineup.

After being voted an All-Star by fans, Matthews is now out of the event scheduled for Feb. 3-4 in Sunrise, Florida. The league announced Aleskander Barkov from the host Florida Panthers will take Matthews’ place on the Atlantic Division All-Star roster.

Matthews, who won the Hart Trophy last season after leading the NHL with 60 goals, has 53 points in 47 games this season.

Caufield opted for surgery with Habs out of playoff race

Associated PressJan 28, 2023, 12:10 AM EST

David Kirouac/USA TODAY Sports

MONTREAL — Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield said Friday he wouldn’t be having season-ending surgery on his right shoulder if the team were in playoff contention.

But with the Canadiens near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the 22-year-old Caufield said he decided to have the surgery to protect his long-term health. The procedure is scheduled to be performed by Dr. Peter Millett on Wednesday.

“I didn’t want to stop playing,” Caufield said. “I had a couple tests done to look at it more clearly but, in the end, like it could’ve been one more fall and it could have been even worse.”

Caufield, who leads the Canadiens with 26 goals in 46 games, had three different medical opinions on his shoulder before concluding that his season was over.

“I think they’ve seen a lot more than I have and they know the differences and what they like or don’t like about it,” he said about the medical opinions. “Long term, I think this is what’s best but for sure it was tough to sit out that game against Toronto on Saturday night.”

Caufield initially felt the injury in an awkward fall during Montreal’s 4-2 loss at Dallas on Dec. 23. He said his right shoulder popped, and he replaced it himself.

Caufield felt it again in the Habs’ 4-3 loss at Nashville on Jan. 12. The club announced on Jan. 21 that Caufield would miss the rest of the season.

Caufield is nearing the end of his three-year, entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent this summer.

All-Star Matty Beniers to miss next 2 games for Kraken

Associated PressJan 27, 2023, 11:59 PM EST

Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

SEATTLE — Seattle Kraken rookie All-Star Matty Beniers will miss the team’s final two games before the All-Star break after taking a big hit from Vancouver’s Tyler Myers earlier this week.

Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said after morning skate Friday that Beniers would not play Friday night against Calgary or Saturday against Columbus. Hakstol did not speculate on Beniers’ availability for next weekend’s All-Star Game in Florida.

The team has not specified what kind of injury Beniers sustained from the hit. He was barreled over by Myers away from the play early in the second period in Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over Vancouver. Myers was penalized for interference on the play. Beniers returned briefly for one shift later in the period but did not play in the third period.

Beniers is Seattle’s lone All-Star selection this season. He leads all rookies in goals (17) and points (36), and is fifth in total ice time for rookies.

Seattle also placed defenseman Justin Schultz on injured reserve and recalled forward Max McCormick from Coachella Valley of the AHL. Hakstol said Schultz is improving but there’s no timeline on his return.