TORONTO – A half season where Brock Boeser took the NHL by storm hasn’t just established a goal-scoring pace that will be tough to maintain in the coming months.
“It’s going to be difficult for the rest of his career,” said Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green.
That’s a burden former world junior teammate Auston Matthews understands well. However, when he looks at Boeser he sees a pure sniper – a player with the instincts and ability to adapt to whatever the opposition throws at him.
“I think he’s really smart,” Matthews said Friday, ahead of Saturday’s meeting between the Canucks and his Toronto Maple Leafs. “He’s got good hockey sense and puts himself in good positions and good areas to get the puck in, so he can use his shot. I think that’s something he’s really good at.
“Today I feel like guys, now that they kind of know him, they’re going to want to take his space away, but he’s really good at finding that open area to get his shot off.”
That’s evident when you look at the impressive highlight reel Boeser has already amassed with 21 goals in 37 games this season. It’s not like he’s had a slew of shots bounce off two defenders and in. Over and over, he’s beating NHL goalies clean. [sidebar]
Boeser, quite incredibly, has started his career by scoring at a clip better than anybody else in the 2015 draft class or the one that followed it in 2016 with Matthews getting selected first overall.
Therefore, it’s safe to assume that he wouldn’t be around for Vancouver at the 23rd pick if we were doing it again 30 months later. Boeser was expecting to go somewhere between Nos. 12 and 26 at the time, and was plenty pleased to hear his name called by Canucks GM Jim Benning.
“First round was the goal,” he said.
He looks like a steal now.
Boeser was selected out of the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks, where he played some games against Matthews and the U.S. national development team. The two ended up rooming together at a national camp the summer after he was drafted and won bronze as teammates at the 2016 world junior tournament.
Today, they’re the source of immense hope in Canadian markets starved for a winner.
Matthews is currently scoring at a slightly better clip than he did during a 40-goal rookie season, and it’s natural to wonder if Boeser will keep up his early pace. He’s likely due a small regression after connecting on 20.4 per cent of his 103 shots this year, but there’s evidence to suggest that his success runs much deeper than a hot streak.
“To create offence, to score in this league and to do it consistently, it’s not easy,” said Green. “There’s a reason those guys get paid a lot of money when they do it for awhile. I do like the way Brock’s set himself up to succeed, he hasn’t been a one-trick pony, he’s scored in different ways, he’s paid attention to details within in his game that have nothing to do with goal-scoring and that’s going to be valuable for him.
“It’s going to be vital when you’re not scoring – that you stay playing a good, hard game and that you keep getting minutes and you’re not just a guy that has to score to have success.”
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Boeser readily acknowledges that his play away from the puck had to improve after two seasons at the University of North Dakota. He’s also had to adjust to the grind of NHL life, which features twice as many games as the NCAA and frequently includes long flights and limited time to rest your body and mind.
Even though that wore Matthews down about three-quarters of the way through last season it didn’t keep him from a productive March and a strong showing in a first-round playoff series with Washington. He pushed through.
Another thing he and Boeser share is the fact that they’re part of the YouTube Generation – the group of emerging NHL stars who grew up fixated on Patrick Kane and Sidney Crosby highlights and spent more time honing their puck and shooting skills as a result.
Now we’re seeing the results.
Boeser is a threat to score from almost anywhere in the offensive zone, with a Brett Hull-like ability to find the perfect opening and angle to get off his lethal shot. Matthews patrols more of the ice as a centre and creates turnovers with quick hands. He often fools goaltenders and defenders alike with an unpredictable release in traffic.
Like Matthews a year ago, Boeser is starting to see more top pairings and tougher matchups – a sign of respect after his Calder Trophy-worthy start – but the Leafs centre is confident that his Canucks counterpart will continue to thrive.
“It’s tough, but he’s still going to score goals,” said Matthews. “You can tell he’s already a natural goal-scorer. I think that’s just kind of the case – guys like Laine and Ovi, when they kind of set up shop you adjust, but they’re all really smart and they’re good at getting in those open areas so guys can feed them the puck, and they can utilize their shot.”
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