VANCOUVER – His injury lasted 12 games, but in a sense Brock Boeser has been missing from the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup for 23.
He had gone 11 games without scoring a goal – and was pointless in nine of them – before an innocuous and awkward collision with Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane on Feb. 8 fractured cartilage in Boeser’s ribs. The winger’s last goal was Jan. 11, which is nearly as long ago as the Canucks woke up without a place in the playoffs.
The surprisingly quick return of Boeser to the Canucks lineup tonight against the New York Islanders should boost his team’s chances of climbing back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But for the Canucks to play post-season games for the first time since 2015, they need Boeser to be the dangerous goal-scorer he was during his first two seasons.
“I don’t think it’s been my best year,” Boeser told reporters after Tuesday’s morning skate at Rogers Arena. “It was going pretty well, and then that last chunk of games before I got hurt, I wasn’t playing my best hockey. I think I felt I was getting back to my game those last couple of games before I got injured. I’ve got to play that same way tonight and go out there and produce.”
For the first time, the top end of the Canucks lineup will look fully formed against the Islanders, and include both Boeser and the player who was acquired last month to replace him, Tyler Toffoli.
It’s a reflection of how well Toffoli has played in Boeser’s first-line spot beside Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller – Toffoli has eight points and 35 shots since the trade – that coach Travis Green is expected to start Boeser on the second line with Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson.
Horvat nearly always plays against the opposition’s best forwards, which makes the deployment of Boeser on that line a big ask of the 23-year-old, especially since the 2018 Calder Trophy runner-up has not had the benefit of even one full practice.
With 16 games in March and beginning tonight a stretch of four in six nights, plus travel, the Canucks are getting Boeser back after only two morning skates with the team.
“I don’t think we have the luxury to sit and wait for four or five games and try to massage a practice in for him,” Green said. “We pushed him in the morning skate. We had a good one the other day, where he did a lot of battle drills. The one thing about Brock is he’s a bit of a natural. I don’t think he’s a guy that has to skate for two weeks to feel great. He’s kind of a natural athlete that way.”
Until the longest slump of his brief career, Boeser had 16 goals and 43 points in 45 games. He was driving offence and helping create chances for Pettersson and Miller.
But his fractured rib cartilage is Boeser’s fourth significant injury in three NHL seasons.
His rookie campaign ended with a broken bone in his lower back, and it was revealed later that spring that the former University of North Dakota star also underwent treatment for a wrist injury.
Near the start of last season, Boeser missed 13 games with a groin problem, a consequence of his lack of summer training after the difficult recovery from his back injury.
Still, he managed to score 55 goals in 131 games his first two seasons. That earned him a three-year contract worth $17.6 million.
Thrilled with Toffoli, the Canucks are going to try to re-sign the newcomer before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Like most teams, the Canucks are tight to the salary cap and they will have to make decisions about how many top players they can afford.
Potentially without first- and second-round picks in June’s entry draft, general manager Jim Benning has said he will try to recover picks after this season, which means trading assets from his roster. Re-signing Toffoli would give him a lot of options.
There could be a lot riding on these final 14 games for Boeser and the Canucks, who were bumped out of a playoff spot Monday for the first time since Dec. 27.
“If we had one more point now, I can tell you our approach to the game wouldn’t be any different,” Green said of facing the Islanders. “I said it probably a month ago, there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs down the stretch here. We’re going to have to manage it, manage our emotions. But at the end of the day, you can’t sit and worry about what you’ve done yesterday.”
Regardless of which line he is on, Boeser is expected to start on the second power-play unit tonight.
“I think if I just bring my game, shooting the puck a lot, working as hard as I can, I think I can definitely help the team out,” he said. “It’s definitely been frustrating not being out there, especially in this crunch time right now. It was tough to watch but I’m excited to be back and playing these last games.”
• The Canucks also expect injured starting goalie Jacob Markstrom to be playing games down the stretch. Two weeks after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus in his knee, Markstrom skated on his own before Tuesday’s morning skate. Benning said at the time of the surgery that the Canucks’ most valuable player would be re-evaluated in two weeks, but reports had him missing 3-4 weeks.
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