Less than 24 hours after playing his last NCAA game with the University of North Dakota, Brock Boeser made his NHL debut Saturday against the Minnesota Wild.
And it was a memorable start to his career.
Boeser, the 23rd overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, had his NCAA season and career come to an end Friday night after his North Dakota team was eliminated in the first round by Boston University in double overtime of the NCAA Hockey Championship. It was Boeser’s sophomore season so he could have gone back for another two years if he wanted, but after the loss the expectation was that the Canucks would quickly sign him — and that’s just what they did Saturday morning.
A native of Burnsville, Minnesota — a suburb of Minneapolis — it worked out perfectly that the Canucks were on the road to play the Minnesota Wild Saturday afternoon. Boeser made a quick trip home, met up with his new teammates, and was inserted into the lineup.
As you’d expect, he got the rookie treatment right away.
So how did the kid do?
He had a pretty productive game against the suddenly struggling Wild, who started Darcy Kuemper in place of Devan Dubnyk. The Canucks won the game 4-2, and if you happened to use Boeser in your fantasy lineup, he proved to be a shrewd pickup.
Boeser scored his first NHL goal in his first game, an easy tap-in after a chance by Bo Horvat and a porous defensive effort by the Wild left the rookie and the puck all alone in the crease (see at the top of this post). At the time it made the game 3-0, but thanks to a late two-goal charge by the Wild, Boeser’s marker stood up as the game-winner.
The 20-year-old played 12:44 of ice time and managed four shots on goal, too.
Making it extra special is the fact he was doing it in his home town, so his family was able to make it to the game and see the special occasion.
Since he signed his entry-level deal and played an NHL game as a 20-year-old, Boeser will burn the first year of his contract this season, meaning he’s now two years away from restricted free agency.