Rumour: Boeser turned down 6-year, $42-million deal

Training Camps have opened and they are still more than a dozen young stars not signed around the NHL. Whether it’s the player wanting less term or the team running out of cap space, these players on the brink of superstardom are without contracts just weeks away from the opening of the regular season.

Brock Boeser is one of those players and he possibly could have taken his own name out of this group of unsigned players earlier this summer, but rejected the deal offered to him.

Reported by Matthew Sekeres, Vancouver offered the 22-year-old winger a six-year deal that will pay him a total of $42-million, with a cap hit of exactly $7-million. This rejected deal would buy one UFA year.

Since then, talks have had periods of silence, but have recently re-opened last week. There’s no telling what exactly has been said or offered, but it makes sense for both sides to eventually agree on a short-term deal that will have a lower cap hit and keep Boeser a restricted free agent when the contract expires.

Because of free-agent signings and acquiring J.T. Miller — who holds a $5.25-million cap hit — the Canucks are cutting it close to the cap ceiling. With just under $6-million to spend (with a 23-man roster), they might be forced into a player-friendly bridge deal that might cost them in future security and up Boeser’s price the next contract negotiation.

These are all hypotheticals, but Vancouver made moves to get better this offseason and it has complicated their financial structure, making it harder to sign their one remaining RFA.