The number everyone talks about when they discuss Brock Boeser’s season is the 40 goals he scored in 2023-24. It was a career-best by 11 goals and the Burnsville, MN was one of only 17 players in the league to reach the threshold. So it was a spectacular season and Boeser deserves credit for putting in the work to make it happen. But there’s another number we ought to be focussing on. That’s the 81 games Boeser appeared in. Like his goal total, that, too, was a career high and the first time the 27-year-old had managed to play in more than 75 games in an NHL season.
Obviously, the two numbers go hand in hand. Good health leads to more games and, in turn, more opportunities to do what Boeser loves to do – which is put pucks in the net. He got off to an incredible start with four on opening night and didn’t look back leading the Canucks in goals and power play goals and earning an All Star appearance in the process. Now the challenge will be to follow that up with something that resembles his output of a year ago.
Brock Boeser: Exceeding expectations in 2024-25
The hope for both sides is that Boeser has come into his own and that his 40-goal season won’t stand as an outlier when his career is done. He’s always possessed the knack for scoring goals at every level and last season was a perfect storm when everything came together. He scored at a shooting clip well above his career average and scored five more power play goals than he had ever scored in a season. So it’s going to be difficult to repeat. But it’s a contract year for Boeser and history is full of players that have used their platform years as motivation to perform. Boeser and JT Miller were in lockstep all of last season and there’s no reason to think that can’t be the case again. Boeser scored in a multitude of ways: from distance, in tight, on tips and rebounds. He demonstrated an ability to get to the front of the net and willingness to stay there. As good as his regular season was, Boeser was even more impressive in the playoffs, scoring seven times in 12 games before being forced to sit out Game 7 against Edmonton with blood clotting issues. For Boeser to exceed expectations next season, he will need to push 40 goals for a second straight season. He will also need to be a scoring threat in the playoffs to help the Canucks advance beyond the second round. If he does that, he will be able to cash in as a pending unrestricted free agent. And if he does, he will likely have cemented himself as a piece of the Canucks core and a player they’ll want to keep in the fold over the long haul.
Brock Boeser: Meeting expectations in 2024-25
With the overheated shooting percentage last season (19.6%), Boeser is likely to see his goal total dip. That’s just simple hockey math. Had he scored on 15% of his shots last season he would have been a 30-goal guy which still would have been a career-high. So let’s be realistic when we set expectations for Boeser. Just because he got to 40 last season doesn’t mean he’s suddenly a lock to be a 40-goal scorer for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t work like that. And even if he takes a step back, Boeser will still be looked at as one of the team’s top weapons and one of its best two-way performers. Boeser needs to continue doing all the good things he did last season – going to the net, winning board battles, protecting the puck. Those have become his repeatable traits and ones that have earned both respect and increased ice time from head coach Rick Tocchet.
Only six players in the league scored more power play goals than Boeser, so that may be difficult to repeat and could very well factor into a dip in his goal total. And as the Canucks try to figure out ways to breathe new life into their power play, they may involve and feature others more which may limit Boeser’s production. Still, the 2015 first rounder should be among the team leaders in offence and with last season’s 40 goal/73 point effort, Boeser has raised the bar for what is possible. A player that has always scored in bunches, Boeser will likely continue to have nights when he holds the hot hand but may not result in a four-goal game and two hat tricks like he had last season. For Boeser to meet expectations, he will be looking at 33-goals and 65 points next season while continuing to bring a calming, veteran presence to the locker room.
Brock Boeser: Below Expectations for 2024-25
Now that we’ve established what feel like realistic and achievable expectations for the longest-tenured Canuck, what does the season look like if Boeser falls short? First things first, he needs to stay healthy. And let’s add that for a guy who suffered more than his share of injuries early in his career, Boeser has been quite sturdy the past three seasons playing 71, 74 and 81 games (and the only regular season game he missed last season was Game 82 in Winnipeg before being held out of Game 7 against the Oilers).
So, he seems to have flipped the script on the injury-prone narrative that dogged him early in his career. It’s a contract year and Boeser surely wants to stay healthy and use that as leverage in negotiations. If he stays healthy and plays the bulk of the schedule, anything less than 30 goals (and 10 on the power play) would be a massive disappointment given where Boeser is in his career, what’s at stake as a pending UFA and where this team is in its evolution. In a league getting quicker by the season, it’s always worth watching to see how Boeser keeps pace. He has continued to round out areas of his game that have allowed him to succeed, and that will be critical as he prepares for his eighth full season in the NHL.
Goals for Brock Boeser in 2024-25
-40 goals and 70 points
-lead the team in power play goals
-play 21 games and score 21 goals to reach 500 games and 200 goals milestones
-get a multi-year contract extension
-help the Canucks win the Stanley Cup
Without a doubt, there is plenty at stake for Brock Boeser in the 2024-25 season. Was last season a breakout year or simply a case of everything falling his way? Regardless, it’s been a remarkable turnaround for a player that was looking for a fresh start elsewhere not that long ago. Now, Boeser feels like a core piece on the Vancouver Canucks. But life moves quickly in the National Hockey League and ultimately Boeser needs another big year to impress his bosses and convince them that he should be a key figure in what the Canucks are trying to put together in Vancouver.
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