Brock Boeser

Brock Michael Boeser ( ; born February 25, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey currently playing for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

A top prospect with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL), Boeser was selected 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL entry draft by the Canucks and spent the following two seasons with the University of North Dakota. He made his NHL debut in 2017 with Vancouver. Internationally, Boeser has played for the United States national junior team at the 2016 World Junior Championships, where he helped the team win a bronze medal.

Playing career

Amateur

While playing ice hockey at Burnsville High School, Boeser was drafted first overall by the Sioux City Musketeers in the United States Hockey League (USHL). However, he was later traded to the Waterloo Black Hawks in exchange for Cooper Watson. In his first season with the Black Hawks, the 2014–15 season, Boeser led the league with 35 goals and was named to both the All Rookie First Team and First All-Star Team. In 2015, Boeser was picked to represent the United States national junior team in the 2016 World Junior Championships, as the team took bronze. During the 2015–16 season Boeser started playing college ice hockey for the University of North Dakota. As a freshman, he led his team to win the 2016 NCAA Division I national championship. Boeser also finished the season as third-best in the nation in scoring with 60 points and was named a First Team All-American. Boeser declined leaving early for the NHL just yet however and opted to return to North Dakota for another season. He finished his sophomore year with 34 points and missed part of the 2016–17 season, while sidelined with a wrist injury. Boeser then decided to make the jump for the NHL after North Dakota was eliminated in the 2017 NCAA tournament.

Professional

Boeser was selected 23rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2015 NHL entry draft. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canucks on March 25, 2017. Later that same day, he made his NHL debut in his home state of Minnesota and scored his first NHL goal in the 4–2 win over the Minnesota Wild.

On November 4, 2017, Boeser scored a hat trick, becoming the first Canucks player at the age of 20 or younger to do so since Trevor Linden on December 20, 1990, as well as the third-youngest behind Linden and Tony Tanti. All three goals came against Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins, allowing the Canucks to win 4–2. Boeser was named NHL rookie of the month for November 2017 after leading all skaters with 11 goals in 15 games. He was again named Rookie of the Month for the month of December after scoring eight goals and 13 points in 13 games. On January 10, 2018, Boeser was named to his first career NHL All-Star Game as a member of the Pacific Division roster. With two goals and an assist in two games, Boeser was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the 2018 NHL All-Star Game becoming the first rookie to do so since Mario Lemieux in 1985. Boeser also won the 2018 accuracy shooting contest, hitting all five targets in 11.136 seconds. He was injured in a game against the New York Islanders on March 5, when he collided with Cal Clutterbuck and the Canucks bench. It was later reported he suffered a back injury and would miss four-to-six weeks to recover. At the time of his injury, he led the team in goals, points, shots on goal, and power-play points. Despite missing the final 16 games of the 2017–18 season, Boeser was named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the league's best rookie of the year. The award was ultimately won by the New York Islanders' Mathew Barzal.

Boeser recovered from his injury and joined the Canucks for the 2018–19 season. He played 13 games and collected 11 points, despite injuring his groin in a game against the Winnipeg Jets on October 18, 2018. After missing two games in November due to his groin injury, Boeser was sent back to Vancouver to be examined by a specialist, while the team was on a road trip. After being assigned to the injured reserve for 11 games, Boeser was assigned back to the roster on November 27.

On September 16, 2019, following the expiry of his entry-level contract after the previous season, Boeser signed a three-year, $17.625 million contract to remain with Vancouver. However, his season was cut short in February 2020, due to a rib injury that was expected to take him eight weeks to recover. Boeser returned from his injury for the final game of the Canucks' regular season on March 10, 2020, against the New York Islanders. In the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, Boeser recorded four goals and 11 points in 17 games, with his first playoff goal going against his hometown Minnesota Wild, as the Canucks made it within a win of the Western Conference final.

On July 1, 2022, Boeser signed a three-year, $19.95 million contract with Vancouver.

On October 11, 2023, Boeser scored four goals and recorded his first NHL career natural hat trick in the season-opening game against the Edmonton Oilers. On December 12, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he recorded a second natural hat trick and became the first Canucks player since Petri Skriko in 1986–87 to record at least two natural hat tricks during the season. On January 13, 2024, Boeser was named an NHL All-Star for the second time in his career. On January 27, 2024, Boeser would score his 30th goal of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets, surpassing his previous best of 29 goals during his rookie year. On April 08, 2024, Boeser would reach the 40 goal mark for the first time in his career in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to reach the milestone and the first Canuck player since Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin in the 2010-11 season to do so. In the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 28, 2024, Boeser recorded his first career playoff hat trick during Game 4 against the Nashville Predators to tie the game in its dying seconds, becoming the first Canuck player to achieve a playoff hat trick since Trevor Linden in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. A blood clotting issue discovered after Game 6 against the Edmonton Oilers would force Boeser to miss the remainder of the playoffs, as the Canucks would be eliminated by the Oilers in Game 7. Boeser finished the postseason with seven goals and 12 points in as many games played, tied with J.T. Miller for the team lead in playoff scoring.

International play

Boeser has played with the United States national junior team, first at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and later with the United States junior select team at the 2014 World Junior A Challenge.

His first International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)-sanctioned tournament was the 2016 World Junior Championships, where he had three points in seven games as the United States won the bronze medal. He missed the 2017 World Junior Championships due to a wrist injury.

Personal life

Boeser, who grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota, is the youngest of three children to Duke and Laurie Boeser; he has a half brother and a sister, who has a developmental disability. Boeser's father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2010; he would also have a severe brain injury from a car accident a few years later, forcing him to stop working. To help support the family Boeser's mother worked up to three jobs, including serving in a restaurant, office administration, and preparing tax returns. In August 2014, while Boeser was in Slovakia for the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, a tragic car accident south of Minneapolis–St. Paul killed one of his closest friends and severely injured another, both fellow students and athletes at Burnsville High School. This followed the death of his grandfather prior to his first game in the USHL. Boeser's father died on May 26, 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boeser, Brock
1997 births
Living people
21st-century American sportsmen
AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans
American expatriate ice hockey players in Canada
American men's ice hockey right wingers
Ice hockey people from Dakota County, Minnesota
Ice hockey players from Minnesota
National Hockey League All-Stars
NCAA men's ice hockey national champions
NHL first-round draft picks
North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players
Sioux City Musketeers players
Sportspeople from Burnsville, Minnesota
Vancouver Canucks draft picks
Vancouver Canucks players
Waterloo Black Hawks players