Brock Boeser played more shorthanded in Vancouver’s season opener than he did all of last season combined. That might not just be an outlier either as head coach Adam Foote told reporters including Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre that he hopes that the winger can become a regular on the penalty kill, a role he hasn’t held since his college days. The Canucks lost arguably their top player shorthanded this summer when Pius Suter signed with St. Louis while Teddy Blueger, another regular in that department, is banged up. Armed with the security of a seven-year deal signed at the beginning of free agency this summer, it appears that Boeser is welcoming the chance to play a bigger role this season.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Oilers winger Mattias Janmark is expected to return to the lineup in about a week, notes Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (subscription link). At that time, Edmonton will be forced into a tough roster decision. The addition of Jack Roslovic gives them 23 players on the active roster, excluding Janmark (and Jake Walman) on injured reserve. When either is activated, someone will have to be cut while the eventual return of Zach Hyman (likely sometime next month) may necessitate two players getting sent down to get back to cap compliance. With Janmark due back soon, the first of those decisions will need to be made fairly quickly.
- In recent years, the Sharks haven’t been a high-spending team and even this year, while they’re in LTIR, it’s due to taking on two significant contracts for injured players whose deals are largely covered by insurance. But as they eventually look to emerge from their rebuild, they’ll have to spend more on active players, upping their actual payroll as a result. Speaking with reporters Friday including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, owner Hasso Plattner indicated that the money should be there when they need it once the team starts playing better. San Jose has been at the bottom of the standings for the last two seasons and finished fourth-last in 2022-23 and is still in its rebuilding process. Accordingly, it might be a little longer yet before Plattner needs to increase his payroll spending.