A Look Back At The Time Brock Boeser Was Almost Traded To The Pittsburgh Penguins

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Tyler Ball
December 20, 2023 (11:04 PM)

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Rumors have finally quieted on the Brock Boeser trade front. The forward is now playing great on a contending Vancouver team. With his trade prospects squarely in the rearview mirror let's look at what almost was.

Penguins Go All In On Boeser

This past summer Kyle Dubas was looking to put his stamp on the Penguins roster. There were many reports he was looking to add more supporting players around Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin up front. One of the biggest players mentioned was Brock Boeser.

Lots of smoke around the #Canucks today. While there's a lot of JT Miller speculation, I'm told the Canucks & Penguins have had serious discussions about Brock Boeser. Work to be done, and other teams in play, but Boeser chatter picking up and PIT has genuine interest.

Things got so far along that a potential trade package was put together by people on social media.

To Pittsburgh: � Brock Boeser (retained)
To Vancouver: � Marcus Pettersson � Pierre-Olivier Joseph � Possibly some draft picks

The Penguins would have given up several defensive players and potential future assets to secure Boeser. The trade didn't end up coming together as the Penguins wanted a player under contract for longer than Boeser was.

Penguins And Canucks Trending In Different Directions After Narrowly Missed Trade

Since the trade fell through and the season began these two teams are on completely different trajectories.

The Penguins would end up trading major assets to get defenseman Erik Karlsson. They would struggle heavily to begin the year and now find themselves near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The Vancouver Canucks with Rick Tocchet in his first full year behind the bench have been massively improved. They sit second in the Western Conference. Brock Boeser is on pace to smash his career high in points with 37 points already in 33 games.

Both of these teams would be in drastically different places had this trade gone down. Now they will need to plan for the future in very different ways.

As Read On - NHL Trade Talk - Revisiting the Near Trade By the Penguins for Brock Boeser