Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser understands he could be moved if his team doesn't turn things around before the March 7 trade deadline.
"Any team that's not doing well, there's going to be changes," Boeser told Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre on Friday. "I haven't played to my best this year, and I expect better for myself and, you know, I'm an (unrestricted free agent) at the end of the year, so they could look at me and be like, 'He's the easy guy (to trade) right now.'"
Boeser is in the final campaign of the three-year pact he signed in 2022, which carries a cap hit of $6.65 million. He has 15 goals and 27 points in 37 games.
The 27-year-old is in the midst of a cold streak, recording just one goal and two points in his last eight contests. Boeser played a season-low 13:38 and was a minus-3 in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
"I need to be better for the team and help drive the bus and be a leader," Boeser said. "Things haven't been easy. There's been a lot of injuries and distractions and stuff. It's been a hard year. But right now, I'm just trying to be a part of the solution and come to the rink and keep working."
Boeser tallied a career-high 40 goals and 73 points last season. He started this campaign with six goals and 11 points in 12 contests before sustaining a concussion on Nov. 7, which caused him to miss seven games.
"All I want to do right now is help our team and be part of the solution, getting our team back on track," he said. "I mean, really play some good hockey with these guys, and then let (management) make a decision on me. I don't want to have it be like this."
The Canucks are 19-15-10 this season with 48 points. Vancouver is seven points behind the Kings for third in the Pacific Division but only trails the Calgary Flames by one point for the last wild-card spot.
"We're still a point out of the wild card. That's a blessing," Boeser said. "Like, if we right this ship and start winning some games, we're right there. That's one of the positives we need to take away right now: we're right there. We've got to come together as a group. That's the only way that we're going to get out of this - if we stick together and have each other's backs."
