VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks have inked restricted free agent Brock Boeser to a three-year contract.
The team announced the 22-year-old right-winger's new deal on Monday, saying it carries an average annual value of $5.875 million.
Boeser missed training camp in Victoria over the weekend as negotiations continued. He posted a photo of himself in a Canucks jersey on Instagram after the deal was announced, with the caption: "Excited to be back, can't wait to get going! See you soon #cominghome."
The Canucks opened their pre-season schedule Monday night against the Calgary Flames Monday in Victoria and will host the Edmonton Oilers in Vancouver on Tuesday.
Canucks GM Jim Benning said before Monday's game that he was "extremely excited" to get a deal done.
"We've been working on this for the last three to four months," he said. "We found we had a lot more in common doing a short term deal."
Benning said the two sides discussed a long-term contract but the three year package was where they settled.
Boeser now has three years to prove he's a dominant player and consistent goal scorer, which will likely result in a bigger future contract, said Benning.
"He's one of our core young players we want to build our team around," he said.
Benning said Boeser will be in Vancouver Tuesday.
The native of Burnsville, Minn., was the club's third-leading scorer last season with 26 goals and 30 assists in 69 games.
Originally picked 23rd overall by Vancouver in the 2015 draft, Boeser was an NHL All-Star Game MVP in 2018 and a finalist for the Calder Trophy in the same season, despite a broken back cutting short his rookie campaign.
The Canadian Press