NHL Rumors: Brock Boeser rejected higher-paying Maple Leafs offer to re-sign with Canucks, per insider

Brock Boeser reportedly turned down a bigger offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs to stay with the Vancouver Canucks. NHL columnist Nick Kypreos shared this news in his Thursday article for the Toronto Star. He said the Leafs were interested in Boeser after missing out on other top players.

The Leafs had to break their "core four" forward group after trading forward Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights. But they extended the other UFA, John Tavares, to a team-friendly contract. The other two, Auston Matthews and William Nylander, are already signed.

So, the Leafs were looking for a replacement for Marner in free agency.

"The Leafs had a short wish list (the players they wanted to acquire) heading into free agency... some of the top names... (like) Brad Marchand." Kypreos wrote.

However, Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito gave extensions to Marchand, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad. After that, the Leafs turned their focus to Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser. He had scored 25 goals last season and was available.

According to Kypreos, the Leafs wanted to sign him but could not match the terms. They had offered Boeser more money each year, but only on a short-term deal.

"The word is that the Leafs may have offered a higher annual salary than the $7.25 million (U.S.) that he took to stay with the Vancouver Canucks, but on a much shorter-term deal than the seven years he agreed to," Kypreos wrote.

Boeser chose a longer deal with Vancouver and signed a seven-year, $50.75 million contract. That gives him $7.25 million per year.

Boeser deserved that deal after spending nine seasons with the team. He plays an important role in the Canucks offense as a top-line forward playing alongside Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson. He scored 50 points in 75 games in the 2024-25 NHL season. And if we go one more year in the past, he scored his career-high 40 goals in the 2023-24 NHL season.

Daniele Franceschi's comment on the Maple Leafs' missing Brock Boeser

Earlier, NHL insider Daniele Franceschi also talked about the Toronto Maple Leafs missing the opportunity to sign Brock Boeser on Sportsnet's "The FAN Morning Show." He said Boeser could have helped the Leafs after Mitch Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.

""...They (Leafs) certainly had enough flexibility to make it all happen," Franceschi said. "I think it would have been an interesting fit, obviously not as complete a player as Mitch Marner, but if you talk about just the star power and certainly the goal-scoring upside."

Franceschi also mentioned Brock Boeser's experience playing under pressure in Canada. That could have helped him adjust to the spotlight in Toronto, something that Marner ultimately couldn't handle.

The Leafs traded Marner to Vegas, where he signed an eight-year, $96 million contract. Toronto got forward Nicolas Roy in return.