NHL analyst lashes out at Vancouver Canucks for mishandling 'unbelievable soldier' Brock Boeser during trade deadline

It's a foregone conclusion that the Vancouver Canucks squad that hits the ice for the final few games of their regular season schedule this spring will not look the same months from now in the fall.

The Canucks failed to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs just one season after winning the Pacific Division, and their campaign will end in disappointment and well short of expectations.

One player who already appears to have a foot out the door is forward Brock Boeser, who all but confirmed that his time with the franchise was over.

TSN analyst Adam Scully blasted what he feels was dereliction of duty on the part of the Canucks when it came to how they handled Boeser at last month's NHL Trade Deadline during a recent airing of "First Up."

"That whole thing is completely—like, that’s amateur hour out in Vancouver with what they did with Boeser," he said. "Okay, so you don’t want to move him, that’s fine. Or you don’t think you can move him—don’t come out and say that, 'Oh, you wouldn’t believe how bad the offers were.'"

"Like, the guy has to play for your team still," he continued. "What does that say about the guy that shows up and puts on your uniform and has been an unbelievable soldier for that team through a lot of trying moments in his own life?"

The Canucks let it slip publicly that they didn't receive what they felt were fair offers from other NHL teams for Boeser at the deadline, ultimately deciding to keep him. According to Scully, that just wasn't professional.

"And then to kind of just, you know—I don’t want to badmouth him, trash him, whatever you want to call it—but to spite him like that, I think that was, that was wrong. And then now, if you’re not going to re-sign him, or you can’t come to terms with it—well, why didn’t you just take the asset?"

"Fine, that’s valid. But it’s not a good way to manage your assets, and it’s not a good way to talk about someone who’s been nothing but professional for your organization since he stepped foot in the league."

Boeser's current contract expires this summer and he's set to become one of the more attractive free agents up for grabs.

Brock Boeser expressed serious doubt that he'd be back with the Canucks next season

In terms of his uncertain future with the Canucks, Boeser sounded about as sure as one could be without actually saying so that he wasn't going to sign a new deal with the club.

During an interview prior to his team's dramatic 6-5 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars earlier in the week, he said:

"Honestly, it's unlikely at this point. It sucks, it's unfortunate. I'm just trying to play good hockey, and then I'll worry about everything after that. We all know it's been a roller coaster of a year. There's been a lot of different things," Boeser said.

In 551 career NHL games, all played with Vancouver, Boeser has scored 204 goals with 229 assists, he's also added 11 goals and 12 assists in 29 postseason games.