If he's re-signed I'd like to see something like 3 years @ $6.nn million AAV. This would put him somewhere between 13-20 AAV for RWs.
Is he a mid level 1RW? When he's on, yes. When he's not...no. Doesn't seem likely that he gives up a year of UFA for to much less than his QO, but I'm optimistic he would buy into what JR is building. Wouldn't really want to go longer than 3 years at this point, and don't think he's worth north of $7m.
If that didn't get it done, a 1 year deal at a bit less than his QO would be next best. Don't think he should be paid like a top 10 RW in the league ($7.5m = #10). And don't want to dump him for peanuts. Kinda depends on how Boeser sees the organizations future, and how much he (over)values himself. But I could live with something like 3 years, $20m deal.
I think the problem with looking at it this way is that if you have a roster full of players making market rate salaries, you’ll have a mediocre team. And the Canucks already have so many players making at or above market that they need to start finding spots on the roster to build value, and don’t have a lot of flexibility to continue to pay market rates. That’s especially so with the prospect pipeline being basically non-existent right now.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you move Boeser, but it becomes hard to justify if you can’t dump a bunch of other inefficient money, because otherwise you are just resigning yourself to mediocrity.
Realistically though, what is the lowest QO we could have seen from Boeser? 6.5 million? Benning definitely prioritized a lower AAV by offering a 7.5 QO in the last year, which was stupid, but I am not sure we realistically could have seen a QO for much lower than 6.5 million. That’s why I tend to think Boeser’s player is the bigger issue.
My comment above is part of the issue, but I think a $6.5 million QO for Boeser before this season would have been fair. The problem is with his reduced production there is increased risk it is not a blip and this team can’t really afford more mistakes if they want to be a contender.