Canucks’ Brock Boeser to return to lineup versus Bruins following seven-game absence

The Vancouver Canucks will have a reinforced lineup Tuesday versus the Boston Bruins as right-wing Brock Boeser is set to return after missing the past seven contests with an upper-body injury.

Boeser has had a solid start to the 2024-25 campaign where through 12 appearances he has collected six goals and five assists for 11 points. The Minnesota native was especially dominant in October, picking up points in seven games of an eight-game stretch, underscored by a pair of multi-point performances coming against the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes.

Despite his extended absence, Boeser sits in a five-way tie as the Canucks’ most productive goal scorer this season as his six tallies draw even with forwards Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Kiefer Sherwood, and defenseman Pius Suter.

Boeser is coming off his most successful season with the Canucks. In 2023-24, he finished with career highs in multiple categories, including 40 goals and 73 points. Originally chosen 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, Boeser has spent part of nine seasons with Vancouver in which he has tallied 185 goals and 210 assists for 395 points in 491 career contests. The 27-year-old can become an unrestricted free agent in July.

Fellow forward Max Sasson will come out of the lineup to create a space for Boeser, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

Sasson made his NHL debut with the Canucks in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators, picking up an assist. A graduate of the NCAA’s Western Michigan Broncos, Sasson signed with the Canucks as an undrafted free agent in 2023.

On the season, the Canucks sit 10-6-3 with 23 points, putting the club a single point behind the Pacific Division rival Edmonton Oilers for the second wildcard position in the Western Conference. The Canucks hold three games in hand on the Oilers.