LOS ANGELES — Tuesday was Brock Boeser’s 28^th birthday. Before going out for dinner with teammates, the winger practised with the Vancouver Canucks at the Los Angeles Kings’ training complex in El Segundo, just south of LAX airport.

It was the same rink and order that Boeser remembered from his rookie season eight years ago.

“My rookie dinner was in L.A. and I remember it just like yesterday,” Boeser told Sportsnet. “I was practising right here. It has definitely sped by, and I can’t believe it’s Year 8 already. I remember development camp and all that stuff. So, it’s been crazy.”

Officiating his rookie dinner were senior Canucks Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Vancouver’s veterans included Thomas Vanek and Alex Edler.

Nobody from Boeser’s first Canucks team is still a teammate. Goalie Thatcher Demko was in the American Hockey League when Boeser was scoring 29 goals in 62 games as a National Hockey League rookie in 2017-18.

He finished second in Calder Trophy balloting to New York Islander Mat Barzal and has been an important player to the Canucks ever since.

When Bo Horvat was traded two years ago, Boeser also became the longest-serving Canuck.

“I’m really trying not to think that I feel old just yet,” Boeser said. “Not yet.”

But this season has aged everyone around the Canucks a little. And as they visit the Kings on Wednesday night, 10 days before the NHL trade deadline, Boeser is still without a contract beyond this season, eligible for unrestricted free agency and very much in trade discussions ahead of March 7.

The forward from Burnsville, Minn., who is finishing his second three-year “bridge” deal with the organization and still seeking his first long-term contract, appears to have been able to compartmentalize his contract status. From the start, he has been pragmatic about the uncertainty, understanding NHL commerce and confident that by simply focussing on helping the Canucks win that everything else would eventually align.

But Boeser would not have guessed when the season began that at the end of February there would still be no apparent traction in negotiations over a long-term extension that would grant him his wish to remain a Canuck for life — like the Sedins.

“That’s tough to say just because I would have never guessed the year would have gone how it’s gone after last year,” Boeser said, referring to the turmoil that engulfed the Canucks for much of the winter. “I would never guess … the things that happened this year (like J.T. Miller getting traded) were going to happen before the season started. It’s been a lot. I think, really, the blessing in all this is that we’re still in a wild-card spot.

“I thought we were really playing some good hockey before the break (for the 4 Nations tournament). I know the goals haven’t come. But I truly feel that our defensive game has been the best it’s been all year, and if we start getting the scoring, then we can win some games in a row.”

It’s hard to see how trading Boeser would help the Canucks’ offence.

In 529 games with his only NHL team, Boeser has 197 goals and 419 points.

But only four of those goals have been scored in the Canucks’ first 21 games of 2025.

Still, after missing seven games due a November concussion from which it took him another dozen games to recover form, the right winger is second on the team with 18 goals and 35 points in 50 games. This equates to an 82-game pace of 30 goals and 58 points.

It’s not his career-year of 40 goals and 73 points from last season, but it’s not nothing. Is it worth $7 million to $8 million per season? Well, that’s the question.

“I mean, I understand it’s a business,” Boeser said. “I feel like I’m a pretty loyal guy, and I feel like that should speak for itself. But it’s a business, and that’s just how things operate.

“We all know the three options that could happen (before the deadline): trade, re-sign or neither. If nothing happens and July 1 comes around, I still think I’m in a good spot (as a UFA). But I’ve talked to you and definitely been open about, you know, how much I love it in Vancouver. So, yeah, it’s actually frustrating that nothing’s got done. 

“Obviously, it’s not all out of my control. I feel I can score more and produce more and maybe be a difference maker out there. So I’m really just trying to focus on helping our team win hockey games right now.”

A month ago, Boeser told us that if this was the end of his time in Vancouver, he didn’t want it to be with both him and the team struggling.

“I don’t want to have it be like this,” he said amid the January chaos. “These are some of my best buddies, and I know we can win hockey games. I really believe we can right this ship and start winning hockey games, and I really want to do that and help get our team going again. And then when the time comes, (management) can make their decision.”

That decision is looming.

“I feel way more confident now,” Boeser said Tuesday. “I really was feeling good about those games before the break. But at the end of the day, you can say you’re playing well, but you’ve got to put the puck in the net, right? You’ve got to produce. So that’s on my mind. But I definitely feel like I’ve been working harder, moving better. I definitely feel better about my game right now.

“I’ve definitely been through a lot with this organization — ups and downs. But it’s been a fun ride.”

ICE CHIPS — With only two Canuck goals in the 0-2 start to the road trip, coach Rick Tocchet tweaked his forward lines on Tuesday, swapping centres Filip Chytil and Pius Suter, who skated between Boeser and Drew O’Connor. Nils Hoglander was promoted alongside DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson on the top line, while Kiefer Sherwood skated on the fourth unit. … Defenceman Quinn Hughes practised and seems probable for Wednesday’s game, which would be his first since sustaining an undisclosed injury on Jan. 31.