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Vancouver Canucks take 'scorer' Brock Boeser from USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks

Brock Boeser had a 35-goal season in the USHL (Google Images)
Brock Boeser had a 35-goal season in the USHL (Google Images)

The Vancouver Canucks went for a scorer who's had a long emotional journey to the NHL draft floor, selecting University of North Dakota recruit Brock Boeser with the No. 23 overall choice in Sunrise, Fla.

Boeser has had numerous stresses on his young life in recent years. The Burnsville, Minn., native's father Duane lives with Parkinson's disease and Boeser also lost a good friend, Ty Alyea, in a car crash in the summer of 2014.

On the ice, Boeser evinced pure scoring ability with the United States Hockey League's Waterloo Black Hawks, where he counted 35 goals and 68 points across 57 games. Boeser, not unlike fellow Midwesterner Phil Kessel at the same stage of his hockey life, has work to do on his skating and defensive acumen, but there's little arguing with the offensive upside. He also had eight points in five games for Team USA last August at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, where the Americans send a team made up players who are not part of their centralized National Team Development Program.

"I'm definitely trying to take in everything in," Boeser told Sportsnet. "It's an emotional moment for me, but I'm really excited. I was just thinking about my whole family, everyone's who supported me throughout all these years."

Last year, the Canucks focused on two-way players in the first round, taking the Calgary Hitmen power winger Jake Virtanen No. 6 overall and adding Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds centre Jared McCann No. 24. The choice of Boeser ended a four-year skein of first-rounders from the Canadian Hockey League.

"He's a scorer," Canucks GM Jim Benning said of Boeser. "He's got a quick release and he's strong on the puck."

The Canucks last used a first-rounder on a USHL player in 2007, when they chose Patrick White from the Tri-City Storm No. 25 overall. White has not played a NHL game.

 

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.