Report: Bruins re-up for three more years with Boychuk
Boychuk/By S. Bradley
The Bruins moved to keep another part of their championship nucleus in place today, according to TSN reporter Bob McKenzie.
McKenzie reports defenseman Johnny Boychuk has signed a three-year contract extension worth $3.36 million per season. Boychuk was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
In 52 games, Boychuk has posted 3-7-10 totals and a plus-23 rating while averaging 20:30 of ice time on Boston’s top pair with Zdeno Chara. Boychuk is in the second year of a two-year deal worth $1.875 million per season.
Like most teams in the NHL, the Bruins have put an emphasis on maintaining continuity on their roster. The Bruins now have their top five defensemen signed beyond next year. Only Joe Corvo is scheduled to hit free agency, and this deal, plus the development of Steven Kampfer and others, probably spells the end of Corvo’s Boston stint once this season’s through (assuming he makes it that far).
Up front, the Bruins have eight players signed for next year. Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton are headed toward unrestricted free agency.
Bruins16
didn’t mean to imply they should break up that line, they shouldn’t. but in the not so distant future seguin is going to be a center. as good as that line is seguin is still a bit of a square peg in a round hole at wing. he’s had a good year but with his speed he’s better in space than he is going up the wing, he doesn’t grind it out on the boards like wingers need to do. that’s not an indictment of him, his game is more suited for center. they dont’ have a surplus of wingers. if they have one at all it’s at wing. replacing corvo would be great but i think they need help up front badly right now. corvo can’t be any worse than kaberle was and we know how that worked out.
Big Jim
I don’t think you want to break up the Bergeron-Seguin-Marchand line. At times this has been the best line in the NHL. With the injury to Peverly and uncertain status of Horton, I think something big is going to happen. Krecji may be the one traded, but I still think it will be for D-man. Ryan Suter in Nashville looks good to me, but it will cost more than Krecji. As well, there has to be some assurances of a reasonable deal. When I was critiquing Calgary and Edmonton’s defense there is one player who I left out, Mark Giordano. He would look good as top 4 d-man for the B’s. Another possibility could be Robyn Regher of Buffalo, he’s tough and plays like a Bruin.
of course i watched the playoffs. i won’t deny he was good in the playoffs but have you watched the last month? or the first few months for that matter? i like that you’re not disputing anything i said, just pointing to two months where he wasn’t invisible. the guy needs to be more consistent.
the guy is an ok player, very good at times, but if you want to add a guy at the deadline krejci is expendable.
in krejci, bergeron, kelly, peverly, campbell you have 5 dudes that are centers. in the future, seguin will be a center. the bruins need a winger, and have centers to spare. krejci is under control for a few years, young, can be a solid second center on a lot of teams, and thus could help land a big piece. what is so asinine about pointing this out?
I like this move Johnny B has been a big playoff performer for us the past couple of years and i love his open ice hitting.Also big Jim did you watch the playoffs last year man? Who led all players in scoring?
Bruins16,
i like boychuck don’t get me wrong. just seems high to me.
as far as krejci goes, that deal looked rich from day 1. i’m not a krejci fan, he is too often invisible, seems to be a bit of a baby, plays too slow and doesn’t shoot enough. he is not as good a player as people in these parts have been trying to portray him as for the last couple of years. he is very expendable in my opinion. perhaps the most expendable dude on their team right now given the injuries on the wing.
The 4 players extended before the end of their contract will increase Bruins salary total of $6 millions next year. The Bruins are approx. 7 millions under the cap right now (including Savvy’s exemption). So, as of now, they don’t have enough cap space to extend Rask. Weird to say but to me, this signing pretty much means they won’t have both goalies to start the ’12-13 season
Big Jim
The Krecji signing is the one that looks a little rich now. Where I live, I see many Flames and Oiler games and they do not have a defenceman you would take over Boychuk. Bouwmeester is a great skater, but he gets pushed off the puck too much and isn’t real physical at times. He would be the closest and he makes 5,000,000 a year.
This is a great signing for the Bruins. To win in the NHL, especially with Claude’s system you build from the net out. Boychuk is a young, improving player, and a solid contributor in many facets of the game. This contract is fine in terms of salary and length.
More importantly, getting this deal done before the trading deadline is important because now the Bruins know what it will cost to keep Boychuk. The only real questions left for the Bruins offseason are Rask’s contract and Kelly’s. Both will get a raise. However, the Bruins are currently over 3 million under the cap, and could put Savard on LTIR making that over 7 Million in cap space. This makes the Bruins flexible in terms of being able to bring in some players for a cup run, cap money should not be an issue.
i like boychuck but this seems a bit high.
Pouliot and Corvo to Dallas for Michael Ryder!
DustinDestroy
Boychuk helps stop the other team from scoring! The Bruins won the Cup with defense, not offense. Its a different team than the Orr-led Bruins. He and Sidenberg were outstanding last year in the playoffs.
Trevor B
You nailed it!
Trevor-
It can’t expire soon enough.
MK
I feel that a lot of people (mostly those who don’t watch Bruins games and see Boychuk play a couple of times a year) forget that he’s a complete player. Has a rocket of a shot, hits, fights if necessary, willing to block shots. I think if he gets some PP time (get corvo off please), he could really do some damage. Not many goalies can stop a relentless attack of Chara-Boychuk shots in 2 minutes. Or split the two and make both units work the point.
Pouliot’s contract also expires after this year
Too much money. I was thinking 2, 2.5 at the most. He really hasn’t stepped up his offensive game. He has 3 years to prove me wrong though. Go B’s.
Seems high to me. I’ve been on the fence with Johnny-Rocket the last couple years, and I think he might be eating up to much space with this deal.
Then again – a bird in hand, as they say…
Great news for the B’s. Johnny has to be one of the most improved players over the last two seasons. There is no doubt that his play will not drop off, after the signing. However, we do need another top four physical d-man for the playoff run. We will need one to beat the Rangers, and probably the West Division winner. I don’t know if any of you noticed, but the hated Canucks are attempting to become bigger and more physical.
He went from being an incredible bargain to a decent bargain. Solid top 4 defenseman on one of the best defenses in the league.
Surprised he only has 10 points though with his shot.