Boychuk/By S. Bradley

He hadn’t even re-signed with the Bruins yet, but potential unrestricted free agent Johnny Boychuk got a jolt from his team when the Bruins dealt defenseman Dennis Wideman out of town earlier this week.

“Maybe that sent a message to me that you better be ready to be a top-four guy. And even if I’m not, I want to play like I am,” said Boychuk.

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Multiple news entities are reporting that the Bruins have re-signed defenseman Johnny Boychuk to a two-year deal. Boychuk would have become an unrestricted free agent July 1. There has been no official announcement from the team yet. The Bruins have made this official, as of 2:31 p.m. EST. (I will have more later.)

Pierre Lebrun of ESPN.com writes that Boychuk’s deal is worth $1.75 million this season and $2 million the year after — for a cap hit of $1.875 million over the course of the contract. The Bruins now have six defenseman under contract for next season, with Mark Stuart still scheduled to become a restricted free agent July 1.

Recchi/By S. Bradley

You didn’t need a “Peter Chiarelli decorder ring” to know that when the Bruins general manager talked about progress in talks with his potential free agents, he was mostly referring to forward Mark Recchi and defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

The word from other sources with knowledge of the situation backs up Chiarelli’s assertion.

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Boychuk/By S. Bradley

By the messages in my email and in the comments section of the blog, I can tell that many of you are losing sleep over the Bruins’ re-signing of defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

It’s understandable that Boychuk emerged as a fan favorite in his rookie season, as he proved to be a hard-working and a bone-crushing hitter in the open ice. Unfortunately for the Bruins, they didn’t unleash the wrath of Boychuk in time to prevent him from earning unrestricted free agent status by not meeting a CBA-mandated number of games played that would have made him restricted.

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Boychuk

When it comes to resilience, few Bruins players showed more in 2009-10 than Johnny Boychuk.

The 26-year-old defenseman was a healthy scratch for 25 of the Bruins’ first 28 games of the season, but never let his work ethic or enthusiasm wane. It all paid off when head coach Claude Julien decided to juggle his lineup by sitting Matt Hunwick and inserting Boychuk in early December. (more…)

Boychuk

WILMINGTON, Mass. — It might be a bit of an indictment of his teammates that Johnny Boychuk has accumulated 15 more blocked shots in these playoffs than the next closest Bruins player through 11 games.

But it’s mostly a credit to Boychuk’s fearlessness in the face of a flying puck that he has blocked 37 shots in the postseason, including 24 against Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

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McCormick

Off and on for about five seasons in the Colorado organization, Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk was teammates with forward Cody McCormick. Yesterday, Buffalo called up McCormick, who totaled 168 penalty minutes with Portland (AHL) this season, to beef up its lineup for tonight’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Bruins.

“He’s a strong tough kid and he works really hard,” said Boychuk. (more…)

Boychuk

BOSTON — Not only didn’t Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk intend to injure Thomas Vanek late in the first period Saturday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with Buffalo, the rookie blueliner says he didn’t even know the forward was hurt until after the game.

Boychuk took Vanek down and received a hooking penalty on the play that saw the Sabres winger crash into the end wall and leave the ice favoring his left leg. Boychuk slashed Vanek on his right leg on the play. (more…)

BOSTON — Defenseman Johnny Boychuk said he was “kind of” surprised he received a game misconduct as part of his elbowing penalty 7:21 into the third period of the Bruins’ 5-0 win over Calgary today at TD Garden, and he doesn’t think there should be any addition discipline coming from the NHL. (more…)

Boychuk

BOSTON – For a guy with just five games of NHL experience entering this season, who was a healthy scratch for 23 of the Bruins’ first 26 games this campaign, Johnny Boychuk has made a large splash in a short time.

With his goal in the Bruins’ 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay Thursday night at TD Garden, Boychuk now has five on the season in 42 games. That’s a total enough to tie Zdeno Chara for second on the team among blueliners, and one shy of team-leader Matt Hunwick. It’s also a pace for around 10 goals, an amount any team would take from a rookie skating on the back end in the NHL for a full season for the first time. (more…)

Boychuk

Defenseman Johnny Boychuk’s words at the end of last season were as bold as his rush-joining play throughout his 20-goal, 65-point 2008-09 campaign with Providence (AHL).

Boychuk declared he wanted to be back with the Boston organization just minutes after the P-Bruins had been eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs. (more…)

Boychuk

The Boston Bruins’ defense corps for the 2009-10 season is pretty much put together now.

Hours after Steve Montador defected to Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent, the Bruins re-signed Johnny Boychuk to a one-year deal. Terms were not disclosed beyond that, but general manager Peter Chiarelli had acknowledged earlier that it would take a one-way deal to be able to retain the Eddie Shore Award winner as the most outstanding defenseman in the American Hockey League.

Boychuk set Providence Bruins records for goals (20) and assists (45) by a blueliner last season in his first year in the Boston organization. He figures to compete for the seventh defenseman position, barring any major shakeups on the Boston back end.