Position Defense Role Ice hockey player Shoots Right Height 1.88 m | Playing career Nationality Canadian Name Johnny Boychuk Salary 3.6 million USD (2015) | |
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Born January 19, 1984 (age 40) Edmonton, AB, CAN ( 1984-01-19 ) Weight 225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb) NHL teamFormer teams New York IslandersColorado AvalancheBoston Bruins NHL Draft 61st overall, 2002Colorado Avalanche Spouse Sheena Burletoff (m. 2011) Current team New York Islanders (#55 / Defenseman) Similar People Nick Leddy, John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Zdeno Chara, Travis Hamonic | ||
Johnny Boychuk Takes Mitch Marner's Skate To The Neck, Returns To Game
Johnny Boychuk returns David Krejci's lost tooth
John Paul "Johnny" Boychuk (born January 19, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted 61st overall in 2002 by the Colorado Avalanche, he has previously played for the Avalanche and the Boston Bruins. In 2011, he was a part of the Bruins' Stanley Cup Championship team.
Contents
- Johnny Boychuk Takes Mitch Marners Skate To The Neck Returns To Game
- Johnny Boychuk returns David Krejcis lost tooth
- Playing career
- Personal life
- References
Playing career
Boychuk was drafted 61st overall in the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2002 Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche. Prior to being drafted, he played with the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Calgary Hitmen. Boychuk made his professional debut with the Hershey Bears in the 2004–05 season. Boychuk spent the next four years in the Avalanche organization playing primarily for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates. He made his NHL debut in the 2007–08 season on January 5, 2008, against the New York Islanders. Boychuk made his debut as a forward playing on the wing rather than his usual defenseman position.
On June 24, 2008, Boychuk was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Matt Hendricks. He was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, to start the 2008–09 season and in his first week was named "AHL Player of the Week." On December 1, 2008, Boychuk was recalled to Boston and made his Bruins debut in a 3–1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 4, 2008. Boychuk was then returned to Providence for the rest of the season, where he played a breakout season, capturing the Eddie Shore Award by leading the league with 20 goals and 45 assists among defenceman and being named to the AHL's First All-Star Team.
On July 1, 2009, Boychuk secured his first one-way contract when he re-signed with the Bruins for the 2009–10 season. After initially making the Bruins opening night roster, Boychuk was primarily a healthy scratch in the first months of the season. After returning from a conditioning assignment in Providence, he established himself within the Bruins as a two-way defenseman to finish with 15 points in 51 games to earn a two-year contract extension on June 24, 2010.
As a member of the Bruins when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks to win the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, he was involved in a controversial play that resulted in Mason Raymond sustaining a vertebrae compression fracture twenty seconds into Game 6 on June 13. Raymond had been shoved backwards into the boards by Boychuk with his stick caught between Raymond's legs. The injury forced Raymond to miss the remainder of the series and the start of the following season. Boychuk was neither penalized on the play nor punished with a fine or suspension. Critical of the lack of any action taken against Boychuk, Canucks president Mike Gillis said, "I didn't see the puck around him. I thought the Boston player used a can opener and drove him with enough force into the board to break his back." Mike Murphy, the NHL's senior vice president of hockey operations, defended the league's decision by explaining, "We felt it was a battle for the puck. Boychuk tried to eliminate Raymond by pushing him towards the boards as the puck went by."
In the following 2011–12 season, Boychuk was rewarded with a three-year contract extension to remain a fixture on the Stanley Cup-winning Bruins blueline on February 14, 2012. Despite an inability to successfully defend the Stanley Cup, Boychuk produced 15 points in 77 games.
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Boychuk ventured to Europe and signed a temporary contract in Austria with EC Red Bull Salzburg of the EBEL on November 16, 2012. He scored two goals and posted eight points in 15 games before he returned to the Bruins for the shortened 2012–13 season.
On October 4, 2014, due to salary cap constraints, Boychuk was traded to the New York Islanders in exchange for two second-round draft picks in the 2015 and 2016 NHL Entry Drafts, as well as a conditional third-rounder in the 2015 Draft (condition was never met). In his Islanders debut, Boychuk scored a goal and two assists against the Carolina Hurricanes. On March 12, 2015, he signed a seven-year, $42 million contract extension with the Islanders, lasting through the 2021–22 season.
Personal life
In the summer of 2011, Boychuk married his wife Sheena Burletoff. The couple have twin daughters, Kenzie and Zoey. John Quenneville, who was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, is his nephew by marriage.