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Isles sign Boychuk - 7 years, $42 million

Huh...didn't know he was $6mil good...I wonder if they'll make any noise in the playoffs this year.
 
It's a big term for a 31 year old but he's shown some legitimate offensive growth on the top pairing. I don't love the deal but I understand why a team like the Islanders would make it.
 
Definitely would not have gone 7 years on Boychuk. Ideally, he's on your 2nd pairing, and you don't commit 7 years to a 2nd pairing defenceman who is already in his 30s.
 
bustaheims said:
Definitely would not have gone 7 years on Boychuk. Ideally, he's on your 2nd pairing, and you don't commit 7 years to a 2nd pairing defenceman who is already in his 30s.
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It's funny - you look at his past years and his even-strength offense seems basically the exact same (a slight increase this season) as past seasons.  Then you look at his PP production - 5.5 P/60 on the PP.  Has only been above 0.0 P/60 on the PP 3 times in 6 seasons - 1.1 P/60 in 10/11, 3.0 P/60 in 09/10 and now this season.  Clearly he never got the opportunities before, but I wonder if that's something he can maintain going forward.
 
Frank E said:
Huh...didn't know he was $6mil good...I wonder if they'll make any noise in the playoffs this year.
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Why shouldn't they?  They're already among the elite teams so I'd expect them to get past the quarter-finals at least.  Well, hopefully, at least.  :)
 
dappleganger said:
By no means is this an indictment on the skill of Boychuck, but that is an insane contract.
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I don't know about insane. It's a slight overpayment and maybe a year or two too long, but those are characteristics of pretty much every single UFA contract out there.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
dappleganger said:
By no means is this an indictment on the skill of Boychuck, but that is an insane contract.
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I don't know about insane. It's a slight overpayment and maybe a year or two too long, but those are characteristics of pretty much every single UFA contract out there.
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I don't know too many 35 year-old+ defenseman that are worth $6m a season. Andrei Markov maybe?

Too many years for a 31 year-old who I would not consider elite.
 
hockeyfan1 said:
Why shouldn't they?  They're already among the elite teams so I'd expect them to get past the quarter-finals at least.  Well, hopefully, at least.  :)
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Poor PK and, thanks to that, far too high a GA/G. They may be near the top of the league in terms of points, but they're a far cry from being among the elite. I don't think they'll fare all that well once playoff hockey comes to town.
 
Patrick said:
I think Phaneuf's deal looks very good in comparison and people have labelled that pretty terrible.
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I was just thinking that maybe this signing makes trading Phaneuf easier? Have to admit, though, that I haven't watched the Isles enough to really be able to compare the two.
 
bustaheims said:
Definitely would not have gone 7 years on Boychuk. Ideally, he's on your 2nd pairing, and you don't commit 7 years to a 2nd pairing defenceman who is already in his 30s.
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I think that term is the going rate for a UFA veteran top 4 defender. Go the extra years, trade 2 more second round picks to acquire another player like him or leave a massive hole in your line-up when you are contending for the first time in years.
 
Chris said:
I was just thinking that maybe this signing makes trading Phaneuf easier? Have to admit, though, that I haven't watched the Isles enough to really be able to compare the two.
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I kind of doubt that teams look at any one contract as making that much of a difference to the market.
 
Deebo said:
bustaheims said:
Definitely would not have gone 7 years on Boychuk. Ideally, he's on your 2nd pairing, and you don't commit 7 years to a 2nd pairing defenceman who is already in his 30s.
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I think that term is the going rate for a UFA veteran top 4 defender. Go the extra years, trade 2 more second round picks to acquire another player like him or leave a massive hole in your line-up when you are contending for the first time in years.
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Yeah, I think the signing can't be entirely removed from context. It would have been a tough sell to the team's fans, to say nothing of the other guys on the team, to have your first successful season in a long time and then say goodbye to the guy who's essentially been the team's #1 defenseman. Boychuk had a ton of leverage here even before you get to the Islanders relatively unique circumstances with the move.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Chris said:
I was just thinking that maybe this signing makes trading Phaneuf easier? Have to admit, though, that I haven't watched the Isles enough to really be able to compare the two.
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I kind of doubt that teams look at any one contract as making that much of a difference to the market.
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Geez, whatever. It can't hurt, though. Are you willing to go that far?
 
Chris said:
Geez, whatever. It can't hurt, though. Are you willing to go that far?
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Well like I said I think it'll have a pretty insignificant effect on Phaneuf one way or the other. Although it could be argued that if the Islanders had walked away from Boychuk they might have been one of the better destinations for Phaneuf so...?
 
The Isles have Tavares at a great rate for the next 3 years. Boychuk was always going to get 6 ish on the market. It's a great fit, the cap ceiling should easily absorb some stink on the backend should Johnny become useless, which I doubt. Next year they have 17 players signed at 55 cap dollars ( from what I gather ) and have some talent coming down the pike. They're in good shape.
 
Tigger said:
The Isles have Tavares at a great rate for the next 3 years. Boychuk was always going to get 6 ish on the market. It's a great fit, the cap ceiling should easily absorb some stink on the backend should Johnny become useless, which I doubt. Next year they have 17 players signed at 55 cap dollars ( from what I gather ) and have some talent coming down the pike. They're in good shape.
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Having Leddy and Hamonic on pretty good long-term deals probably made it easier for them too.
 
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