There’s a one-word descriptor that captures the essence of Johnny Boychuk’s new contract with the New York Islanders: necessary. The team really had very little choice but to pay the pending free agent what he wanted.
And, boy, did it ever.
Boychuk announced the news himself on Thursday, and his excitement was obvious. Five minutes later, Newsday’s Arthur Staple revealed the terms of the contract, and it was clear Boychuk had reason for excitement:
The problem with the deal isn’t really the money, which is pretty reasonable for a player of Boychuk’s stature.
Glancing through NHL Numbers’ list of the NHL’s highest-paid defencemen, we see that Boychuk’s salary-cap hit is within $500,000 of that of comparable veterans like Brent Seabrook, Matt Niskanen, Brent Burns, Tobias Enstrom, Andrei Markov, Dan Girardi, James Wisniewksi and Brooks Orpik.
Orpik and Girardi are particularly interesting because their deals are relatively new, they play similar styles and there’s a good case that Boychuk is a superior player to ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis