The Bruins announced the re-signing of defenseman Johnny Boychuk to a two-year contract.
The reported two-year, $3.75 million contract will keep Boychuk off the free agent market that is set to open on July 1. The deal will pay the read guard $1.75 million next season and $2 million in 2011-12, according to CSNNE.com.
"When they moved Dennis, obviously it maybe makes an opening for me to maybe jump into the top four and play little more minutes than being a five or six guy," Boychuk said in a conference call. "When they moved him, it kind of just maybe sent a message to me saying 'You'd better be ready to be a top four guy.' And even if I'm not, I want to play like I am."
Boychuk scored five goals and had 15 assists to go with 43 penalty minutes in 51 games for the Bruins as he split time between Boston, Boston's healthy scratch list, and the Providence Bruins of the AHL.
The 26-year-old blue liner stepped his game up in the playoffs, scoring two goals and six points in all 13 games of the postseason. Due to injuries, Boychuk was thrust into the top pairing with captain Zdeno Chara and cemented himself as a top defenseman, as he led the team in blocked shots with 39 and averaged at least 26 minutes a game during the playoffs.
"I was thinking about maybe going to free agency and seeing what was out
there, but when I looked around the league, I knew what kind of position
I'd be in," Boychuk said. "Just to come back to Boston to a great
coaching staff that we have there and I know a lot of the guys.
"It made it a lot easier decision knowing that we would have all these
people back in Boston, so that was the main factor that tipped the scale
for me."
The 6-foot-2. 225-pound native of Edmonton, Alberta was selected by Colorado in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He was then traded by the Avalanche to the Bruins for Matt Hendricks on June 24, 2008.
