In a trade that begs for “Oh Boy” puns, the New York Islanders grabbed defenseman Johnny Boychuk from the Boston Bruins for an impressive set of assets, according to New York Newsday’s Arthur Staple.
Update: Staple reports that the Islanders indeed nabbed Leddy, as well.
(Note: it hasn’t been made official just yet, but Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston seems to rank among those who back up the report.)
Staple reports that the Islanders sent a 2015 second-rounder, 2016 second-round pick and a conditional 2015 third-round pick to Boston.
These are the conditions of that third-rounder, according to the Canadian Press’ Stephen Whyno:
Re: Boychuk deal, conditional third-round pick only goes from #Isles to #Bruins if NY trades D-man during '14-15 season to Eastern team.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) October 4, 2014
The benefits and risks are pretty clear for both teams.
The Bruins lose an underrated blueliner, yet it’s clear that they were unlikely to re-sign the 30-year-old after his $3.667 million cap hit expires after the 2014-15 season. If nothing else, this helped them squeeze bargain deals out of Torey Krug and Reilly Smith, although Boston’s list of 2015 free agents is pretty foreboding.
Defense was an obvious problem for the Islanders, but Boychuk could really give them improved versatility. He won’t set the world on fire offensively (23 points in 75 games last season), but he’s still solid in that area. It’s his physicality and possession prowess that really proves promising, though.
Sportsnet’s Stephen Burtch believes that Boychuk is a bigger find than Leddy and could be quite the catch overall:
The Islanders paid a significant price asset-wise, yet for a team that clearly wants to take the next step, their offseason looks awfully impressive. Especially if you spin it as the Isles more-or-less “trading” possession stats whipping boy Andrew MacDonald for Boychuk. (Click here to see the somewhat similar assets moved in that trade.)