One month.
That’s how long Johnny Boychuk spent as an Islander before he realized it is the team he wants to call his own for a good long while.
“The team,” he said on Friday morning, explaining the main reason for signing his brand-new seven-year, $42 million deal. “We’re a good team, a younger team, and I know we’re going to be good for a long time. That was an easy decision.”
Easy decision? Can you imagine anyone saying that about signing with the Islanders in the past 10 years?
No, because the franchise had degenerated into the butt of jokes — the dilapidated building, the shoestring payroll, the handful of atrocious management decisions. Players would sulk when they were traded here. Remember when Ryan Smyth cried?
But there were no tears for the 31-year-old Boychuk when he was artfully snatched out of Boston, a cap causality garnering two second-round picks and a conditional third-round pick in return. Coming with him on that fateful day — Oct. 4, 2014, if you’d like to commit it to memory — was Nick Leddy, the 23-year-old defenseman who needed to be moved by the cap-challenged Blackhawks and came at the price of a handful of dispensable prospects.
Leddy also just signed a seven-year deal, this one worth $38.5 million.
So how’s that for changing the culture, changing the perception? How’s that for a nomination of Garth Snow as general manager of the year?
“You could see if you could go and get more [money],” said Boychuk, who was going to be an unrestricted free agent. “But you have to look at where you fit in and how the team is and your happiness as well.”
The number of players who have spurned the Islanders in the past is hard to nail down, but of the most recent vintage was Dan Boyle, who was acquired this summer — he was set to be a free agent, but Snow traded for his negotiating rights — then decided to sign with the Rangers for less money. Boy, how lucky the Isles got on that one. Because if Boyle signed, it’s unlikely Snow would have been so aggressive in obtaining Boychuk and Leddy.
But he did, and now they’re both locked up for the next seven years. That says more about the strides the organization has made in the past couple of years than any number of wins in the regular season.
“I knew it was going to get done,” Boychuk said, “and it was just a matter of time.”
The deal might not look great when Boychuk is carrying a $6 million cap hit at the age of 38, especially with the tempered expectations for how much the cap ceiling might rise over the next five seasons. But depending on how he fared in the playoffs — the Islanders are going to the playoffs, did you forget? — it’s likely if Boychuk did go to the open market, a team like his hometown Oilers would have thrown $7 million per at him. He’s having a career year with seven goals and 32 points, eclipsing his previous season highs through his first 59 games as an Islander.
So did he leave an annual $1 million on the table just to stay with this team?
“There were a few people that doubted that when the trade was made they were going to stay here for a long time,” coach Jack Capuano said before Friday night’s Coliseum match against the Senators, his team fighting for the best record in the NHL. “They worked it out. They’ve got a good bunch of guys and a quality team here, and I’m sure that played a [big role]. And his family, too. It’s a win-win situation.”
Boychuk has gone from a Boston team stocked with older veteran players to a Islanders team ripe with young talent. He is one of the oldest guys in the dressing room, and players look up to him. He and Leddy both know what it’s like to drink out of the Stanley Cup.
So he’s embraced that leadership role, the kind of personality Capuano likes to describe as “a throwback kind of guy.” He’s not rah-rah and in his teammates’ faces, but he’s subtle and tough and uses his own actions as a way to teach.
It’s worked out for him, and it’s worked out for the Islanders, now looking even more formidable for their first couple years as the newest tenant at Brooklyn’s Baclays Center, after everyone finishes saying goodbye to the Coliseum at the end of this season.
“I knew it was going to be a good fit for me,” Boychuk said. “Getting settled down, getting the family moved down and worrying about that and seeing how they are here. After that it was just worrying about hockey.”
Yes, now it’s all just worrying about hockey. Because the Islanders are a real team again, a real organization again, and it’s never been more apparent.
Roy out of touch
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy was being offensive recently when he attacked a reporter by name, saying this story from Mike Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune was “unhealthy for the game of hockey.” First of all, no article is unhealthy for the game of hockey. That’s absurd. Secondly, Roy said Russo had “suggested somebody go after Cody McLeod and I don’t think hockey needs this today.” The closest thing I could find in the article that might have been a suggestion for going after one of Roy’s players was calling McLeod “public enemy No. 1.”
McLeod, mind you, is known as a dirty player, and often finds himself as a point of contention, especially in a heated rivalry such the one between the Avalanche and Wild. But for Roy to come out and say what he did shows not only is he far too sensitive to what is being written, but he lacks reading comprehension skills.
Kadri confusion
My initial reaction to Nazem Kadri’s benching after oversleeping was: “Come on, is this really a big deal?” Sometimes in Toronto, things can get blown out of proportion.
But then team president Brendan Shanahan publicly said, “It’s time for him to start making better decisions. There’s a history here. And there comes a point in the careers of many hockey players [in] similar situations. But there comes a point where you’ve got to grow up.”
Kadri is going to be a restricted free agent, and his future is in question. He’s extremely talented and fun to watch, so I hope he figures it out — if not in Toronto, then maybe somewhere a bit quieter.
Stamkos’ sticky glove
Bizarre scene in Boston the other day when the Lightning’s Steven Stamkos broke his stick, then tried to discard it and, as he released it, the stick stuck to his glove and flew over the boards. It got him a 10-minute misconduct, and his team lost in a shootout.
It’s an odd scenario — but not without precedent. Mats Sundin got a one-game suspension from throwing his stick into the stands during the 2003-04 season. There’s a reason it’s in the rulebook.
Stay tuned …
… to the race for the Presidents’ Trophy. Six teams are tied with 91 points — the Rangers in first by virtue of having played the fewest games with 66. The Islanders have 90 points, the Penguins 88, the Blackhawks 86 and the Red Wings 85. They all could make a run over the final 15 or so games making it an interesting finish to the regular season.
Rapid reaction rankings
1. Rangers: They just keep winning and winning, an unbelievable stretch of 31-7-3 since early December, a 13-2-3 record without Henrik Lundqvist. His understudy, Cam Talbot, has been outstanding of late, so when Lundqvist does comes back, dare we say goalie controversy?
2. Lightning: They managed a 1-0 OT win over the Canadiens on Tuesday, part of a battle for the Atlantic Division crown and the Presidents’ Trophy. Impressive 7-2-1 in the past 10.
3. Penguins: They’ve gone 7-2-1 in the past 10, but still can’t make up ground on the Isles and Rangers in the Metropolitan Division. Them playing better will make the stretch run that much tougher for both New York teams.
In the 5-8 range: Islanders: They’re fighting through some injuries, but are staying afloat while trying to cautiously get ready and healthy for the postseason.
In the 15-20 range: Devils: So Lou Lamoriello finally left the bench — and his team continues to swim along in irrelevance.
Parting shot
The NHL released another Go-Pro video, this one with Henrik Lundqvist. Pretty cool perspective, though it’s weird that he’s on the ice at the Devils practice rink in Newark.