Brain Freeze: Goodbye Blue-Eyed Beauty

The Bruins traded a good one this past Saturday and I for one need a moment to let this sink in. Johnny Boychuk was traded to the New York Islanders in exchange for two second round picks and a conditional third round pick. What does that mean you ask? In next years draft the Bruins will have the Islanders second and possibly third round pick and in the 2016 draft they will again have the Islanders second pick in addition to their own picks. BUT AT WHAT COST?! I know the Bruins are looking toward the future prosperity of the team with this deal, but at the moment, this season, I think this trade has done more harm than good. The Bruins have lost yet another veteran figure in their line up. The Bruins didn't just lose a dependable right hand rocket from the top of the point, but also a lovable and genuine teammate of six years. When asked about the trade Chiarelli said, “This was really hard to do, but there’s an element of business to it and element of hockey, and we tried to get ahead of it a little bit. He was upset, I was upset. I’m still upset, though he’s the one that’s moving.” (Boston Herald)

Top 5 Things I'm going to miss about Manchuk:
#1 Those Eyes

#2 That Smile

#3 His Rocket Shots and Cellys

#His Hip-Checks

#5 His Mini Bromance with Lucic

The loss of Boychuk is not something the team and the fans are going to get over quickly. “Yeah, well-liked, like you said, popular guy, not just off the ice, for who he was off the ice,” Bruins winger Milan Lucic said. “Everyone respected him for what he did on the ice just as much. A warrior, a guy who played the way that he did and didn’t miss too many games because of his durability, and I think he was a big part of this team, kind of helping solidify that defense corps that we were able to get to that next level, that championship level, and as a guy, as a teammate, just as an overall person and a professional, he’s, I think he’s deeply going to be missed.” (NESN)

There are already rumors that Boychuk might be traded back to the Bruins before the trade deadline or even at the end of the season, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that. The Bruins have cleared up their cap-space problem by trading Boychuk, "With barely enough room to breathe under the salary cap, the B’s cleared $3.366 million of salary. Counting Marc Savard’s long-term injury money, they’ll have approximately $3.5-4 million under the cap." (Boston Herald)

Trading all these main characters makes me nervous for this upcoming season. Iginla, Thornton, and now Boychuk are gone and all the fresh, young faces do not make me very confident in the Bruins experience level. Maybe this will be a rebuilding/ learning year or maybe I will be pleasantly surprised by this team. I guess we shall see soon enough because the home opener is this Wednesday!

Johnny "Rocket" Boychuk, You will indeed be deeply missed on the ice and around Boston in general.