Boychuk to Long Island

		2015 Season				Cap Hit
To Long Island	POS	GP	G	A	P	2015	2016
Johnny Boychuk	D	0	0	0	0	$3.36 million	UFA
To Boston	POS	GP	G	A	P	2015	2016
2015 2nd Round Draft Pick (from PHI)
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick
Conditional 3rd Round Draft Pick

Going into the preseason, we kind of knew that the Boston Bruins were going to move someone to be a little bit more comfortable against the salary cap ceiling.  On Saturday, a deal fell and it was part of a chain of events.

The Bruins sent veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk to the New York Islanders and in return, they received three draft picks, including two 2nd round picks, in what appears to be 2015 and 2016.

In Boychuk, the Islanders gain a strong physical defenseman, who does have a little bit of offensive upside to his game.  Boychuk was a 2nd round pick in 2002 and last season, he had 23 points in 75 games for the Bruins, ranking him 74th among all defensemen in scoring.

The Bruins do really well in this deal, as they get three potentially excellent draft picks from the Islanders for some much needed cap space.  With some of the young talent coming up on the Boston blueline, this shouldn't be much more than a hiccup on the roster or on the ice.

For the Bruins, who had just sent down David Warsofsky earlier in the day, are close to finalizing their roster. On their projected list, which doesn't include Simon Gagne, who is still in camp on a tryout, I have them now with 14 forwards, seven defensemen and Tuukka Rask and Niklas Svedberg in net, coming in at a cap hit of $66.4 million, which is well under the salary cap ceiling. Of course, this takes into consideration Marc Savard being on the Long Term Injured Reserve, which takes away his $4 million and change.  The Bruins now have $2.6 million, approximately, in cap space to work with in the season.

That's not all sports fans, Boychuk was a 10th round pick in this year's hockey pool, taken by Wyllie this year.  Wyllie has a strong blueline this year, but this may upset the balance a little, as there will be some uncertainty as to how many goals the Islanders will score, compared to the Bruins.  There is a chance that Long Island will put the puck in the net, but it just doesn't come with that same guarantee that Boston has, which helps them win games.  Jury is still out, but it could be an okay move for Wyllie in the pool.