Boychuk Doesn't Want To Be Traded: 'This Is My Family'
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's been a tough summer for Johnny Boychuk, but the Bruins' veteran blue-liner has not let anything get in his way of preparing for the 2014-15 season.
Boychuk has been a key part to Boston's success over the last six years, and he was a major part of the 2011 team that hoisted the Stanley Cup and the 2013 team that made it to the Cup Final. But with Boychuk set to be a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, a logjam of young talent on defense and very limited cap space for a few unsigned players, his named has surfaced in numerous trade rumors over the offseason.
Boychuk donned a Bruins' sweater on Wednesday at the team's practice facilities in Wilmington as they prepare for training camp, and hopes it's the sweater he'll be wearing when they finally drop the puck on the new season next month.
"This is my family, and you always want to stay with them," Boychuk told reporters on Wednesday. "It's such a great team and organization."
Boychuk's toughness on the ice and strong play along the blue-line has made him a fan favorite in Boston, and though he hears about the rumors, he's focused on being the best Bruin he can be in the upcoming season.
"It's tough to hear," he said of the endless rumors. "But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what anybody says. If it happens, then you have to work on that part. But until it does, you can't control it, so you just got to keep playing the way that you can."
But he also understands that, while yes it's a game, there's also a business side of things. With the Bruins against the salary cap and still needing to sign restricted free agents Torey Krug and Reilly Smith, there's always a chance a move could happen before the season gets underway.
"Every year, somebody's going to leave the team," said Boychuk. "Even if you win the championship, there's always somebody that's going to leave the team. It's not like you're going to keep the same exact same team every year. You're going to see guys coming in and going, and that's part of the game."
Boychuk knows that rumors sometimes remain just rumors, even joking about a long-talked about Tomas Kaberle trade that followed the Bruins for years until they finally acquired the defensemen from Toronto in 2011.
"How many years did it take us to get Kaberle? I think it was like seven," he said with a smirk. "Rumors are rumors until it comes to life. You can't worry about it until it actually happens, and that's the way you have to look at it."
However, he did acknowledge that he no longer has a limited no-trade protection, which could facilitate a trade out of town.
But Boychuk isn't letting any rumors or thoughts of the open market get in the way of his preparation, and made it clear where his head is at a month away from the new season.
"I just want to play solid," said Boychuk. "I don't want to be traded at all."
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