He had 8 points in the first 21 games this season. While that number is not anything spectacular, it is more in line with what you would expect out of Boyes; especially given his diminished role on the team.
Then he missed a bunch of games with a knee injury. Since then he has 10 points in the last 35 games. My guess is the knee has bothered him this year. A lot of players play injured and that ends up being why their numbers are down.
Nearly half of his points have also come on the power play. Not nearly as much skating involved when a team has the man advantage.
Trust me, I agree entirely. But that's just how everything unfolded. I thought Boyes was great when he was in Boston. He went to the Blues, really honed his skills, and became a premier player. He lost that quickly.
I think everyone felt we were still getting that premier player when we traded for him. The unfortunate reality is that we didn't. On the bright side, trading for him didn't prevent us from making a significant re-signing of another player.
I won't lie when we acquired him and after the first ten games I thought Darcy had pulled another robbery, I just can't comprehend how I guy that got 69 points in his rookie year can be at this level in his "prime"
I won't lie when we acquired him and after the first ten games I thought Darcy had pulled another robbery, I just can't comprehend how I guy that got 69 points in his rookie year can be at this level in his "prime"
Agreed. Cheechoo wasn't quick before he hurt his knee. After... Brad Brown slow.
Boyes isn't getting choice icetime with a premium playmaker like he did in his most successful years where he was on the wing opposite Kariya. The game is also getting tighter and smaller, crafty guys who florished a bit when the league opened things up immediately after the lockout are starting to flounder now that both defensive schemes have adapted and the game is sliding back toward size over skill, obstruction over skating.
I suspect he'll get a one-year deal at around a million per from a team looking for top 6 filler. Given the ice time, he may even bounce back into the 40-50 point range.
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Agreed. Cheechoo wasn't quick before he hurt his knee. After... Brad Brown slow.
Boyes isn't getting choice icetime with a premium playmaker like he did in his most successful years where he was on the wing opposite Kariya. The game is also getting tighter and smaller, crafty guys who florished a bit when the league opened things up immediately after the lockout are starting to flounder now that both defensive schemes have adapted and the game is sliding back toward size over skill, obstruction over skating.
I suspect he'll get a one-year deal at around a million per from a team looking for top 6 filler. Given the ice time, he may even bounce back into the 40-50 point range.
Yet he did have some success when he arrived and that got them into last year's playoffs. He hasn't helped himself this year by being snakebitten early (he was getting chances up to the ankle injury against the Bruins). This season, things didn't go in and it's snowballed.
His only value was his SO move - emphasis on "move." Now that GKs have figured him out, he's totally useless instead of just mostly useless.
Shoot out value is beyond overrated. There are no "shoot out specialists.". You can find someone in the team that contributes in another area to score a shootout goal. That concept of specializing in this facet if the game is idiotic to try to validate. And I don't limit that to Boyes.
