Bradley Keith Boyes (born April 17, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, who spent thirteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of seven different teams.

Brad Boyes
Boyes with the New York Islanders in 2013
Born (1982-04-17) April 17, 1982 (age 41)
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 199 lb (90 kg; 14 st 3 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for San Jose Sharks
Boston Bruins
St. Louis Blues
Buffalo Sabres
New York Islanders
Florida Panthers
Toronto Maple Leafs
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 24th overall, 2000
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 2002–2016

Boyes made his NHL debut in 2003 for the San Jose Sharks, but only played in one game before returning to the AHL. He returned to the NHL during the 2005-2006 season with the Boston Bruins, playing for the team for two seasons before being traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2007, where he had his longest stint at five seasons. Traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2010, he remained with the team for two seasons before being acquired by the New York Islanders in 2012. After one season with the Islanders, Boyes spent the next two seasons with the Florida Panthers, before playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2015-2016 season.

Early life edit

Boyes went to Hazel McCallion Senior Public School and Clarkson Secondary School, both in Mississauga, before moving to Erie, Pennsylvania. His mother is a teacher. His father is a school principal, and was the principal of Champlain Trail Public School. His father is also one of the directors of the Streetsville Hockey League, a small house league based in Streetsville.[1]

Despite living in the Greater Toronto Area, Boyes was an Ottawa Senators fan growing up.[2] However, the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs were Boyes' "second team", and he would later say that he "always wanted to play for the Leafs".[3]

Playing career edit

As a youth, Boyes played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Young Nationals minor ice hockey team.[4] Boyes played several years of roller hockey for the Mississauga Rattlers.[5] He was a member of the Mississauga Reps AAA hockey team before being drafted by the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).[5][6] Boyes won the J. Ross Robertson Cup with the Otters in 2002.[7] In four years with the Otters he registered 141 goals and 309 points in 233 games.[8] He was the OHL's Most Outstanding Player in the 2000–01 season and was twice named the league's most sportsmanlike.[9]

Boyes was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, 24th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.[10] He joined the Maple Leafs American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the St. John's Maple Leafs, for the 2001–02 season, playing in 65 games.[5] On March 9, 2002 He was traded to the San Jose Sharks along with Alyn McCauley and a 1st-round selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Owen Nolan. Boyes was assigned to the Sharks' AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Barons.[11] The next season he spent mostly with Cleveland until he was recalled and played in his first NHL game on March 7.[8][12] Two days later Boyes was traded from the Sharks to the Boston Bruins in a three-way deal that saw Jeff Jillson go to the Buffalo Sabres, Curtis Brown go to San Jose, and Boyes and Andy Delmore go to Boston on March 9, 2004.[6][13]

Boyes was once again assigned to the AHL for the 2004–05 season, this time to the Bruins' affiliate, the Providence Bruins, where he scored 33 goals and 75 points for second on the team and added 8 goals and 15 points in 16 playoff games. He re-signed with Boston in the off-season.[8] Boyes made the Bruins out of training camp for the 2005–06 season and scored his first NHL goal on October 8, 2005, against Sébastien Caron of the Pittsburgh Penguins.[9][14] He scored his first NHL hat trick on March 18, 2006, against Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes.[15] He finished the season with 26 goals and 69 points in 82 games and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. Boyes signed a two-year contract extension in the off-season.[16] The following season Boyes struggled, scoring only 13 goals and 34 points in 62 games. On trade deadline day, the Bruins traded Boyes to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Dennis Wideman on February 27, 2007.[17]

 
Boyes with the St. Louis Blues

After arriving in St. Louis, Boyes would score 4 more goals in 19 games. In St. Louis Boyes became a star player, scoring 43 goals in the 2007–08 season.[18] On March 1, 2008, he signed a four-year contract with St. Louis.[19] He followed this up with 33 goals in the 2008–09 season.[18] The following two seasons were a disappointment, with just 14 goals and 12 goals during that time. On February 27, 2011, Boyes was traded by the Blues to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[20] Boyes scored a goal in his Sabres debut on March 2, 2011.[21] He scored again in the following game.[22] In his second season with Buffalo Boyes registered 8 goals and 23 points.[23] During his final season with the Sabres, Boyes became the 20th player in NHL history to play in 500 consecutive games.[24] By the end of his tenure with the Sabres, he was a healthy scratch from the lineup and alternated between centre and winger, failing to get comfortable when in the lineup.[25]

On July 1, 2012, Boyes signed as a free agent to a one-year, $1 million deal with the New York Islanders.[26] With the ambition to move on from a disappointing tenure with the Sabres, Boyes rediscovered his scoring touch during the shortened 2012–13 season to score 35 points in 48 games on the Islanders top scoring line alongside John Tavares and Matt Moulson.[27]

Unsigned in the offseason, Boyes was offered a professional try-out contract by the Islanders and the Florida Panthers. He chose to attend the Panthers training camp[28] and signed a one-year deal with them on September 28, 2013.[29] After recording 36 points in 78 games, Boyes was resigned by the Panthers to a two-year, $5.25 million contract.[30]

The last year of Boyes' contract was bought out on June 30, 2015, effectively making Boyes a free agent. Despite picking up 38 points in 78 games and having good advanced analytics, Boyes was unable to find a deal, and on September 10, 2015, he signed a professional tryout contract to attend training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team who originally drafted him in 2000.[3] Boyes impressed at camp and during the pre-season, and on September 27, 2015, he was rewarded with a 1-year, $700,000 contract from the Leafs.[31] On November 2, 2015, Boyes scored his first goal with the club. In the process, Boyes set a franchise record for the longest span between getting drafted and scoring his first goal with the Maple Leafs, notching it 5,609 days after being drafted.[32] Boyes would finish the season with 24 points in 60 games. Boyes once again became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.[33]

Career statistics edit

Regular season and playoffs edit

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 Mississauga Reps AAA MTHL 44 27 50 77
1998–99 Erie Otters OHL 59 24 36 60 30 5 1 2 3 10
1999–2000 Erie Otters OHL 68 36 46 82 38 13 6 8 14 10
2000–01 Erie Otters OHL 59 45 45 90 42 15 10 13 23 8
2001–02 Erie Otters OHL 47 36 41 77 42 21 22 19 41 27
2002–03 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 65 23 28 51 45
2002–03 Cleveland Barons AHL 15 7 6 13 21
2003–04 Cleveland Barons AHL 61 25 35 60 38
2003–04 San Jose Sharks NHL 1 0 0 0 2
2003–04 Providence Bruins AHL 17 6 6 12 13 2 1 0 1 0
2004–05 Providence Bruins AHL 80 33 42 75 58 16 8 7 15 23
2005–06 Boston Bruins NHL 82 26 43 69 30
2006–07 Boston Bruins NHL 62 13 21 34 25
2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 19 4 8 12 4
2007–08 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 43 22 65 20
2008–09 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 33 39 72 26 4 2 1 3 0
2009–10 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 14 28 42 26
2010–11 St. Louis Blues NHL 62 12 29 41 30
2010–11 Buffalo Sabres NHL 20 5 9 14 6 7 1 0 1 0
2011–12 Buffalo Sabres NHL 65 8 15 23 6
2012–13 New York Islanders NHL 48 10 25 35 16 6 0 3 3 2
2013–14 Florida Panthers NHL 78 21 15 36 28
2014–15 Florida Panthers NHL 78 14 24 38 20
2015–16 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 60 8 16 24 12
AHL totals 238 94 117 211 175 18 9 7 16 23
NHL totals 822 211 294 505 251 17 3 4 7 2

International edit

Medal record
Representing   Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
  2001 Moscow
  2002 Pardubice
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2001 Canada WJC   7 1 3 4 2
2002 Canada WJC   7 5 4 9 16
2006 Canada WC 4th 9 4 4 8 4
Junior totals 14 6 7 13 18
Senior totals 9 4 4 8 4

Awards and honours edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Executive". Archived from the original on 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  2. ^ "Brad Boyes chat". Canadian Hockey League. 2008-10-02. Archived from the original on 2001-04-17. Retrieved 2010-10-02 – via Canoe.ca.
  3. ^ a b Fox, Luke (September 11, 2015). "Brad Boyes: 'I always wanted to play for the Leafs'". Sportsnet. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  4. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  5. ^ a b c "The almost Leaf: Brad Boyes". Mississauga News. March 8, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2022 – via mississauga.com.
  6. ^ a b Bailey, Budd (April 17, 2012). "This Birthday in Buffalo Sports History: Brad Boyes". Buffalo News. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  7. ^ "Ten Years After: Record crowd cheers Otters to Game 3 win". Erie Otters. May 6, 2012. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Bruins sign seven players, including Brad Boyes". Boston Bruins. August 15, 2005. Archived from the original on June 21, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  9. ^ a b "Brad Boyes -- A Rookie Success". Boston Bruins. November 14, 2005. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  10. ^ Kennedy, Ryan (October 7, 2015). "Brad Boyes took a very long road back to Toronto". The Hockey News. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  11. ^ "Sharks send captain Nolan to Maple Leafs". ESPN. Associated Press. March 9, 2002. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  12. ^ Pollak, David (December 28, 2007). "Ex-Shark Boyes a hit with Blues". The Mercury News. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  13. ^ "Deals at or near trade deadline". The Globe and Mail. February 15, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  14. ^ "Crosby, Lemieux shine, Pens still fall". ESPN. October 9, 2005. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  15. ^ "Boyes, Bruins better the best". South Coast Today. Associated Press. March 18, 2006. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  16. ^ Colageo, Mick (August 4, 2006). "Boyes re-signs with B's, leaving only Bergeron". The Standard Times. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  17. ^ "Mirtle: Bruins swap Boyes for Wideman". The Globe and Mail. February 27, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Rains, B. J. (November 27, 2010). "Boyes Finds Scoring Touch for Blues". St. Louis Blues. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  19. ^ "Blues sign RW Brad Boyes to new US$16-million, four-year contract". NHL.com. March 1, 2008. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  20. ^ "Sabres add Boyes from Blues for a second round pick". The Sports Network. February 27, 2011. Archived from the original on March 3, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  21. ^ "Boyes scores in Sabres debut, 3-2 win over Rangers". New York Post. Associated Press. March 2, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  22. ^ Milton, Steve (March 11, 2011). "Where the Boyes are; maybe the playoffs". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  23. ^ Loftus, Mike (January 25, 2013). "Former Boston Bruin Brad Boyes trying to revive career with Islanders". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  24. ^ Reitz, Matt (November 23, 2011). "Ironman Brad Boyes "out for a period of time"". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  25. ^ Hoope, Bill (July 1, 2012). "Boyes believes 'both sides' contributed to low production with Sabres". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  26. ^ "Islanders sign Boyes, Carkner". Fox Sports. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  27. ^ Staple, Arthur (2013-04-21). "Boyes confident he'll get good deal for next season". Newsday. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  28. ^ Halford, Mike (2013-09-10). "Report: Boyes attending Florida camp on PTO". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  29. ^ "Florida Panthers Agree To Terms With C Brad Boyes". Florida Panthers. September 28, 2013. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  30. ^ Stubits, Brian (March 4, 2014). "Report: Brad Boyes signs extension with Panthers for two seasons". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  31. ^ "Leafs Agree To Terms With Brad Boyes". Toronto Maple Leafs. September 27, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  32. ^ Toronto Maple Leafs [@MapleLeafs] (November 3, 2015). "Brad Boyes scores his first #Leafs goal 5609 days after being selected by the Leafs in the 2000 NHL Draft" (Tweet). Retrieved November 21, 2022 – via Twitter.
  33. ^ Allen, Kevin (June 30, 2016). "NHL free agency 2016: What's next for Steven Stamkos suitors?". USA Today. Retrieved November 25, 2022.

External links edit

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Toronto Maple Leafs first round draft pick
2000
Succeeded by