Injury ends Boychuk’s career

JustSports Photography/AHL

The New York Islanders have announced that defenseman Johnny Boychuk‘s career has ended due to an eye injury suffered during the 2019-20 regular season.

Boychuk, 36, played 16 seasons professionally, including five years in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears, Lowell Lock Monsters, Albany River Rats, Lake Erie Monsters and Providence Bruins. Boychuk won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s outstanding defenseman in 2008-09, and totaled 48 goals and 120 assists for 168 points in 374 career AHL contests.

Boychuk played 259 games in the AHL before making his NHL debut on Jan. 5, 2008.

A second-round pick by Colorado in the 2002 NHL Draft, Boychuk played 725 games in the NHL with the Avalanche, Islanders and Boston Bruins, collecting 54 goals and 152 assists for 206 points, with a cumulative plus/minus rating of plus-123. Boychuk also skated in 104 postseason games in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011.