Boychuk gets contract extension

--The Bruins signed defenseman Johnny Boychuk to a three-year contract extension worth $10.1 million that contains a limited no-trade clause.

Boychuk was one of five potential unrestricted free agents and his new deal leaves center Chris Kelly and the entire fourth line still unsure about their futures after July 1.

"I've had some discussions with all our free agents in the last month or so," said general manager Peter Chiarelli. "This is a deal that has come out of it so far. He's a Bruin type of player, physical and he can score with his shot, he's a punishing player and he chose not to test the market, which was nice for us and we have him under contract for three more years."

Asked if Boychuk, 28, might have his best year ahead of him, the GM said, "Certainly for a defenseman, they mature at a later pace a later time than forwards. I think it's a harder position to learn; it's a harder position to improve at. He's 28. That's young. It used to be you had the right of a player until 31 and then you're thinking about signing a 31-, 32-year-old on the free market, so he's still young, still learning, he's an enthusiastic player and he wants to stay here."

The deal calls for annual salaries of $3.1, 3.4 and 3.6 million.

--Chiarelli doesn't see an avalanche of NHL trades when the deadline hits Feb. 27.

"The races are so tight, it seems that many teams still think they have a shot and don't want to give up players," he told the Toronto Sun. "And, even though I can't speak for them, it seems the teams that are almost out of it want to stay competitive instead of having (a housecleaning)."

Last year, Chiarelli was able to acquire forward Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly and defenseman Tomas Kaberle near the deadline. The Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

The B's traded a 2011 No. 1 pick, former top pick Joe Colborne and a conditional 2012 pick for Kaberle, who wasn't great during his short time in Boston but wasn't bad either.

"The bar has been set very high throughout the league in terms of the asking price for talent, and that probably has to do with what we gave up for Kaberle," Chiarelli said. "If you want a good player, you are going to have to pay."

--The Bruins called up defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk and forward Josh Hennessey. Neither dressed Tuesday night but both were to accompany the team on the six-game road trip that opens in Montreal Wednesday night.

--The Bruins are 0-2 against the Rangers this season, losing twice at home in less than a month. They still have to play twice at Madison Square Garden.

--Strength down the middle? The Bruins continue to get little or no goal scoring from their centers. David Krejci, who had five shots on goal Tuesday night and was robbed at least twice by Henrik Lundqvist, has no goals in the last eight games and one in the last 15; Patrice Bergeron has one goal in the last eight games, two in the last 12; Chris Kelly has no goals in the last 10, one in the last 17; and Gregory Campbell has none in the last eight. Krejci was back on the top line Tuesday night but still couldn't score.

--Goalie Henrik Lundqvist continues to own the Bruins, raising his lifetime record against Boston to 18-5-2 with his sixth shutout.

--The Bruins are 6-7-1 in their last 13 games, 10-9-1 in their last 20.

--Until Tuesday night, 15 of the last 18 games against the Rangers were one-goal games, six of them going into overtime.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We can be fooled by the shots for, and I'm not saying we didn't do anything right. We spent some time in their end, and we had some good shots, and we did some good things I'm talking about overall as a team game, and the identity of what you're looking for as a team wasn't there." -- Coach Claude Julien, on his team.

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