The Chicago Blackhawks dealt Bochenski Saturday to the Boston Bruins in exchange for minor league forward Kris Versteeg and a conditional draft pick.
Bochenski, who created a stir during the 2005-06 pre-season with the Ottawa Senators on a line with Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, failed to follow it up during the regular season, was demoted to the minors and eventually traded to the Blackhawks last March for Tyler Arnason.
He only played in ten games with the struggling ‘Hawks this season, returning to the minors before Saturday’s trade.
It remains to be seen if Bochenski can stick with the Bruins, his third NHL team in only two seasons.
hard to reconstruct why he doesn't get something going when you think about how strong he scores in the minors - this year almost a goal per game and two points per game... Hope he does better in Boston although the Blackhawks could've also needed him as a scoring forward.
These aren't the moves I expect to see from the B's. It does shore up Providence, Bochenski tears up the AHL we just don't know if he can play in the big league. Versteeg is a good little player but has seemed to level off a bit this year, I don't see him as much of an NHLer.
This is the type of move that I feel like we're gonna see a lot of from the B's in the near future. Bochenski is a mammoth in the AHL this year averaging a goal and an assist per game which is much better than Versteeg's numbers but he is a couple years older and Versteeg has been said to be a very promising young player. I've seen him play in the AHL a few times and he's a pretty solid energy player who can make some plays, but I feel like he can amount to about as much as Bochenski can so it almost seems like a wash. From what I hear it seems like Bochenski is a Glen Murray-type player being someone who has decent skating skills and is a relatively big body, but his main asset is a deadly shot. So, this move seems like one to just change the dynamic of the younger player and rather than have another energy player that might not be major league ready, they get a player who has been there before, but is young and hasn't quite broken in yet and is more of a sniper. So I think this move can work out for the B's, but time will tell I guess.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
