by Christopher Nardella, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
POINTE CLAIRE, QC. — As the Alex Galchenyuk saga — will he centre one of the two two lines? — reignites going into training camp, a potential solution to fill the hole he could leave open lies outside the Canadiens organization. With the presumption that the Canadiens move Galchenyuk to centre, a perfect situation is arising for the Habs in Arizona. And it appears it is due to a mutual lack of trust.
In 2008, the (Phoenix) Coyotes used the eighth overall pick to select Mikkel Boedker, a Danish forward out of the OHL. Prior to crossing the ocean to join the Kitchener Rangers, the sniper played 76 games with Frolunda HC Goteborg, where he scored 28 goals and had 66 points.
Hockey’s Future gave this analysis of the speedster “A very speedy skater, […] Boedker exhibits excellent puck pursuit and strength on the puck. [he has an] outstanding shot and lightning fast release. Boedker is a big game player, who needs to continue to look for the shot over the pass and improve his strength.”
When Boedker arrived in Ontario, he put up monster numbers. Considering it was his first season in North America, he recorded 29 goals and 73 points in 62 games along with a plus-6 rating. As a point of reference in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ first season in junior he had 24 goals and 65 points. In the playoffs Boedker had nine goals and 35 points in 20 games.
Similar to most Scandinavian products the Danish forward plays a strong two-way game and coupled with a goal scoring flare, the player was perfect for the Coyotes at eighth overall. Boedker’s style transitioned perfectly to the NHL, so much so, that the Coyotes played him in the NHL at the tender age of 18. The 6-foot-0 forward had 11 goals and 28 points in 78 games that season on a 36-39-7 Coyotes team lead by head coach Wayne Gretzky.
2009-’10 was a rough year for the Brondby, Denmark native who was sent to the AHL after only recording one goal and three points in 14 games to start out the season. Once he arrived in San Antonio [then Phoenix’ AHL affiliate] he only had 11 goals and 38 points in 64 games while also sporting a minus-19 rating.
The Coyotes let out a sigh of relief the next year when Boedker started out the season with 12 goals and 34 points in 36 games in the AHL which lead to him being called back up. However with the big club he had four goals and 14 points in 34 games although he had a plus-11 next to his name, which was tied for fourth on the team.
With Dave Tippett behind their bench, the Phoenix Coyotes made a Cinderella run to the playoffs in 2011-12 making it all the way to the Western Conference final. Their success was not in small part due to Boedker’s four goals and eight points in 16 points. The season that followed was another tough one for the then 20-year old who only had 11 goals and 24 points in all 82 games. His minus-2 rating was sixth worst on the team.
The second lockout in seven years benefited the Dane as he re-established his scoring touch, lighting the lamp 21 times in 29 games for Lukko Rauma of the SM-liiga in Finalnd. He led the team in goals and was third in points despite playing 29 fewer games than the team’s runner up and leader in both categories. When the 2012-13 sprint started up Boedker didn’t miss a beat having his best goal and point per game season of his career up to date with seven goals and 26 points in 48 games.
The left winger’s rapid ascension to becoming an elite two-way forward with offensive upside continued in 2013-14 when he broke down the 15 goal barrier with a 19 goal season accompanied by 51 points. He was second on the team in points.
This past season was the culmination of six up and down seasons of development as the former eighth overall pick was used on the team’s first penalty kill unit and was on pace for his best season before having to undergo surgery. After playing 257 straight NHL games without an injury he was hit awkwardly during a game against the Winnipeg Jets and had to have his spleen removed after the game. The recovery process wouldn’t have taken as long as it did if he not lost 20 pounds after the surgery. Prior to going under the knife the Scandinavian had 14 goals and 28 points in 45 games he was on pace for a 25 goal, 51 point season. The injury caused him to miss the rest of the season.
On paper this is a perfect player for a rebuilding Coyotes franchise but the dark elephant in the room is in the form of a rocky contractual situation. Since being up for his first non-entry level contract Boedker has only signed one year deals leaving his future in Arizona in doubt. Although he has had some rough patches in his career being wary about a long term deal isn’t only a trait the Coyotes have. Phoenix/Arizona’s uncertainty when it comes to them staying has been a contributing factor to why the seemingly perpetual year to year contract player hasn’t wanted to sign a long term deal, according to his agent Jarret Bousquet. In Boedker’s opinion the ball is in his team’s court “I’m open for anything. It obviously puts a lot of pressure on me this season but I think it’s their turn to show what I mean to the team.” he said about his contract situation.
The 200-pound forward will become an unrestricted free agent next offseason and Bousquet believes he will be able to get as high as $5 million annually on the free agent market. This was some of the reasoning behind another one year deal according to his agent. The ‘Yotes may begin to negotiate a new extension starting in January but should they not be able to get something done expect the 25-year old to be one of the best players available at the trade deadline.
Considering Tomas Plekanec‘s contract could be coming off the books after this season Boedker would be a great replacement as the second line left winger and replace his spot on the penalty kill. Letting Plekanec go would open up the chance for Galchenyuk to play down the middle and would alleviate the necessary cap space to sign Boedker. Whether the Czech centreman is with the Canadiens come the 2016-’17 season or not, Mikkel Boedker should be at the top of their lists at both the trading deadline and the free agency period.