6:37 pm: CapFriendly reports Boyko’s contract carries an $851K cap hit. The full salary breakdown is as follows:
Year 1: $750K base + $82.5K signing bonus
Year 2: $775K base + $85K signing bonus
Year 3: $775K base + $85K signing bonus
5:19 pm: The New York Rangers have made a big signing – literally, not figuratively. General manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has agreed to terms with goaltender prospect Talyn Boyko on a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Boyko is one of the largest (if not the largest) goalie prospects in the league, standing at 6′ 8″ and 201 pounds. The soon-to-be 20-year-old netminder was drafted by the Rangers with the 112th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
After a rough start to the 2021-22 campaign in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans, Boyko was traded after just eight games to the Kelowna Rockets where he regained form en route to a second All-Star team nod for the WHL’s BC Division. He posted two shutouts, a .913 save percentage, and a 28-12-4 record in 46 games with Kelowna.
Boyko, who attended Rangers training camp this year, will likely play the 2022-23 campaign with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen due to the goalie logjam with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. As he’s just barely aged out of juniors, the ECHL is probably the best place for Boyko’s development regardless. His gigantic frame makes him a tantalizing prospect, but as with most goalies, it’ll be a few seasons at least before we see Boyko poised for NHL time.
I appreciate the pun.