The Albany River Rats (AHL) announced Friday that center Zach Boychuk had joined the team from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, his WHL junior club.
Boychuk, 19, then picked up his first professional point in his AHL debut Friday night with an assist in the River Rats' 4-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Boychuk has completed his fourth season of junior hockey with Lethbridge. The Airdrie, Alberta, native was drafted by the Hurricanes in the first round (14th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Boychuk began the season in the Canes' training camp and made his NHL debut on Oct. 17 at Los Angeles. After playing in two NHL games, he was returned to Lethbridge, where he had 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 43 games.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
Great news.
Sat, 04/11/2009 - 11:50 — gf101112He will be ready for the NHL next Oct.! Good luck Zach!
Oh boy !!
Sat, 04/11/2009 - 09:46 — esteban1949Who knows maybe the rats can get the Zach,Brandon Combo there and if they clicked like Staal,Cole, talk about a hot dou...Or even Zach & Jakub wouldn't be a bad pairing either !!
Go Rats & Canes !!!