Chris Bourque is heading to the very same NHL franchise where his legendary father Ray Bourque played. The Boston Bruins acquired Bourque over the weekend after trading Zach Hamill to the Washington Capitals.
Bourque has spent most of his playing time with Hersey, Washington’s AHL affiliate. During his 73-game stretch with Hersey Chris Bourque has 27 goals, 66 assists and a league-high 93 points.
The 26-year-old Bourque will reach unrestricted free agency July 1 and is coming off a one-year, $525,000 contract.
While Bourque has performed in the AHL he has been too inconsistent to become a full-time NHLer, during 33 games split between Washington and Pittsburgh Bourque scored just one goal with three assists in 33 career games.
The last time Chris Bourque played in the NHL was from 2009-2010 when he played in 20 games for the Penguins and one for the Capitals.
Chris Bourque was a 33rd pick in the 2004 draft and would likely be chosen as a fourth-line energy role if he performs well enough in the training camp.
In the meantime Zach Hamill who was picked eighth overall in the 2007 NHL draft never managed to live up to the Bruins’ expectations as a center. The Bruins chose not to utilize Hamill much over the last four years, in 2011-2012 he appeared in a career-high 16 HHML games and managed just two assists while playing mostly in the third-line right wing position.
Zach Hamill was eventually placed on waivers Feb. 6 at which point any team could have claimed him without giving up assets before he was cleared.
