Boychuk returns to TD Garden on Thursday night for the first time since his trade to the Islanders a little less than three weeks ago.

WILMINGTON — Dougie Hamilton walked into the Bruins’ dressing room 21 months ago, a skinny 19-year-old who was suddenly thrust into the lineup of a Stanley Cup contender filled with veterans.

Although several players did their best to make Hamilton feel welcome and secure — Zdeno Chara has a team rule that the term ‘rookie’ is not used, subbed out for something like ‘young player’ — the quiet defenseman said it was Johnny Boychuk who did the most to helped him feel like he belonged in that lockout season.

“I think he really opened up to me and helped me,” Hamilton said Wednesday. “We were friends. As an older guy to be friends with most of the guys on the team and especially me, it was nice. I definitely miss him around the room and on the ice.”

Boychuk returns to TD Garden on Thursday night for the first time since his trade to the Islanders a little less than three weeks ago. Boychuk was a salary-cap casualty, and the move to deal him for draft picks was not a popular one in the Boston dressing room.

But as much as Boychuk’s absence has been felt on the ice — the Bruins really don’t know who Dennis Seidenberg’s long-term partner on the second defensive pairing is — for the players who called Boychuk a teammate for the last few years, it’s his goofiness that’s missed most.

Boychuk could be a difficult interview because he sometimes didn’t take the subject seriously, but for teammates, he was a good laugh. Even as defensemen trade rumors surrounded the Bruins during training camp, Boychuk always had a smile on his face, laughing at one thing or another.

“He's got a really good personality,” Hamilton said. “I think everyone knows that, and he's serious when he needs to be. That's something that keeps everything light and makes it more fun to be at the rink. When everyone's grumpy, it makes it pretty tough to be here, so it was nice to have that, somebody that can smile and you can laugh at.”

So it was in the hours after Boychuk was dealt Oct. 4, just four days before the season, that the players were upset about it, that Claude Julien addressed his team about moving on from the deal before a preseason game against the Red Wings. These are professional hockey players, men who are used to the realities of a cold business, who have seen teammates come and go. Many have bounced around themselves.

But this was a little different. Not to get all Bill Simmons-y, but it’s like Red after Andy escapes in ‘Shawshank Redemption’ — “When they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.”

“We lost a good person and a good player,” Julien said. “You’re always happy that he’s happy — well, of course you’re going to hear us say that except when it’s against us — but I don’t think there’s anybody here that wishes [anything] but the best for him. Then you move on, and that’s what we’re trying to do. Hopefully he’s doing the same thing.”

Boychuk’s early weeks with the Islanders couldn’t have gone much better. He had five points in the first two games, is playing top-pairing minutes, getting shifts on the No. 1 power play and New York is 4-2-0. Set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, Boychuk is setting himself up for a big payday.

“Not really (a surprise),” Adam McQuaid said of Boychuk’s success. “When we played in Providence together, he was on the PP and he scored 20 goals that year. We know he had a hard shot. He's got the opportunity and he's making the most of it.”

Of course, just because Boychuk is gone doesn’t mean the jokes stop. Several players reached out to Boychuk in the aftermath of the deal. One of them was Tuukka Rask.

“I wish all the best for him, but I hope he doesn't score [against Rask]. I'd never hear the end of it,” the goalie said. “He actually texted me after the trade, he said 'Whenever we play, I'll get a goal.' ”

So could Rask help out his friend’s negotiating power by allowing a goal to Boychuk?

“Well, if it’s 9-1 at the end of the game for us,” Rask said, “accidents happen.”

Hey, someone’s got to make jokes with Boychuk gone.

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