(Caps Outsider)
Hailing from what many dub the ‘State of Hockey’ (which began as a marketing campaign by the Minnesota Wild), Capitals Forward Travis Boyd has his roots firmly planted in Minnesota, playing high school hockey for Hopkins High School in Minnetonka. Several opportunities to represent US Junior Teams at U17 and U18 levels came his way including a 60 game and 38 point stint in 2010-11 with the US National U18 Team.
Boyd then found himself winging his way back home to join NCAA collegiate team the Minnesota Golden Gophers, part of the University of Minnesota, for whom he would play 4 seasons from 2011-2015. During his first collegiate season, his route to the National Hockey League began, as he was drafted at 177th overall in the 6th round of the 2011 NHL entry level draft.
Boyd showed continual improvement in his gameplay for the Golden Gophers, tallying 96 points in 148 games at NCAA level. He was part of the Big Ten Championship with the Golden Gophers in the 2014-15 season, being named to the second all star team for the Big Ten Conference the same year.
2015 would prove to be highlight-laden for Boyd as he signed a two tear entry level contract with the Capitals and joined AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears for the tail end of the 2014-15 season.
Boyd cut his teeth at the professional level over the next couple of seasons at AHL level with the Bears, playing 152 games for Hershey between 2015 and 2017. In that time he registered 37 goals and 79 assists and lined up for 33 playoff games, statistics of which the Capitals took note.
Re-signing with the Capitals in mid 2017, Boyd made his NHL debut in December of the same year, playing eight regular season games and one playoff game during the 2017-18 season (which included his first NHL point in a game against the Flyers). He received regular game time when not playing at NHL level, registering 76 regular season and 12 playoff games with the Bears in Hershey before being a part of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup winning roster in 2018.
Despite a preseason injury, Boyd lined up in the active roster to commence the 2018-19 season and scored his first NHL goal in December 2018. He has so far played 46 games for the Capitals across the 2018-19 season and has registered 4 goals, 15 assists and a regular spot in the Washington line up.
With a large amount of talent on the Capitals roster, including new acquisition Carl Hagelin slotting into the third line, Boyd regularly skates on the fourth line alongside Chandler Stephenson and Andre Burakovsky and continues to prove himself at the top level.
