Stanley Cup champion Paul Boutilier passes away at 63

Boutilier was 63 at the time of his passing. The NHL Alumni Association did not disclose the cause of death in the announcement.

Boutilier spent eight seasons in the NHL with the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets. He played 288 regular season games across his career, accumulating 27 goals, 83 assists and 110 points in that span. He also had one goal and nine assists for 10 points in 41 playoff games in his career.

Boutilier was a first-round draft pick for the Islanders in the 1981 out of the QMJHL. He returned to the QMJHL the 1981-82 season before making his NHL debut later that season, playing just one game. He did the same the following season, but got more action with the Islanders, enough to be credited for the Isles’ Stanley Cup win in 1983. It wouldn’t be until his fourth season where he became an NHL regular, doing so for two seasons with the Islanders before he was dealt to the Bruins ahead of the 1986-87 season.

Boutilier only played a partial season with the Bruins before being dealt again mid-season to the North Stars, where he finished out the rest of the season. He was traded again to the Rangers in the summer of 1987 season. He only spent a bit over two months with the Rangers before he was dealt again to the Jets, where he played his final nine NHL games, spending more time in the AHL. He spent two more seasons in the AHL and in Switzerland before ending his playing career in 1991.

Boutilier then went on to become a coach at the collegiate, junior and professional levels, highlighted by his one-year stint as a development coach with the Nashville Predators in 2013-14. He spent the past two years working as a defensive consultant for the Moncton Wildcats and the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL.

Boutilier also represented Canada internationally at the junior and senior levels, including the gold-medal winning 1982 World Junior Hockey Championship team.