As a youth, Boyes played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Young Nationalsminor ice hockey team. Boyes played several years of roller hockey for the Mississauga Rattlers. He was a member of the Mississauga Reps AAA hockey team before being drafted by the Erie Otters. Boyes won the J. Ross Robertson Cup with the Otters in 2002. Boyes was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, 24th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to the San Jose Sharks along with Alyn McCauley and a 1st round selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Owen Nolan. Boyes was later traded from the Sharks to the Boston Bruins in a 3-way deal that saw Jeff Jillsongo toBuffalo Sabres, Curtis Brown go to San Jose, and Brad Boyes and Andy Delmore go to Boston on March 9, 2004. Boyes scored his first NHL goal on October 9, 2005, against Sébastien Caron of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored his first NHL hat trick on March 18, 2006 against Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins traded Boyes to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Dennis Wideman on February 27, 2007. In St. Louis Boyes became a star player, scoring 43 goals in the 2007 season, tied for 4th in the league. He followed this up with 33 goals in the 2008 season. On February 27, 2011, Boyes was traded by the Blues to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a second round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Boyes scored a goal in each of his first two games with the Sabres. On July 1, 2012, Boyes signed as a free agent to a one-year, $1 million deal with the New York Islanders. With ambition to move on from a disappointing tenure with the Sabres, Boyes rediscovered his scoring touch during the shortened 2012–13 season to score 35 points in 48 games on the Islanders top scoring line alongside John Tavares and Matt Moulson. Unsigned in the offseason, Boyes was offered a professional try-out contract by the Islanders and the Florida Panthers. He chose to attend the Panthers training camp and signed a one-year deal with them on September 28, 2013. After recording 36 points in 78 games, Boyes was resigned by the Panthers to a two-year, $5.25 million contract. The last year of Boyes' contract was bought out on June 30, 2015, effectively making Boyes a free agent. Despite picking up 38 points in 78 games and having good advanced analytics, Boyes was unable to find a deal, and on September 10, 2015, he signed a professional tryout contract to attend training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team who originally drafted him in 2000. Boyes impressed at camp and during the pre-season, and on September 27, 2015, he was rewarded with a 1-year, $700,000 contract from the Leafs. On November 2, 2015, Boyes scored his first goal with the club. In the process, Boyes set a franchise record for longest span between getting drafted and scoring his first goal with the Maple Leafs, notching it 5609 days after being drafted. Boyes would finish the season with 24 points in 60 games, which was seen as decent production given his limited time on a Maple Leafs team that finished last in the NHL.
