Boqvist just scratched the surface in first season with Blue Jackets
Young defenseman reached double digits in goals -- and has potential to do even more
The second would be 52, as in the Swedish blueliner was limited to 52 games in his first season with the club thanks to a variety of injuries that popped up throughout the year.
The offensive ability is what made Boqvist such a highly touted prospect, as he was the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft because of what scouts saw as elite offensive skill. But the big development point for Boqvist will be adding strength over the next couple of seasons (and offseasons), both to handle the rigors of an NHL season but also to battle in corners in the defensive zone against the best players in the world.
TOR@CBJ: Boqvist goes coast-to-coast for PPG
"He's an undersized defenseman," head coach Brad Larsen said. "There's nothing wrong with that. He has such a good skill set with the puck. He has a knack to make plays, so that side of it he's pretty dialed in.
"There's a long-term process I think he has to grow into. He wants the minutes, but there's some hard minutes in there, so you are going to have to play in your end. It's not if it's going to happen, it's when, and how do you more than just survive? You want to thrive in those opportunities. I think he needs to get stronger, I think his conditioning will have to go up.
"But he's 21. He's not a 28-year-old guy. There's so much I like about his game, and those are the areas we're going to try to push him to grow into, and there is progression there."
The good news, as Larsen said, is that Boqvist has plenty of time to round out his game. Sometimes the offensive ability of the Falun, Sweden, native belies just how young he is, as Boqvist has skated in just 128 NHL games to this point in his career over two seasons with Chicago and one with the Blue Jackets.
His initial campaign in union blue after coming to Columbus in last summer's Seth Jones trade was impressive, as he became just the sixth defenseman in team history to notch double digits in goals in a season, joining Jones, current teammate Zach Werenski, Bryan Berard, David Savard and Jamie Heward.
They came in bunches at times, as Boqvist had a pair of two-goal games in a nine-day span, spurring a stretch in which he scored six times in 10 games. Again, this guy can score.
"It's really impressive," Werenski said. "I don't think people realize how hard it is to score goals in the National Hockey League. They are hard to come by. It's really impressive for him at 21, and I think it just shows how high his ceiling can be. It's exciting, and Blue Jackets fans should be excited for it."
It's also not a huge surprise that Boqvist was able to show off his offensive bona fides so quickly, as he was one of the top prospects available in the 2018 draft before being chosen by Chicago. He starred as part of the Byrnäs system in Sweden, scoring 14 goals in 24 games in juniors at age 17, making his SHL debut that same season and playing for his home country at the World Juniors. He also tore up the OHL in 2018-19 at age 18, posting 20 goals and 60 points in 54 games with London.
He had just six goals in 76 games over two debut seasons with the Blackhawks, but that experience helped him be ready to go upon arrival in Columbus, and his ability to both skate his way into space and let go an elite-level shot made it hard on goaltenders in his first season with the CBJ.
"I don't try to think about that too much," he said about his production. "I know I can score goals, but it hadn't really clicked earlier. I scored a few goals in the OHL, so it's always nice to score goals and get the team on the board. I'm going to try to put the puck in the net whenever I can."
Boqvist also has shown an ability to run a power play, but when the Blue Jackets staff looks at his game, the most obvious area of improvement will be on the physical side. He's got a sturdy build at 6-foot, 189 pounds, but like any young defenseman, Boqvist still has steps to take to fill out and learn the intricacies of how to battle against the top players in the world he'll be matched up with on a nightly basis.
It would be far too early to label him as injury-prone after just one season in Columbus, but his occasional absences from the lineup did serve as frustration throughout the year, and he said late in the year he knew his offseason goal would be to continue to build his body to be able to withstand the rigors of an NHL year.
"Obviously it's not what I want," he said of a season that included a stint in COVID protocol as well as a concussion and groin injuries. "I want to be healthy and play every game. Yeah, it's been a little bit frustrating. ...
"But I don't want to be good, I want to be great. That's the motor I have in me. I'm ready to hit the summer hard."
For Larsen, that would be music to his ears. He sees a player who can be a true impact defenseman in the NHL, just one that will keep getting better as he keeps putting in the work.
"He's had an offensive game his whole life," Larsen said earlier this season. "You're learning at this level, especially when you get an elevated role, how hard it is to play those top lines every night. A lot of this will come in the summer, too, with conditioning and strengthening and understanding what it's going to take.
"There's certainly strides there. We've had plenty of conversations with him as far as what we're looking for from him, and he's trying to do it. He's a real effective player when he's on his game, but I think there's still tons of room for him to improve, which is the exciting part."
