A beautiful skater with impressive vision and puck control skills, Adam Boqvist approaches the game like fellow countryman and Ottawa Senators superstar Erik Karlsson in that he's an electric offensive catalyst who controls the flow and executes seam-splitting moves with a great deal of confidence.
Much like Karlsson, Boqvist enters the draft as a dominant player in Sweden's junior ranks that has yet to be battle tested with a deeper book of experience at the professional level.
Boqvist collected 14 goals and 24 points in 25 games this season with Brynas' J20 club, but never stuck with their Swedish Hockey League entry, garnering one assist in 15 appearances while averaging 7:27 of work per outing. To demonstrate his growth, though, he did eclipse double-digit minutes of work in his final five appearances in February and March.
Boqvist has excellent command of the puck that has allowed him to dance is way through his peer group, and he's a pleasure to watch on the power play as quickly he eats up space, sets up teammates for prime opportunities, and wires accurate shots from range like a fourth forward on the ice. If forced to isolate Boqvist's greatest attribute, it would be his advanced shooting.
While clearly needing to add some upper-body bulk to his 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame, Boqvist will also want to focus on his defensive responsibilities moving forward. He doesn't come off as a liability, but he is somewhat raw in this area and will certainly benefit from additional coaching in the coming developmental years to make him win more battles and become a better player in front of his own net.
Boqvist is likely two-to-three years away from taking a run at an NHL gig, so making refinements in his positioning and overall attention to detail, and more importantly deciding when to flip the switch to attack and when to pass it off to limit the risk, will be a must to help him manage what is projected to be a significant workload as he ascends the professional ranks as a two-way rearguard.
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For more on all the youngsters in the Sabres pipeline, check out Kris Baker's website, SabresProspects.com. You can also follow him on Twitter (@SabresProspects).
