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Florida Signs Adam Boqvist |
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The Panthers have signed defenseman Adam Boqvist.
The signing screams Bill Zito and could end up being a nice move. It’s a low risk, potential high reward blue line pickup that’s on par with Forsling and OEL — in a sense that both players were unwanted and end up finding their game in Florida.
As Jameson Olive reports in his
article on the Panthers’ website:
“
Florida Panthers President of Hockey Ops. & General Manager Bill Zito announced today that the club has agreed to terms with defenseman Adam Boqvist on a one-year contract.
Boqvist, 23, skated in 35 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24, producing 10 points (1-9-10). He has competed in five NHL seasons with Columbus (2021-22 to 2023-24) and the Chicago Blackhawks (2019-20 to 2020-21), amassing 85 points (23-62-85) over 209 games played.
The 6-foot, 189-pound native of Falun, Sweden was named to the OHL Second All-Star Team in 2018-19 after recording 60 points (20-40-60) over 54 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) games with the London Knights, leading the club with 40 assists.
Prior to his North American experience, Boqvist skated in 15 Swedish Hockey League (SHL) games with Byrnas IF in 2017-18, notching one assist. He also produced 40 points (18-22-40) over 43 games with Byrnas’ junior club from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
On the international stage, Boqvist earned a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship, where he led all tournament blueliners in goals (3) and points (7) en route to being named Best Defenseman. He also earned a bronze medal at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, leading all tournament skaters with seven assists (1-7-8) over five games.
Boqvist was originally selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. His older brother Jesper agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Florida on July 1.”
From what I remember of Boqvist’s time in Chicago, it was a combination of big hype, flashes of good play (silky smooth), a nonchalant attitude, compounded by some tough injuries.
That being said, I still feel the potential is there. As a native of Sweden, he should fit in very nicely on this squad. My hope is they have him working with Forsling and that Forsling rubs off on him in terms of play and attitude.
My guess is the hope is Boqvist replaces Montour as a RHD at much cheaper cost.
Time will tell, but if he can stay healthy and reaches the potential seen in him, it should be fun to watch what he does.
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