New Jersey Devils: A grade for Jesper Boqvist’s up and down year
The New Jersey Devils might have something special in Jesper Boqvist, they just need to do what is necessary to unlock what makes him special.
The New Jersey Devils have lots of young players that they hope to see time as impactful NHL players in the near future. One of those players is Jesper Boqvist. He was a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. The Devils are already big-time winners from that draft because they selected Nico Hischier with the first overall pick so if Boqvist can be an impact player than that draft will prove to have served very well.
Boqvist seemed to be mistreated at times during his rookie NHL season. He spent a good portion of his NHL time in the press box and then started playing more for the Binghamton Devils. None of these things is his fault. It would have honestly been better for them to not even have him make the final cut out of camp if this was going to be the way that they treated him.
In 35 games played for New Jersey, Boqvist scored four goals and is still looking for his first NHL assist. Those four points aren’t what he was expecting but he turned it on big time when he made his way to Binghamton. In 19 AHL Devils games, he had eight goals and three assists for 11 points. It seems like, from what we’ve seen so far, that goals might be his primary offensive function but you never know what he becomes.
If goal scoring is in fact his thing at the NHL level, that would be huge if the Devils were able to unlock that in bunches. Their franchise centers in Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes are both pass-first type players so the more goal scorers the Devils can provide them the better. Hopefully, if Boqvist makes the team out of camp again next year he is put in a position to succeed by his coach.
Final Grade: C
Jesper Boqvist deserves a C simply for putting up with that the team did for him in 2019-20. He didn’t live up to expectations because when he was with the club, he was either in the press box or on the fourth line. Neither of those two spots is good for a 21-year-old skilled player. He needs to be on a line with forwards who can create offense.
A grade for Janne Kuokkanen's short Devils tenure. light. Hot
If Boqvist does manage to earn a top-six spot in the lineup next season, you can expect him to have a much higher grade. If he can put the puck in the net like we think he can, he will be a great winger for this team for a long time.