Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils: 4 Internal Options For Third Line Center

By Nick Villano

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 16: Egor Sharangovich #17 of the New Jersey Devils is congratulated by teammates Dmitry Kulikov #70, Jack Hughes #86 and Jesper Boqvist #90 after he scored the game winning goal in overtime against the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center on January 16, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the game is played without fans. The New Jersey Devils defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1. This was the first career NHL goal for Egor Sharangovich of the Devils. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 16: Egor Sharangovich #17 of the New Jersey Devils is congratulated by teammates Dmitry Kulikov #70, Jack Hughes #86 and Jesper Boqvist #90 after he scored the game winning goal in overtime against the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center on January 16, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the game is played without fans. The New Jersey Devils defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1. This was the first career NHL goal for Egor Sharangovich of the Devils. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils Jesper Boqvist (90): (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports) /

Jesper Boqvist

Let’s start with the player that finished last season with the position. In the season finale against the Philadelphia Flyers, Jesper Boqvist played 8:13 of 5v5 with Andreas Johnsson and Nolan Foote. It was an interesting line as Coach Ruff was trying out different combinations to evaluate for the next season. The first line of Hughes-Kuokkanen-Sharangovich was set. The second line of Hischier-Zacha-Bratt was set, and the fourth line with McLeod-Wood-Bastian wasn’t changing. The Devils had three set lines, but that third line was constantly changing.

Boqvist’s career with the Devils hasn’t hit expectations. There are times when he looks like a tweener between the AHL and NHL. He will go down to the minors and at times dominate. There are games where he is the best player on the ice. Then, he’ll just completely fall off.

Between the last two seasons, Boqvist has 63 games and just 11 points. Last season, he got 7 points in 28 games, which actually was much better than his prior season.

Boqvist was basically in the lineup from the last few games of March to the end of the season. It’s clear the Devils want to know what they have in the former 2nd-round pick. Boqvist came to North America with a ton of expectations. He was one of the best prospects in the system at one point. Now it is time to prove he can stick in the NHL long term.

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