Over the past five years, Tom Fitzgerald has had to make some very hard decisions on tweener players as he's looking to build a roster for future contention. The New Jersey Devils built a large swatch of draft picks that helped them build a very good prospect system, but that often comes with the issue of letting decent players go once they need an NHL roster spot.
There are only 23 available slots for NHL general managers to work with. There's also the AHL, but at some point, players need to go through waivers to get there. Teams often lose these players in the format to teams just looking to fill the roster with relatively young players.
The casualties include names like Graeme Clarke, Tyce Thompson, Reilly Walsh, Joey Anderson, Mikhail Maltsev, and even Pavel Zacha. They were all traded for small returns or just to gain something from the asset. There are also players like Shakir Mukhamadullin, Fabian Zetterlund, Kevin Bahl, and Yegor Sharangovich who were traded for stars. There is one decision, however, that's still discussed more than most of these decisions.
After the 2022-23 season, the Devils had a decision to make on center Jesper Boqvist. The former second-round pick was mostly an NHL regular on a very good Devils team. He had decent on-ice numbers, including being on the ice at 5v5 for 33 goals and just 24 goals against (stat via Natural Stat Trick). He even scored 10 goals for the Devils.
While his numbers were fine, he wasn't anything to get too upset at. He was a center, but he was dreadful in the faceoff circle (34% in 22-23), and he took way too many hits for how little time he was on the ice (98 hits in 758 minutes). There were a few things that showed Boqvist was a player that would not fit in with what Fitzgerald wanted for this team moving forward.
Would Boqvist thrive in Sheldon Keefe's system? Maybe. He seems to be changing the way he plays the game (74 hits against 63 hits taken this season). He was pretty bad with the Boston Bruins last season. He was even placed on waivers at the beginning of the season, but Boqvist found his game with the Panthers this year.
The interest in Jesper Boqvist's success should not lead to anger towards the New Jersey Devils and Tom Fitzgerald.
It's very possible this is a Stefan Noesen situation where a player just found the right collection of growth, coaching, mentorship, and learning new skills and how they react to them. Boqvist wouldn't have learned that here. He especially wouldn't want to stick around after the turmoil in development from last season.
Would a bad year last year for Boqvist with the Devils push him to go back to Europe? That's not a scenario that's outside possibility. Instead, he has a chance to play with his brother in Florida, and that has re-ignited his career. The Devils couldn't hire his brother because the defense is currently stacked. Adam Boqvist hasn't been able to stay in the lineup, either, but he's likely with the Utica Comets with this organization.
We understand how it can be frustrating to see a player the Devils gave up on thrive elsewhere, but the circumstances for Boqvist only make sense for the Panthers. Also, when looking into the numbers beyond the surface (7 goals, 6 assists in 35 games), he's actually been on the ice for 22 goals against and just 14 goals. This is still a flawed player that would be, at best, a minimal upgrade to the fourth line.