Florida Panthers Trust Jesper Boqvist with Another Big Opportunity
The Florida Panthers will make a slight tweak to their lineup upon Sam Bennett’s pending return to the lineup: Jesper Boqvist will slide up to play with him and Matthew Tkachuk.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Ever since Jesper Boqvist arrived in South Florida, he has taken just about every opportunity he has been given and ran with it.
Boqvist has slotted in at center and at wings on Lines 3 and 4, played big penalty kill minutes for the Panthers and has put up two goals and four points in the first 16 games of the season.
He will get his next big test on Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils, likely alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett on the second line.
“I think he’s what we hoped he would be,” coach Paul Maurice said. “We were very high on him going back to the playoffs two years ago. … But he is a player that can move around.
“He can play center, he can play the wing effectively, he can play both sides. And we know he’s got the skill set that he can play up the lineup. He is very, very valuable to us now.”
Boqvist received the assignment to slide up that second line on Tuesday, when Bennett was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. He is a game-time decision to return on Thursday, but Boqvist appears to be slotted in that line regardless of what happens.
If Bennett is not able to play after going through warm-ups, it is very likely that Boqvist shifts back over to center that line.
Regardless of what happens, feels confident that he can handle that responsibility.
“I think I came in here pretty confident,” Boqvist said. “I think I have more to my game, but I think I showed in previous years that I can do that, and hopefully I can do more of it.
“I’m just trying to come in here every day, work hard, and get better. And then they decide whether I play or now. So, I’m just taking it day-by-day and working hard.”
Boqvist’s versatility has been key for a Panthers team that has dealt with a slew of injuries and illnesses to start the season.
He found himself centering a makeshift third line with A.J. Greer and Mackie Samoskevich at times when Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk — all the while blueliner Uvis Balinskis jumped up to play forward — and helped the team stay afloat. He has since plugged in at the wing next to Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.
With as many injuries as a team has over the course of a season, the Panthers need a plug-and-play guy like Boqvist to help weather those storms.
“With injuries and with travel, you’re going to get into a situation where you have something like what happened with Sam [on Tuesday,]” Maurice said. “He tightened up in the morning, there was a chance he was going to loosen up and be fine by game time and you need to have a plan for that.
“I didn’t want to move a lot of people around to do it. At the 30 minute of that game, it’s a tie game and the shots are 20-7 [in favor of Florida], so we feel he was pretty effective in the move.”
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