Jesper Boqvist: The “Perfect Hybrid” for Florida Panthers

“On any line that we have with the centericemen that are there, we would add the perfect hybrid,” coach Paul Maurice said. “He’ll defend first, but he can make plays.”

NEW YORK — Jesper Boqvist has been asked to do just about everything in his first few weeks with the Florida Panthers.

The 25-year-old forward, who arrived in South Florida as a free agent this past summer, has played all over the lineup — the fourth line, the top nine, center, wing, the penalty kill, and even a little bit of power play time — due to an increasingly long injury report for the Panthers.

“I try to do my best, to be honest,” Boqvist told PucksAndPalms.com. “Whether it’s on the PK or [at 5-on-5] and the way we play fits my game too, the way we move our feet and get down low, so it’s been fun.”

Boqvist’s best has been enough to help keep the Panthers afloat early on without some of their most impactful players in the lineup, and the numbers speak for themselves.

He has a goal and three points in the first nine games of the season and has yet to be on the ice for a power play goal against in 16:26 of shorthanded ice-time.

His career has prepared him for this.

“I’ve had some stretches where it’s been hard, for sure,” Boqvist said. “Coming from Sweden, I’ve always been this offensive guy, and growing up being that offensive guy, but I’ve always been taking pride in ‘don’t get scored on’ and stuff like that, too.

“I’ve always been thinking about that part of the game too. I’ve had some hard stretches and some good stretches, but you learn from it, right?”

Boqvist, drafted early in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft, came into the league as a highly-touted offensive prospect after putting up 13 goals and 35 points in 51 games during his draft year in Sweden’s top professional league.

He has had some ups and downs, showcasing his ability with some strong offensive stretches while spending three tours in the AHL throughout his career, including one at the beginning of the season last year after he left the New Jersey Devils for the Boston Bruins in free agency.

But throughout his demotions to the fourth line and the minors, he has learned to add more to his tool bag and become a more complete player — and he takes pride in that.

“Whatever they need me to do, I will do it,” Boqvist said. “I’ll be happy to do whatever it is and I’ll try to fit in wherever they put me.”

Boqvist showed flashes of the player he could be in spurts last season, scoring three goals and seven points in 12 games in February, bringing a solid two-way presence to Boston’s bottom six, and even scoring an overtime winner against the Panthers late in the season which helped draw their attention to him.

With multiple key departures in their forward core, Florida brought him in to show off in hopes of bringing out the best in Boqvist’s versatility.

“On any line that we have with the centericemen that are there, we would add the perfect hybrid,” coach Paul Maurice said. “He’ll defend first, but he can make plays.”

The Panthers later added his brother, Adam, in free agency after he got bought out by the Columbus Blue Jackets to help fill the void left by Brandon Montour in their defense corps and their power play.

“When that kind of a team wants, you to play there, it’s a huge honor. Right?” Boqvist said. “Obviously, the team has been great, too. All of the people around the team and the guys on the team have been so helpful and I feel like I’ve been adjusting pretty good and still learning, and it’s been an alright start so far.”

All things considered, Boqvist has exceeded all of the expectations Florida’s brass has had for him — and they needed him to with injuries and illness keeping Aleksander Barkov, Tomas Nosek and Matthew Tkachuk out for a large portion of Florida’s opening nine games.

He has stepped up to play minutes in the Top 9 at both center and the wing while helping the Panthers stay afloat on the penalty kill without Barkov and Nosek (two key cogs to Florida’s plans on the PK).

“I don’t know if ‘surprise’ is the right word, but the utility of him,” Maurice said. “I can play him in all three forward positions, he has become an important part of our penalty kill with Barkov out, and the Reinhart-Barkov combination is really important to us.”

The Panthers have been so good on the penalty kill, in fact, that Maurice could have the luxury of dialing back the minutes of his top players.

Florida is currently fourth in the NHL with an 88 percent penalty killing efficiency, and Boqvist has become an increasingly important part of it.

When the Panthers were shorthanded late in Thursday night’s game against the Rangers, down 6-on-4 after New York pulled Igor Shesterkin for the extra attacker, Boqvist played a good chunk of that kill alongside Sam Reinhart to get Florida out of it with its 3-1 lead intact.

And he came up with multiple big plays to quell scoring chances and get the puck out of the zone.

With Nosek set to return at the start of November, the Panthers could very well have another solid forward pairing to run on the penalty kill to spell off the minutes of Barkov and Reinhart, as well as Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.

“They usually go out first becuase it’s left and right-handed centermen, but he’s earned that. It would be lovely if we could get everybody healthy, I don’t know if that day ever comes, but you’ve got Nosek, who’s a penalty killer, that we could actually cut back on Barkov and Reinhart and they wouldn’t have to take those minutes as much because we could put good killers on the ice.”