Panthers Pulse: Adam Boqvist Could be Florida’s Latest Reclamation Project
After an injury-plagued 2023-24 season and a buyout from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Adam Boqvist arrives in South Florida looking to reach his potential as a former Top 10 pick.
Leading up to the beginning of training camp, Pucks and Palms will be previewing each of the key pieces of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in a series called ‘Panthers Pulse’ heading into the 2024-25 season. Adam Boqvist is next.
2023-24 Stats: one goal, 10 points, 35 GP (Columbus Blue Jackets)
With both of their power play quarterbacks from their run to the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers needed to find a defenseman with offensive upside in free agency.
Insert Adam Boqvist.
Boqvist was drafted eighth overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018 after putting up an impressive 20 goals and 60 points in 54 games for the OHL’s London Knights. He was later traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Seth Jones deal and never quite reached that ceiling in the NHL.
In 2019 career games, Boqvist has 23 goals and 85 points. He showed flashes of that potential — scoring 11 goals and 22 points in 52 games in 2021-22 followed up by five goals and 24 points in 46 games this past season — but he has yet to put together an NHL season of over 60 games.
The Blue Jackets bought out Boqvist’s contract this summer after his 2023-24 season was plagued by a shoulder strain that costed him 13 games early in the season and a concussion which kept him out of the final 16 games. He was also a healthy scratch for 15 games in 2023-24.
Just as they did with Oliver Ekman-Larsson last summer, the Panthers took a flier on another injury-plagued defenseman with offensive upside, signing the 24-year-old to a one-year deal carrying a $775,000 cap hit.
Boqvist is still young enough to realize his potential.
A lot of defensemen typically do not hit their peak until around their age 26 season — Gustav Forsling is a prime example of that — and he did show flashes of it early on in his career.
It is just a matter of if he can stay healthy and earn his way into the opening night roster in training camp.
The potential is apparent when watching his film from Columbus.
He has a solid shot — a dangerous slap shot from the point and a sneaky quick release for a defenseman on his wrist shot — he is mobile, he is a solid puck mover and he isn’t too shabby in the defensive end either.
If he can capture some of that confidence and swagger he played with that earned him the nod as the eighth overall pick in 2018, he could be one of Florida’s latest reclamation projects.
Up Next in Panthers Pulse: AJ Greer
Previously: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis, Anton Lundell, Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight, Aleksander Barkov