Panthers Pulse: Jesper Boqvist a Potential Versatile Depth Piece for Florida
The Florida Panthers added Jesper Boqvist to rebuild its fourth line, but the 25-year-old forward still has the speed and offensive skillset to do more. As long as he can find some consistency.
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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. Jesper Boqvist is next.
2023-24 Stats: six goals, 14 points, 47 GP (Playoffs: one assist, eight GP)
One of three players the Florida Panthers brought in to rebuild their fourth line, Jesper Boqvist is a versatile forward who provides a punch of speed and offensive potential to the bottom six.
Boqvist started the season in the AHL last year, scoring 10 goals and 23 points in 31 games before earning an NHL call-up following an injury to Matthew Poitras. He filled in well for the Bruins, eventually spending time on the third line and providing some offense in spurts.
Perhaps his biggest moment of the 2023-24, and one that put the Panthers on notice, was when he stripped Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the puck in overtime and burst off to a breakaway to score the game-winning goal in a 3-2 Florida loss on April 6.
But consistency is something that has always plagued Boqvist throughout his career.
Boqvist had a stretch last season where he scored three goals and seven points in 12 games during the month of February. He had that same number of goals and points for the remainder of the 35 games he played in 2023-24.
In 2022-23, Boqvist started the year with eight goals and 16 points in 63 games before scoring two goals and five points in his final seven.
He has talent, but he has struggled to find consistency.
Perhaps the Panthers could unlock it as they had done with players like Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair before him.
If Mackie Samoskevich cannot prove he is ready for a full-time NHL gig during training camp, a spot next to Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen on the third line. If not, he could slide in on the fourth line at either left wing or at center.
Boqvist has had his struggles in the face-off dot, going 35.7 percent in the dot last year and having a career face-off winning percentage of 36.1 percent, but he is strong positionally as a center and has flashed some two-way ability.
Still, Tomas Nosek is likely the favorite to center that fourth line.
Boqvist’s versatility will still come as a big benefit to the Panthers, and should they need to play him up in the lineup, he has shown that he is capable of doing so — albeit in small spurts.
If Florida can unlock his full potential, as they have done with plenty of forwards in the past, he could play an even bigger role on the team.
But for now, the 25-year-old forward has a lot to prove.
The complete collection of Panthers Pulse pre-season previews: Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis, Anton Lundell, Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight, Aleksander Barkov, Adam Boqvist, A.J. Greer, Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, Nate Schmidt, Tobias Bjornfot, Mackie Samoskevich, Jonah Gadjovich, Carter Verhaeghe, Tomas Nosek, Aaron Ekblad, Dmitry Kulikov, Chris Driedger
Training Camp begins on Thursday, Sept. 19