‘He brings it all to the table’: Inside Jesper Boqvist’s breakout season with the Panthers
Paul Maurice saw all the qualities of a good hockey player in Jesper Boqvist.
Playmaking. Speed. Physicality. Aggressive to the puck.
“That’s pretty much the definition of what we’re trying to do,” the Florida Panthers’ coach said. “We felt that he would fit very well here.”
But this well? That was probably hard to fathom.
Through 46 games, Boqvist has 11 goals and eight assists. He set a single-season career high for goals when he tallied his 11th on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks. He is also just four points shy of his career high of 23 set during the 2021-22 season.
It has Boqvist looking like the latest low-risk, high-reward signing by Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito.
“He has kind of every skill set,” said forward Carter Verhaeghe, who has played on the same line as Boqvist for the past few weeks. “He can finish, he can make plays, he’s fast. He’s so easy to play with. I love playing with him. He brings it all to the table.”
And he’s taking advantage of the chance to showcase it with the Panthers.
Boqvist began his career with four seasons with the New Jersey Devils and then was with the Boston Bruins last season. He has 69 points (34 goals, 35 assists) in 236 games.
But the Bruins did not extend Boqvist a qualifying offer after last season, making him a free agent.
That opened the door for him to sign a one-year deal with the Panthers, who needed to fill out their bottom-six forward depth following the departures of Kevin Stenlund, Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, Kyle Okposo and Vladimir Tarasenko from last season’s Stanley Cup champion team.
Boqvist has held down his role admirably. He has shown his versatility, playing on both wings and a brief stint at center early in the season when Florida was dealing with injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Tomas Nosek. He already has a career high for hits (106) and is nearing a career high for blocked shots (16, career high is 20).
“He’s earned it,” Maurice said. “He’s a really competitive guy.”
And. his hard work is now being rewarded on the scoresheet.
Of his 11 goals scored this season, nine have come with the game at 5-on-5 — tied for the team lead with Sam Reinhart.
Six of his 11 goals have come during the past 12 games since moving onto a line with Verhaeghe at left wing and Anton Lundell at center.
Since Dec. 30, when the current line of Verhaeghe, Lundell and Boqvist began running together on a regular basis, the trio is outscoring opponents 7-4 while also holding a 58-48 edge in scoring chances in just over 100 minutes on the ice together, according to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick.
“He works really hard, but he also has that ability to take over games with his speed and skill,” Barkov said. “He has a great shot. We’ve seen that all year in practices and games. He’s fun to watch. He’s one of those players where it’s just a matter of time until he breaks out — and he’s breaking out right now. It’s been fun to watch.”
Boqvist, a humble man of few words, credits his success this season to a “good opportunity to play with good players on a good team.”
“I’ve tried to work hard and have my stick on the ice,” Boqvist said, “and then people will find me.”
They have found him, and Boqvist in return has found his way to make an impact on the Panthers.
“You never know how a player will fit or ascend,” Maurice said, “but that’s the player that we signed in our mind. ... I didn’t know that he would be as versatile as he is. It’s very easy for him to slide all over, but this is what we had hoped for. Wherever I play him, he plays well.”
Rare loss in second game of back-to-back
The Panthers gave up a pair of third-period goals in their 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday to split the first of two back-to-back sets on their four-game West Coast trip.
Samuel Helenius and Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings against Florida’s Spencer Knight, who made 26 saves. Evan Rodrigues scored on the power play in the second period for the Panthers (28-18-3).
It’s just the second time this season the Panthers have dropped the second game of a back-to-back — Florida is 5-2-0 so far in those situations. They have seven more back-to-backs this season, including Saturday at the San Jose Sharks (10 p.m., Scripps) and Sunday at the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., Scripps) to cap this trip.
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