For the second time in five games, Adam Boqvist had a multi-goal night.
Even more impressive is the fact that the 21-year-old scored those four goals on just five shots. Efficiency at its finest and, if it continues, efficiency that could lead to a historic season for the Columbus Blue Jacket defenseman.
Boqvist scored his 5th and 6th goals of the season in Sunday's 6-4 win over the San Jose Sharks. The six goals come in just 16 games, as Boqvist missed seven games earlier in the season with an undisclosed injury.
NHL Video Highlight - Adam Boqvist scores against the San Jose Sharks to make it 5-3. pic.twitter.com/OAMK3EyvBV
— Blue Jackets Game Bot (@CBJGameBot) December 6, 2021
It took 76 games for Boqvist to score six goals with his former team (and Seth Jones' new team), the Chicago Blackhawks. Jones was traded to Chicago over the summer with Boqvist one of many key pieces coming to Columbus in the deal. Oh, speaking of Chicago — their entire defense has combined for five goals in 145 man-games played.
Boqvist is quickly approaching rarified air with the Blue Jackets. Zach Werenski holds the all-time franchise record for goals by a defenseman, with 20 in the 2019-20 season. As a result of the pandemic pause, Werenski played in only 63 games that season. Had Werenski played in all 82 games, he would have been on pace for 26 goals.
How does Werenski's season compare to Boqvist? If extrapolated out, he would be on pace to score 31 goals this season if he were to play in all 82 games. That's not possible with time already missed, but even if he were to score six goals every 23 games (the number of games Columbus has played this season), Boqvist would still be on pace to score a record-breaking 21 goals. If he can stay healthy for the remainder of the season, the pace would be 28 goals.
Time on ice is a factor, too. Boqvist is doing this while averaging just 16:25 of ice time per game. In the goals per 60 minutes category, Boqvist checks in number two amongst defensemen at 1.37. The leader, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, is at 1.38. (For fun, former Blue Jacket and current Philadelphia Flyer Cam Atkinson is at 1.31.)
His defense needs a bit of fine-tuning, as it does for any 21-year-old blue liner in the NHL. But at this rate, the tongue-in-cheek question must be asked:
Can this guy play wing?
