Adam Boqvist is excelling in his new home.
In his first season with the Blue Jackets, 21-year-old Boqvist is tied for the league lead in goals by a defenseman in his debut season with a new team (11), with Arizona's Shayne Gostisbehere, who joined the Coyotes from Philadelphia. Boqvist's 11 goals have come in just 52 games, placing him tied-12th in the NHL overall for defenseman goal scoring.
Boqvist sits fourth in points by a Blue Jackets defenseman this season, only trailing Zach Werenski with 47, Vladislav Gavrikov with 33 and Jake Bean with 23. However, Boqvist has done a better job staying out of the box than the top three defensemen; Boqvist only has 12 penalty minutes this season while Werenski has 22, Gavrikov has 60 and Bean has 26.
Boqvist is just seven points shy of his point total in two seasons combined with Chicago. In his first season with the Blackhawks in 2019-20, Boqvist picked up four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 41 games played. Then in the 2020-21 season, Boqvist collected two goals and 14 assists for 16 points in 35 games.
He's making the most of his new opportunity with a new organization and a new head coach in Brad Larsen, who has trusted the young defenseman with 17:02 in average ice time. At home, Boqvist has six goals and five assists while on the road, he has five goals and six assists.
On special teams, Boqvist has three power play goals this season to go with three assists for six points on the power play. He also has one game-winning goal this season for a total of two in his career in three seasons.
Overall in three seasons and a total of 128 games played, Boqvist has 17 goals and 34 assists for a grand total of 51 points. On special teams, he has four goals and 12 assists for 16 points on the power play.
He's also shown his speed with goals, flying coast to coast for this one in February against the Maple Leafs.
Adam Boqvist just went COAST to COAST @BlueJacketsNHL pic.twitter.com/WHBCNpFS2Y
— ESPN (@espn) February 23, 2022
This season, the majority of Boqvist's points have come against Western Conference opponents with seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 20 games. Against conference opponents in the East, Boqvist has four goals and six assists for 10 points in 32 games.
With five games left with two at home and three on the road, the possibility is there for Boqvist to get even closer and possibly tie or break his career point total. At a young age and under team control for years to come, it appears as though the Blue Jackets will get to watch another talented defenseman develop under their own roof.
After two seasons in Chicago where he was a top-10 draft pick, Boqvist was dealt to the Blue Jackets last summer.
Along with the 12th pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (Cole Sillnger), a second-round pick and a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Boqvist was a key piece of a blockbuster that sent star defenseman Seth Jones to the Blackhawks.
OFFICIAL: The #CBJ have acquired Adam Boqvist + picks from Chicago in exchange for Seth Jones + picks.
DETAILS : https://t.co/hnwYJKevuZ pic.twitter.com/yV6m51OyYL
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) July 24, 2021
For Boqvist, the move has paid with a notable increase in points this season with it likely only to increase going forward. Head coach Brad Larsen is excited to see how Boqvist can grow this summer saying they've just scratched the surface with him.
"I'm excited for him to have a summer really," Larsen said.
He noted how they were going to push him in his training during the upcoming off-season, calling it a critical time for his development.
