Adam Boqvist's 2022-23 season has been disappointing.
Not all of it is his fault though. He missed nearly two full months due to a broken foot suffered on Oct. 25. However, since he's returned from that injury, his play has been below his standards. In the four games he's played in, his on-ice xGF% has been over 50% once (Dec. 31 vs. CHI) and he's registered just four shots on goal, per moneypuck.com.
He had two defensive zone giveaways on Tuesday night and was benched during the third period.
Adam Boqvist has played just two shifts in the third period, and on the last one he had a pass up the middle of the ice that was intercepted and led to a scoring chance.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 4, 2023
Boqvist is an offensive-defenseman that hasn't produced offensively (0-1--1 in 8 GP) and has been a liability on defense. That can't happen, especially on this team that has been so depleted with injuries. The Blue Jackets need their opening-night NHLers to be producing.
In fairness to Boqvist, it's only been four games since his return, but he hasn't looked like the player who scored 11 goals in 52 games (17 goals over an 82-game pace) last season.
The Blue Jackets need more from him, especially since he signed a three-year extension with a $2.6M annual cap hit over the summer.
Then again, he's only played 136 NHL games, so bumps in the road are expected, but if he is going to be part of the solution in rebuilding this team, his play must improve over the rest of the season.
