There are a few things that the Boston Bruins need to accomplish during the offseason, with just two restricted free agents left to sign in Trent Frederic and Jeremy Swayman. However, the team, led by general manager Don Sweeney, has been hustling to fill holes in the lineup and recently announced the signing of Jesper Boqvist.
As a former second-round pick (36th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Boqvist has been a member of the New Jersey Devils since debuting on Oct. 5, 2019. After four seasons, the native of Falun, Sweden, has skated in 189 contests and collected 55 points.
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Although Boqvist doesn’t have a spot in the Bruins lineup locked down, there’s a chance he makes the opening night roster with a solid performance in training camp. Hopefully, he can stick around with the team and avoid playing down in Providence or watching from the press box.
Considering Boqvist played a career-high 70 games last year, skating in fewer games would be a setback for the 24-year-old, who is just coming into his own. As one of the latest NHL-caliber signings for the Bruins, let’s learn more about the newest team member.
1. Statistically Performs Better After All-Star Break, Especially in April
According to statistics obtained from Boqvist’s player page at Hockey-Reference.com, he performs better after the All-Star Game with more than double the points, 37, compared to just 18 collected during the year’s first half. Although he has yet to score a point in October, he’s got 10 when we combine November and December.
After the calendar flips, Boqvist’s production ramps up with nine points in January and 16 spread evenly through February and March. However, the most interesting statistic is his best month is April, where he’s racked up an impressive 19 points in 36 games. Considering the NHL season tends to only go two weeks into the month before the Stanley Cup playoff starts, it was fun to learn that he can produce in some of the season’s most important games.
2. Enjoys Playing Against the Arizona Coyotes
Heading into the 2023-24 season, Boqvist has skated in at least one game against all NHL teams outside of the Devils. Even though he’s still chasing points against six of those teams, his favorite opponent appears to be the Arizona Coyotes, with five points in four games. Today, that’s the most points against any team, with the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes tied for second with four.
Furthermore, he’s played the most games against the New York Rangers (14), while his new team (Bruins) ranks second with 13. Thus far, the center has only a goal and an assist for two points against Boston.
3. His Brother is an NHL Defenseman
Jesper is 24 years old and has a younger brother, Adam, who is two years younger and plays in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Although the two brothers made their debuts within a month of one another, Adam is catching up to his older brother in games played, 189-174. However, with 75 points as a defenseman, he has surpassed Jesper’s 55 points.
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Interestingly, both Boqvist brothers have negative plus/minus ratings, with Adam collecting a minus-33 rating while Jesper is currently minus-17.
4. Has a Collection of Silver Medals
Boqvist may still be carving out his place in the NHL; however, he has seen some success in the Sweden junior programs and while representing his home country at international events. Outside of winning a gold medal with Brynäs IF at the J18 level, he has earned three silver medals while playing with Tre Kronor.
First, Boqvist won a silver medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (2015-16) and followed that up with another silver at the U18 World Junior Championships (WJC) later that year. Then, he won a silver medal with Brynäs IF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 2016-17 before finishing with one last silver medal at the U20 WJC in 2017-18.
5. One of Nine NHL Players from Falun, Sweden
There have been 394 NHL players from Sweden, nine of whom have come from Falun, a small city with a population of around 37,291 residents. Although Per-Olov Brasar was the first skater (1978) from the community to make it in North America, Jesper, and Adam Boqvist are two of the most recent ones, with netminder Samuel Ersson becoming the latest after making his debut in 2023. Moreover, other players from Falun include Lar-Erik Sjöberg, Bengt Lundholm, Tomas Jonsson, Tomas Forslund, and Jonas Frögen.
Further Perspective
As with most depth signings, the Bruins are finding players worthy of filling in the roster, which is still under construction. Considering Boqvist just had the best year of his young career, there’s a chance he finds chemistry with someone in the bottom six and earns a permanent role with the club. Despite being on a $775k deal, he should get a chance to grow instead of finding his year in Boston a setback.