Jesper Boqvist has played in two of the Devils’ first eight games of the season. That might prompt one to think the Devils might ultimately send him back to Sweden, since he’s ineligible to play in the AHL this season due to his European contract.
However, the Devils’ hope and expectation at this point is to keep Boqvist in the NHL for the entire 2019-20 campaign.
“It’s something that we’d like to do, yes,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “I mean I don’t want to sit here and tell you that it’s for sure, but right now, our plan is, yes, to have him here.”
The 2017 second-round pick and 20-year-old is still developing as a player, and this is his first season playing on the smaller rink of North American hockey. So the Devils have been deliberate about rushing him into a full-time role.
Sitting games might seem counterintuitive to Boqvist’s development when he could be playing full time in Sweden, but at this point, the Devils see it more beneficial for him to be in this role with the NHL club.
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“It’s important to him and he’s played pretty well, and he’s a guy that we think is going to be able to progress," Hynes said. "This is new for him. He’s in the NHL, he’s on a North American sheet. He’s practicing every day against these guys, he’s had opportunities to play. You talk to him, he’s like, ‘I learned something every day. If I play a game, I learned something every shift.’ And that’s invaluable.”
Essentially, Boqvist is still on the NHL roster because the Devils see him making an impact this season.
Part of Boqvist’s value comes from his range. If the Devils called up a current forward from Binghamton in the AHL, that player would likely slot into one of the team’s bottom two lines. Boqvist could currently fill a bottom-six role, like he’s done in the two games he’s played, but the Devils view his current ceiling as higher than that. If they needed a player to step into a top-six spot or help the power play, Boqvist could do it.
So his games will steadily increase if the Devils see him continue to progress. The team, however, doesn’t have a certain number of games they need Boqvist to clear.
“I think it’s tough to say this earlier, how many games he’s going to play," Hynes said. "Put it this way: There is a plan we have, but we’re not saying, ‘He needs to play this many games.’ I think it’s tough to say that this early on, but we do think he’s in the right place right now.
“We think he’s a good player. We think he’s a guy that can continue to get better, and we think this is the right environment for him to be able to continue to grow right now, and that’s what we’re doing. Some of that may be games, some of it might not be games, but that’s what we feel is best at this point.”
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