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Adam Boqvist

Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Adam Boqvist

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are keeping pending restricted free agent defenseman Adam Boqvist around for three more seasons, per the team. The deal has a total value of $7.8MM and an average annual value of $2.6MM, taking him through the 2024-25 season.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen gave the following statement on Boqvist’s extension:

Adam is a talented, mobile defenseman with the ability and creativity to provide offense from the blueline. Despite some injuries, he had a very good first season with our club at the age of 21 and as he gets bigger and stronger, we believe he has the potential to be a very impactful player in this league.

Losing time to those aforementioned injuries, Boqvist finished the 2021-22 season — his first in Columbus — with 11 goals, 11 assists, and 22 points in 55 games. In his third NHL season, Boqvist achieved a career-high in goals, points, and ice time (17:03). Over those three seasons, he’s played 128 games split between Chicago and Columbus and has 17 goals, 34 assists, and 51 points.

Overall, it’s been a solid start to Boqvist’s career, who Chicago selected eighth overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Columbus acquired Boqvist, along with a 2021 first-round pick (used on Cole Sillinger), a 2022 first-round pick (sixth overall), and a 2021 second-round pick (flipped to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Jake Bean) in the massive Seth Jones trade prior to last year’s draft.

The 21-year-old Boqvist still needs to work on improving his defensive game at the NHL level, but he’s shown solid transitional play and offensive zone awareness thus far, earning him the extension. In all likelihood, he’ll be slotting into a top-four role in Columbus next season.

Snapshots: IIHF, Boqvist, Hathaway

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The IIHF has referred two cases to their newly-created independent Ethics Board for review, to determine if the actions of an IIHF National Association or an individual associated with the IIHF could constitute an ethical conduct violation. The first case involves the Russian Ice Hockey Federation’s alleged instruction of KHL teams to take demonstrative actions in support of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The second is the involvement of IIHF Life President Rene Fasel with Russia and the KHL, along with public statements about the war. Currently, no disciplinary action has been brought. Earlier this year, the IIHF suspended the Russian and Belarusian teams from several international competitions.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated Adam Boqvist from injured reserve after he missed the last 11 games. The 21-year-old defenseman has had a strong debut in Columbus after a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring ten goals and 19 points in just 40 games.
  • Garnet Hathaway has a little less spending money this month, after earning a $2,000 diving/embellishment fine from the league today. The incident that caused the fine happened on a March 18 game against the Carolina Hurricanes, following a warning that Hathaway received earlier this year.

Metropolitan Notes: Yandle, Hayes, Boqvist, Matheson

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Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle has had a rough season.  While he has set the new ironman record for the most consecutive regular season games played (975 and counting), his offensive numbers have been underwhelming with a goal and 14 assists in 52 games.  He has a full no-move clause in his one-year, $900K contract and told reporters, including NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall, that he hasn’t given any consideration as to whether or not he’d be willing to waive that trade protection.  Yandle could have an opportunity to be a depth option for a contender or two but he almost certainly wouldn’t play regularly, meaning his ironman streak would end.  On the flip side, with Philadelphia out of contention, they may agree to keep him in their lineup and allow that streak to continue.  The 35-year-old has a couple more weeks to make his decision.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Still with the Flyers, they’re set to welcome back center Kevin Hayes from injured reserve on Saturday, relays Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 29-year-old has missed the last 16 games after needing to undergo surgery to remove an infection in his groin.  Hayes has been limited to just 20 games so far this season where he has collected nine points.
  • The Blue Jackets announced that they’ve placed defenseman Adam Boqvist on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury. The injury was sustained back on Sunday against Pittsburgh and the placement was back-dated to that point.  As a result, Boqvist could be activated as soon as Monday for their game against Toronto.
  • The Penguins have moved defenseman Mike Matheson to injured reserve, relays Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). The blueliner has been out with an upper-body injury that was sustained back on February 24th and the placement has been back-dated so he’s eligible to come off at any time.  The purpose of the move is to free up a roster spot for them to bring someone up from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the time being.

Boqvist, Gavrikov Added To COVID Protocol

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are down a pair of defensemen, as both Adam Boqvist and Vladislav Gavrikov have been added to the COVID protocol. The release notes that Boqvist actually entered the protocol yesterday, meaning his timer will be slightly ahead of his teammate.

Boqvist, 21, is having a nice season for the Blue Jackets, scoring seven goals and 14 points through 26 games. The young defender played more than 20 forgettable minutes on Saturday against the Florida Panthers though, as the team was blown out by the Eastern Conference powerhouse. Unfortunately, that’ll be the last action he sees for a few days as he faces a minimum of a five-day isolation period.

Gavrikov meanwhile played 18:35 on Saturday, which is actually close to a season-low for the 26-year-old defenseman. Usually playing more than 21 minutes a night, he too is having a strong offensive season for Columbus with 17 points in 36 games. That solid point total has been backed up by some analytical success too, as Gavrikov is given the hardest defensive deployment on the Blue Jackets roster but remains almost even in terms of goals for and against.

With both out, the Blue Jackets have elevated Gavin Bayreuther to the second pair with Jake Bean and will insert Gabriel Carlsson back into the lineup. The team already had Cole Sillinger and Jakub Voracek in the protocol, but should get the latter back at least if he can test out in the coming days. Columbus doesn’t play again until Thursday.

Blue Jackets Activate Patrik Laine And Adam Boqvist

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The Blue Jackets will have some help in the lineup tonight against Nashville as the team announced that winger Patrik Laine and defenseman Adam Boqvist have both been activated off injured reserve.

Laine has been out of the lineup for nearly two months with an oblique strain.  Prior to the injury, he was off to a nice start to his season with ten points in nine games.  With Laine being eligible for one more trip through salary arbitration in July, a big year would go a long way towards giving him a raise and potentially a long-term contract but missing 19 games won’t help his chances of that.

Meanwhile, Boqvist returns after missing three games due to an upper-body injury.  It has been an interesting first year for him in Columbus; after being one of the centerpieces of the Seth Jones trade, the 21-year-old has been held out of the lineup at times and is logging just 15:59 per game.  Despite that, he has done relatively well offensively, notching nine points in 18 contests.

Columbus had one roster spot available before these activations while defenseman Gavin Bayreuther was officially designated as non-roster due to his recent placement in COVID protocol to free up the other.

East Notes: Rodrigues, Coyle, Marner, Blue Jackets

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The Penguins have placed winger Evan Rodrigues in COVID protocol, a team spokesperson confirmed to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  The 28-year-old has been one of the biggest surprises around the league this season, going from someone who had previously been non-tendered to a regular spot on their top line and he has rewarded them with an impressive showing offensively, sitting second in team scoring with 10 goals and 13 assists in 30 games.  He will now be out for at least the next ten days.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Bruins have lost a player to COVID protocol as the team announced that forward Charlie Coyle has been placed in protocols. The 29-year-old sits fifth in team scoring with seven goals and seven assists in 26 games.  Coyle has been trying to fill David Krejci’s spot on Boston’s second line after the long-time Boston veteran decided to play back at home in the Czech Extraliga this season.
  • Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner returned to practice today for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury earlier this month, relays David Alter of The Hockey News (Twitter link). Worth noting is that while Marner is currently on LTIR (which has allowed Toronto to stay cap-compliant among other players being brought up) is that postponed games count towards the 10 games a player must miss while on there so Toronto’s postponements won’t automatically delay Marner’s return.
  • The Blue Jackets welcomed a trio of players back to practice today as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that winger Patrik Laine plus defensemen Adam Boqvist and Dean Kukan have all resumed skating. Laine has been out with an oblique injury since early November after getting off to a good start to his final season of RFA eligibility with ten points in nine games.  As for the blueliners, Boqvist suffered an upper-body injury two weeks ago while Kukan fractured his wrist in late October.

Blue Jackets Place Adam Boqvist On Injured Reserve

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Young defenseman Adam Boqvist has been sensational for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season, at least when he has been on the ice. For the second time already in 2021-22, that won’t be the case for at least the next week as the club has announced that Boqvist has landed on the injured reserve with an undisclosed upper body injury. Defenseman Jake Christiansen has been recalled to fill Boqvist’s roster spot for the time being.

Acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Seth Jones blockbuster this summer, Boqvist has already shown that he will be a key piece of new-look blue line in Columbus. The eighth overall pick in 2018, Boqvist started to show why he was considered such an elite prospect with his play in Chicago last season, but has taken his game to a new level in Columbus. Boqvist is scoring at a half point-per-game pace, recording nine points in 18 games. He’s also doing so in less than 16 minutes of ice time per night. Boqvist’s six goals is among the top five defenseman in the NHL so far this season and give of those tallies have come in the past two weeks, leading all blue liners in that span. Boqvist has totaled eight points overall in his past nine games.

Unfortunately, that hot streak came to a halt on Thursday night as Boqvist was injured against the Anaheim Ducks and will now miss “at least a week” according to the team. This is Boquist second substantial injury of the season already, as he previously missed six games with an undisclosed lower-body injury in late October and early November. While Boqvist was able to ramp up his production once he returned to full strength, there is no guarantee that he will do the same this time around. Boqvist suffered a broken wrist and a concussion last season in Chicago, missing a total of ten games – which would have been more if not for the end of the regular season. Boqvist has proven his ability on the ice, just not that he can consistently be on the ice. The dilemma for Columbus will be managing his ice time and situational use if he is deemed an injury prone player with maximizing his production given his obvious offensive ability. At just 21 years old, not to mention 5’11” and under 180 pounds, the hope for the Jackets is that Boqvist can continue fill out his frame and shake the injury bug.

With Boqvist on the shelf, Christiansen will get his first shot at the NHL. An undrafted free agent who was a late-blooming puck-mover in the WHL, Christiansen has impressed in two AHL seasons since signing with Columbus. The 22-year-old has 18 points in 21 games with the Cleveland Monsters this season and has more than earned a chance to see what he can do at the top level. With Boqvist’s offense missing from the blue line, Christiansen makes sense as his replacement for the time being, but the young defenseman has a chip on his shoulder and will be looking to make a more long-term impression with the Blue Jackets.

Snapshots: Boqvist, Byram, Clifford, Cizikas

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It appears that Adam Boqvist has some work to do to get back into the lineup for the Blue Jackets.  Although he had been dealing with a lower-body injury, the defenseman has actually been a healthy scratch for the past two games, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link).  The 21-year-old was one of the key pieces coming back to Columbus as part of the Seth Jones trade over the summer but he has yet to take a step forward, logging just over 17 minutes a game in his first five contests while being held without a point.  Now, he’ll have to bide his time and for another opportunity to suit up.

More from around the league:

  • Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram is out for tonight’s game versus San Jose, relays Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now. He took an elbow to the head from Vancouver’s Bo Horvat early in Thursday’s game and did not return.  While Byram cleared concussion protocol at the time, this development will force them to reassess his situation and he has been placed on injured reserve.  Ryan Murray will play in place of the youngster.
  • Blues winger Kyle Clifford has been removed from COVID protocol, reports Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). The veteran has played just twice this season and went into the protocol at the beginning of the month.  Defenseman Torey Krug and goaltender Ville Husso remain on the list and unavailable to St. Louis.
  • Islanders center Casey Cizikas did not participate in practice today due to a non-COVID illness, mentions Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). New York isn’t back in action until Monday so it’s quite possible that the 30-year-old doesn’t wind up missing any game action.

Snapshots: NWHL, Kekalainen, Boqvist

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The NWHL has officially announced a salary cap increase to $300,000 for each team, doubling the cap that it had previously used. Commissioner Tyler Tumminia released the following statement on the increase:

The NWHL is committed to its vision of providing opportunities for elite women’s hockey players to earn a living playing the game they love. This increased investment by ownership, especially following a challenging and shortened season, is a significant step forward and exemplifies the strength of our league and our developing business model as we continue to advance professional women’s hockey and inspire the next generation of female athletes.

The league is coming off a successful conclusion to its shortened 2020-21 campaign, which dealt with continual delays and cancellations that threatened to keep the Isobel Cup off the ice. In late March, the playoffs were broadcast on NBCSN for the first time, with hundreds of thousands watching the Boston Pride take home the championship. Just a few days ago, it was announced that the 2021 NWHL Draft will be held virtually on June 29, broadcast live on Twitch, the league’s streaming partner.

  • Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has a tall order of building his NHL team back to relevance, but some of his time will also be spent representing his country. The veteran executive has been named assistant general manager of Team Finland for next year’s Winter Olympics, helping former NHL forward and Finland GM Jere Lehtinen in the selection of players. Of course, there are a few names on the Columbus roster currently that could be considered for the team, most notably sniper Patrik Laine. The 23-year-old Laine has had the worst season of his career so far this year, scoring just 12 goals and 21 points in 42 games, 18 of which came with the Blue Jackets after an early-season trade. Newcomer Mikko Lehtonen could be in the running after dominating in the KHL, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo could make it depending on what happens with aging netminders like Pekka Rinne and Tuukka Rask.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have not yet announced a recovery timeline, but don’t expect to see Adam Boqvist back on the ice this season. Head coach Jeremy Colliton told reporters including those at The Athletic that the young defenseman suffered a broken wrist in last night’s game. It is unclear yet how long he’ll be out, but Colliton explained this morning that he does not believe Boqvist will need surgery.

Latest On Nikita Zadorov, Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks were reportedly listening to offers for defenseman Nikita Zadorov at the NHL Trade Deadline, but ultimately decided not to move him. However, that doesn’t mean that the two sides will stay together for much longer. As Ben Pope writes for the Chicago Sun-Times, the Blackhawks have dropped some hints that they are not content with the big blue liner and time is running out for him to prove himself.

Zadorov, 25, is in his first season in Chicago after coming over from the Colorado Avalanche in the Brandon Saad trade this past off-season. The Blackhawks hoped that Zadorov would step into a lineup that was missing many difference-makers on the back end and would transform into a bona fide top pair defenseman. While Zadorov has still been impressive as a physical force and solid defender, there has not been much else to praise about Zadorov’s game this season. He has been firmly entrenched as a second-pair defender in terms of time on ice, is fifth in defensive scoring and even lower in per-game production, and is on pace for a career-high in giveaways, even in a shortened season. Zadorov has merely continued to play the same role in Chicago as he did in Colorado, that of a complementary stay-at-home defenseman. While that is not without value, it isn’t what was expected of the 2013 first-round pick and may not be worth the cost to the Blackhawks. The team has not-so-subtly expressed their frustration recently, acquiring a younger and similar style of defender in Riley Stillman and then making Zadorov a healthy scratch on deadline day after discussing him with other teams beforehand.

This off-season, Zadorov presents a number of challenges to Chicago. The impending restricted free agent will need a new contract, which at a minimum will require a $3.2MM qualifying offer. However, despite his underwhelming effort this season, Zadorov can probably argue for making more than that and has the option to file for arbitration to support that claim. The problem for the Blackhawks is that they have very few contracts coming off the books this off-season and are projected to have limited cap flexibility to make other moves. Retaining Zadorov at a higher number even further reduces that cap space without making a material change to their roster, which is only a fringe playoff team this season. A potential arbitration case makes using their cap space even more problematic. If the relatively young blue liner demands a long-term deal as well, that becomes an issue with a number of young players already pushing for play time. Beyond the actual contract, the only way that Chicago can ensure that they even retain Zadorov’s RFA rights beyond July 21 is to protect him in the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft. With Duncan Keith and Connor Murphy as virtual locks to be protecting, adding Zadorov to that group would mean exposing valuable veteran Calvin de Haan and the recently-acquired Stillman. Yet, if they don’t protect Zadorov he could very easily be selected and lost for nothing.

In order to avoid a difficult expansion decision and possible contract battle and arbitration case, the Blackhawks may decide to re-ignite trade talks for Zadorov once their season has come to an end. Until then, Pope notes that Zadorov will be given every chance to prove that he is worthy of a longer look in Chicago. With de Haan and Adam Boqvist currently injured and the Blackhawks fighting for a playoff spot, Zadorov has the chance to step up and finally show that he can be a complete top-four defenseman. If he succeeds, perhaps all of the off-season issues fall by the wayside in favor of keeping a rare physical specimen and good young defender at all costs. However, if he falters then the partnership between the Blackhawks and Zadorov could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

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