Over the course of the next few weeks leading up to the draft, I’ll be profiling several 2018 NHL draft prospects who have a chance to be taken 4th overall by the Senators. Stay tuned for more profiles!
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The first player as part of this series is Swedish defenseman Adam Boqvist:
Birthday: August 15th, 2000 POB: Falun, Sweden Position: Defense Shoots: Right Height: 5’11” Weight: 165 lbs Team: Brynas IF J20 (SuperElit) Stats: 25 GP, 14 G, 10 A Draft rankings: 4th (Hockeyprospect.com), 7th (Future Considerations), 9th (ISS Hockey), 8th (McKeen’s Hockey), 6th (Bob McKenzie)
The funniest thing about Boqvist is that he’s a full decade younger than fellow countryman Erik Karlsson, and he was his favourite player growing up. Not just his favourite player now, but growing up:
Paraphrasing:
Reporter: "Who's your favorite defenseman?" Adam Boqvist: "Erik Karlsson." Reporter: "Yeah, but who was your favorite defensemen when you were a kid?" Adam Boqvist: "Erik Karlsson."
The neat thing is that when you watch him play, you can see a bit of Karlsson’s game in him. It wouldn’t necessarily be surprising if he tried to model his game after his childhood idol, even if he probably isn’t going to become quite as good.
Boqvist has spent most of his last two seasons in the SuperElit league, which is for prospects under 20. He did play 15 games in the SHL this past season, but only averaged 7:27 of ice time per game. Nevertheless, just being at the professional level is still very advanced for a 17 year-old. At the SuperElit level, he’s been phenomenal while posting 18 goals and 22 assists in 43 games over the past two seasons. For reference, his 24 points this past season puts him at first amongst all defensemen in points per game (0.96), and when Karlsson was his age, he had similar numbers with 37 points in 38 games in the SuperElit. Suffice it to say, his point totals look impressive.
As an August birthday, he’s younger than almost all draft eligible players, and 10 months younger than fellow draft prospect Quinn Hughes. Despite that, considering he played those 15 games in the SHL already, one would assume that he’ll have a full-time spot on the Brynas team for next season.
“Smooth-skating puck mover who plays with flair and grace while owning one of the hardest shots of any draft-eligible defenseman. Boqvist is an attack-first option who loves to use his speed and agility to dart and weave around opposing zone schemes. He can quarterback a power play with the best of them, and he’s not shy towards unloading his howitzer with or without shooting lanes being clogged. His puck skills — especially stick-handling — and play within the offensive zone are extraordinary, and he appears to have a firm grasp on how critical his job is as his team’s center of gravity. Boqvist has a lightning-quick first step and uses it to escape trouble or interdict an opposing pass... he is clearly an excitable game-breaker who has the potential to produce a lot of points at the NHL level.”
I know he’ll try to become his own player and not everything can be compared to Karlsson, but it’s hard not to think of Erik when hearing an analysis like that. Nobody knows what Karlsson’s future will be with the Senators, but if he does leave, it would be pretty nice to have someone like Boqvist waiting in the wings to “replace” him.
Even if Karlsson does stay, I don’t think you can ever have too many offensively minded defensemen, especially in a era where defensemen have to be more mobile and well-rounded than ever.
If we want to compare Boqvist to someone like Quinn Hughes, then Hughes probably has more experience against advanced competition, since he played at the University of Michigan this season. TSN scout Craig Button “[voiced] some concern about Adam Boqvist's ability to play when he's challenged by better players,” although I don’t know if you can call that a legitimate concern considering how little experience he’s had against older players.
Perhaps that inexperience itself is a bad thing, but I’m not sure if 112 minutes of ice time in the SHL is enough to worry about his inability to play against tougher competition.
Just like with all of these prospects I will be writing about, Boqvist is no sure thing. But he’s an extremely exciting prospect who has a chance to be a premier point producer at the NHL level, and I’d be happy to see him taken 4th overall.
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