Bruins sign forward Jesper Boqvist to 1-year contract
Boqvist scored 10 goals last season with the New Jersey Devils.
The Bruins are throwing yet another forward into the mix for bottom-six minutes next season.
Boston announced on Wednesday that it signed forward Jesper Boqvist to a one-year NHL contract with a cap hit of $775,000.
The 24-year-old Boqvist previously played with the New Jersey Devils for his entire four-year career in the NHL. In 70 games last season, Boqvist scored 10 goals and posted 21 points while averaging 11:36 of ice time per game.
In 189 career games, Boqvist has lit the lamp 28 times and posted 55 points.
Even though Boqvist can play both at wing and center, his poor faceoff numbers (36.2% through four seasons) signal that Boston might want to keep him away from the pivot spot.
Boqvist’s solid defensive metrics and finishing rate (14.9% shooting percentage in 2022-23) offer hope that he can carve out a role on Boston’s roster this season.
But the picture is far from clear when it comes to just how exactly Boston fills out its bottom-six group.
The state of the Bruins’ depth chart up front still hinges on whether or not Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci return. As of right now, free-agent signings like Boqvist, Morgan Geekie, Milan Lucic, and Patrick Brown all figure to slot into regular roles on the third and fourth lines.
Younger players within Boston’s system like Jakub Lauko, Marc McLaughlin, Johnny Beecher, and Oskar Steen are also expected to be in the mix once camp opens in September.
Don Sweeney and the Bruins have routinely preached the importance of internal competition when the time comes to fill in vacancies across the roster. Boston should have no shortage of candidates this fall given its busy free agency.
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