Boqvist Should Play The Rest Of The Way
No. 34 has given Patrick Roy no reason to come out of the lineup.
Adam Boqvist should play the rest of the way.
Since joining the New York Islanders, the 24-year-old defenseman hadn’t done anything to come out of the lineup. He became a victim of a healthy blue line, and when push came to shove, Patrick Roy went with six other players over him.
It was understandable, but now, we are at the point in the season where Boqvist is playing such a strong brand of hockey that he needs to remain in the lineup.
After sitting against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, a 5-2 loss, Boqvist came back into the lineup for Mike Reilly on Saturday. While the result was a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, one could say that Boqvist was their best player.
He played 19:48 minutes, recording a secondary assist on Ryan Pulock’s power-play goal to get the Islanders on the board:
If you see in the replay, Boqvist points to Pulock at the point so that Lee doesn’t force a pass, and viola, a goal.
Patrick Roy loved what he saw from Boqvist on the man advantage.
"He was moving so well. I think he really did help the power play.”
Boqvist added two shots on goal, on four attempts, with two blocked shots in the game.
The one gripe of Boqvist’s game is usually his defense, but he’s just so mobile out there. He moves around and he’s always active in his defensive zone coverage.
He has a keen ability to pivot away from forecheckers, probably at a higher rate than most defensemen rostered. Maybe Tony DeAngelo is the only blueliner better at that.
After being claimed off waivers, he played in 10 of 12 games before the Islanders’ backend got utterly healthy.
He’s given Roy no reason to come out of the lineup.
That’s not to say Mike Reilly doesn’t deserve to come back into the lineup, despite his lack of production (two assists) in his six games back after recovering from a heart procedure.
Outside of the goal, Pulock has struggled to be as effective.
Dobson, who looked much stronger when he returned from his injury a few weeks ago, has struggled defensively and has cooled off offensively, with no points over his last three games. Adam Pelech has struggled as well.
So, Roy has options if he wants to get Reilly in, if that’s something he’s thinking about.
But, there’s another layer to this. Given how much of a threat Boqvist has been and was on Saturday, does it make sense to play him on the bottom defense pairing?
He played alongside Pulock and yes got more minutes due to the power play, but could we see a situation where Boqvist plays with a Pelech or an Alexander Romanov?
Boqvist has certainly earned a role for the rest of the season.
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Don’t get fooled by Engvall he simply knows he has no where else to go! He is trying to avoid the Buyout. Guy was on waiver twice this year, and didn’t make team out of camp. The entire league knows this guy is a pussy. He simply doesn’t want a scratch on his face, he is afraid of injury. Honestly he plays a purely European game and will never change. I don’t think you can give him courage and pride at his age. He got opportunity his whole career because he has all the tools, but never the production. Let him play a whole season in Bridgeport!
Patrick should sit down with every player and show their turnovers. Defenseman flipping the puck high is a lazy play. Use your legs and vision instead. Okay if it’s Defcon 3 everyone is stuck out on a long shift then flip it. It’s a desperation tactic! Patrick is going to have to look at every player and evaluate them.