Blackhawks Sign Top Pick Adam Boqvist
On Sunday the Blackhawks announced a fourth signing, but this isn’t a veteran free agent.
Defenseman Adam Boqvist, the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, has signed a three-year, entry-level contract.
what a feeling to sign my first nhl contract with @NHLBlackhawks ! want to thank my family, my teammates and coaches! Without you, it would not have been possible! see you soon Chicago ???? #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pYxzeFWMlD
— Adam Boqvist (@BoqvistAdam) July 1, 2018
Candidate for 2 slide years i believe, could be just to get him under contract.
Good. Now start eating more kid.
What’s the importance of this? Is this an indication that they think he might be an opening day starter? Or is he going to be in Rockford next year? I have no idea how elc work. Please enlighten me.
He is signed with a Swedish club for anither year so likely play there not AHL.
Just a formality. No rush on him coming to the hawks. Congrats to the kid.
That’s what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation.
Nice. Now the kid can go to work with that extra good feeling.
Going to be a fun bunch of yrs coming when were deep again with good young players, like NAS did with their group of Defenseman.
This is the future franchise D-man in 2-3 years. Great pick.
@tab is there any shot this kid is ready this season? I don’t think there is but would like your opinion. I think a year from now he will be ready out of camp to make the hawks. Idk, they must know something we don’t with how they’ve addressed blue line so far.
Bowmans comments sound like they are looking at him as possible late season add.
Ian, regarding late season add … knocking a year off the ELC is a nice incentive to get a guy to sign – like Sikura a few months ago, but don’t see why the Hawks would do it with a signed player. Not sure I see the rationale here.
They could play him a few games burn a year, get alook at him and be eligible to play AHL/NHL role without dealing with juniors because of his age and any transfer agreements in 2018-19 season. He said they wanted to be more hands on in his development, so probably making leap to NHL right away be rushing too much.
Great to get him signed quickly. Good job lefty
Boqvist is really young I think letting him play for London in the Ohl
would be a wise move. Hopefully let him play at the the world juniors.
Getting stronger and developing his skills is much more important than trying
rush the kid to the NHL.
If he plays in the OHL he cannot play AHL until 21 even if that’s the best place for his development. I would rather see him stay away from the CHL agreement. Play IN Sweden, Rockford or Chicago.
It’s nice to see ha cannot pull Schultz-Vesey-Hayes, etc bullshyte not that he signed.
Espo. I’m ok with Sweden for a year. If Bovqist plays for Dale Hunter in London it
won’t hurt his development one bit. He is not even eighteen years old yet and when
he is twenty he hopefully will be NHL ready. No need to rush a young defenceman.
I think Forsling was definitely rushed, let’s not make the same mistake with Boqvist.
Buckeru/Mitchell,
Then Boqvist
Talk about a one two punch coming.
He is signed to Swedish club until next spring. If he plays there then they get his elc started and he is under there control and can play in Rockford. If he goes chl then he goes there instesd of AHL for 2 more years. Bowman stated they wanted to control his development, so i think he wants to avoid anybody else controlling him after his contract in Sweden is up.
Ian. Just read an article saying London is hopeing to get Bovqvit on there team
next year. Yes I know he has signed to play in Sweden next season.
Things might not be as cut and dried as we think. I guess time will tell.
Just going by Bowmans comments, i would be surprised because he is trying get Jokiharju out of his CHL obligations to gain more control over him. So it would be ironic he wants Boqvust in CHL to have more control.
I’m late to the party regarding Boqvist playing somewhere other than with Brynas in Sweden. Reading through the comments it seems he can play in any of three places – SHL, CHL or AHL. Actually four places if you want to add the NHL to the list. It seems there are pluses and minuses to each of the options. What to do?
If the arguments that Jokiharju was loaned to CHL are upheld and it doesn’t make him not eligible for AHL next season, then Boqvist doing the same could happen and be AHL eligible in 2019-20 season and not have to go back to juniors.
I think the Joki situation is a little different because he is a little older.
He already has one year of jr under his belt and more physically developed.
Not sure if more control would mean playing in the AHL at Boqvists age?
Lots of really good players in the O. Could control mean that Chicago wants Boqvist playing in London? I’m not sure.
Ian. What you said about eligible to play jr then jump to the AHL after one year.
Now that sounds more like control.
ER, didn’t know this until now. Do not mind him playing CHL just donot want him forced to play there for 2yrs/have to wait when hes ready….
Stape a year of developing and then under Blackhawks control is what i meant. I imagine it ll be Sweden but if it works out it can happen in London then ok. I just see a similar situation that Leafs had with Nylander brought him over late season from Sweden and burnt an elc and sent him to Marlies.
Boqvist is 17 he’s not coming here anytime soon. 18 years don’t play in the NHL unless they are elite level talents. Don’t expect him here anytime soon. If I’m wrong and he’s here at 18 then he is a future top pair all star franchise player.
Hopefully he will be at the prospect camp.
Patience-if 2 years in the OHL that is a good thing, especially with a great development team like London. He might pair with Bouchard, which would be funny.
As I said it’s the young core that needs to float the boat-the thinking of many needs to flip. The old core is on the wrong side of the hill-feel bad for 88 but it’s reality. 19, or 88 might make another team a Cup favourite, but not with the Hawks.
19/88 will still be playing by the time these young guy are ready and were deep again. They can get another Cup or two (PIT did it, extremely lucky to but did). We do need that young core though, to get to established players level.
The most important prospect by far,
Boqvist is elite skill, a franchise Defenseman. Mitchell will be very good/top pair.
These guys are vital to us winning more then 1 Cup in these next 10 yrs.
Like Teravainen his birthday is a wk later and hes in the 19 draft as a lock 2nd/3rd/4th pick. He was projected to be that 2nd/3rd/4th pick at beginning of draft yr, got hurt stock goes down other play good stock goes up, teams needs pick whoever.
Weve done well by picking Best available player
with 1st/early 2nd picks on recent yrs.
Kneeller before Danault, then Clendening before Saad,
Teravainen/Schmaltz/Debrinkat/Boqvist, most reams past and were afraid we got stuck with the goods.
Morrison, your post helped me bring my feelings into focus. I’ve been feeling like I’m not as despondent as many of my fellow Hawks fans and I wasn’t sure why. I want the Hawks to win as much as the next Hawks fan so it wasn’t a matter of indifference for me but yet I’ve had this “it will be OK” feeling. The post where you say “19/88 will still be playing by the time these young guy are ready … ” is it. It would be one thing if the 19/88 era would be over before our top prospects are ready – but they should still be very good players in 2/3 years.
I would prefer a reload on the fly while maintaining legit contender status, that isn’t realistic so I’m OK with the Hawks not being a contender for the next couple years so long as we are clearly building a new core group who can combine with 19/88 in a couple years with a legitimate shot at winning the Cup.
We already have some pieces in place with Schmaltz and Dcat, with some others who may be part of the picture finding their stride in Sikura, Hayden and Hinostroza. On defense we have (4) potential top-4 PMDs in Boqvist, Jokiharju, Beaudin and Mitchell. In addition, we will probably have one or two top-10 draft picks the next couple years.
Yeah, my expectations are high for this coming season – not in expecting the Hawks to challenge for the Cup or even make the playoffs – but in following the seasons of the guys listed above. And that’s OK.
Broken record here…
@Ebonyraptor, don’t you think the timing is wrong? The young d are two or three years from making the NHL but four or five years from the start of their prime years.
Toews and Kane will not be stars at that time. Unfortunately, they are still good enough to ensure we are not a bottom team. In other words, we are unlikely to get any top 5 picks and not good enough to be a true contender. Not a great place to be.
Trade them and form a roster where the core is peaking at the exact same time. Just like 7 / 2 / 19 and 88 did 10 years ago.
Yes, trading stars is a gamble but after tasting 3 cups, are we happy with 10 years of mediocrity?
One more point. 19 and 88 are my favorite players. I would rather watch them play for a cup on another team than be unhappy in a mediocre Chicago team. What a waste that would be.
13 and 40 didn’t have another wave of good young players coming to help them. So the redwings situation is like that.
The Blackhawks have lots of guys coming. Saad is only 3 yrs older then Schmaltz. So I do not believe a word of that Florida shit.
That’s a black and white/night and day difference.
Cant let peoples who have no faith make you feel otherwise then you do yourself. These guys are top100 players of alltime. Cindy and Ovie just won again and their like 3 yrs older or something and they didn’t suck when they were around 30.
Not buying it that 19/88 will suck in 3yrs from now.
Look at San Jose, they had a few off yrs and when 8 and Coulture started prime yrs they were a top team again. With a 36 yr old Thorton. 19/88 have 7 yrs until their 36.
We need those kind of players get to where those certain Sharks players got to to be deep/quality again. WAS didn’t win until their #8, that #92 guy, started his prime yrs. Same thing as San Jose guys.
Mark my words,
It will happen.
ER, like how a lot of poeple freak out with the July 1 ufas we got.
Eh, cooler heads prevailed.
Like Noonan, Patience is required to see, we wouldn’t do it this way if it wasn’t better for the coming yrs. (or we would trade 88 for Miller)
Nothing against you BF2.
ER, thanks for your post. It really is what people believe and reality. The people who try to make people think/believe otherwise are a disgrace to the race and are probably redwings or similar people anyways. Scum.
Those kind of people are who we call Flatlanders.
BLS2, I disagree with your assessment of the timing. I think Kane can maintain his superstar ability over the next 5 years as his game is less reliant on things that decline with age. Toews has already started a decline but he may bounce back ala the 2018 version of Kopitar, as an example. If his decline in concussion related then he probably doesn’t return to form – time will tell.
Another point where we probably disagree is the time it will take for the d-prospects to get to the NHL. I think it will take less time than others think it will. The main reason for that is the change in the way the game is played now which lends itself to speed and skill which I believe speeds up the time it takes to get those speed and skill players up to the NHL.
That said, I’m an optimist – a “glass half full” kinda guy so I readily admit I could be overselling this to myself (and others).
We have the top organization in Hockey, right?. Their not going to leave 19/88 out to dry. These are the best Blackhawks in history of the Chicago Blackhawks. The organization will find a way to get 19/88 anther Cup here in Chicago, not sell out. It will be tight for 2, I think he can still play to 40/6 yrs from now.
They still have time 6-7 yrs until their 35/35/41
Do not let the bastards drag you down. Your gut feeling usually is right.
I am excited for the coming yrs because I believe we will win another Cup with 19/88. The hope is 2 will still be here then.
Pay our dues these yrs, no short cuts with roster development and well be a top team again sooner then the general public think.
Morrison, I admire your optimism! You might even be right. There are no easy answers.
The biggest problem with the idea of trading 19 and 88 is that they control all the cards. The one or two teams they may agree to go to probably can’t afford them. If they can afford them they probably don’t have sure bet prospects or high draft picks that the Hawks want.
Please pass over some of that optimism!
How about trading Kane to Buffalo?
Buffalo has three first round picks next year.
Should you try to trade a core player while he has really good value?
Even if the core rebounds from last year are the Hawks Stanley cup contenders?
I keep hearing about how Kopitar had such a great comeback year last year.
Is there anyone that actually thinks the Kings could realistically win the cup next year regardless of how well Kopitar can play? Or Doughty for that matter.
Father time catches up with everyone. Please don’t let the Hawks turn into the
Dead wings.
Stape, I wasn’t comparing Kopitar and the Kings to Toews and the Hawks – I was drawing a (potential) parallel between the amazing turnaround from Kopitar’s 2016/17 season where he scored only 52 points in 76 games and didn’t look like the same player who had scored 74 points and won the Selke in 2015/16. He bounced back with another Selke season and scored 92 points – a whopping 40 points more than the previous season. The point is Kopitar looked like he started on a major decline only to jump back and have the most productive season of his career at the age of 30.
Toews is a year younger than Kopitar and will play next season at the age of 30. Obviously Kopitar doing it doesn’t guarantee Toews will – but he could so lets not write off Toews just yet.
Another thing about stats is, you play in central division and your stats are automatically lower then are in any other division. That has to be factored in. When looking at numbers….
I think were deep again and can win, even if Tazer is the same as recent yrs. Same for Kaner. Its the wave of younger players that are on par with every other teams fastness. To me that’s why theres parity, not just salary cap.
(not just 2/3 yrs ago there were 5 or top 5 teams and 10 bottom 10 teams)(now there are 2 top5 and only 5or6 real bottom10 teams )
That’s another reason why we do not need to compare or have as good of roster as the dynasty rosters we had or other top teams from those yrs (2009-2015) there hasn’t been as good of teams since those yrs. Watered down effect. Why I think we can get back because we only need to be as good/better tehn roster teams have now/last 2-3 yrs.
Lets not forget PIT WAS SJ, those teams could not compete against the real top5 teams from 2010-2015 because they wernt good enough.
it wasn’t until salary cap watered down the real top5 teams to the point where there was only 2 TB/NAS timing of that for them, could those teams do good/win. It brought teams they couldn’t play with back to them, they didn’t get good all of sudden.
WAS was as deep as they ever will be last yr, they didn’t want to hear it and played like they havnt before (granted TB did not show up to play game 6 and 7, the real top5 teams wernt there anymore). They did play good though.
STL two yrs ago were as deep as they ever will be, there STL though.
Our organization wouldn’t ever leave Tazer or Kaner out to dry.
Look at 13 and 40, they looked around when they were 33 and didn’t see anyone/bright future to play with. Even 13 ran and escaped to Russia. He couldn’t take it.
Heck since the red wings escaped the Campbell conference they have DET sucks bumper stickers.
Sorry to talk so much/seem nauseating.
My friends call the me rambling man.
Guess I shouldn’t compare 13/40 to 19/88.
Yzerman is more like Toews and 13 is like 88.
Important/key thing to remember is redwings did their dynasty with a 95m payroll in mid90s, Blackhawks did their dynasty in salary cap era without ‘getting’ the instant replay calls to boot.
Focker out.
We have Teows, Kane, Keith, Seabrook and Crawford left. The rest of the roster is AHL, ECHL calibre. The GM’s in Pittsburgh, LA, SAN JOSE, NASHVILLE, CAPS, BRUINS have never left their top players alone. They also had big salaires but they did niot gut their farm system or make horrendous trades. They kept making great picks as well.
Bowman after the loss against Nashville stripped the team. Infact, it started with that TEUVO throw in back in 2015 with BICKELL instead of doing his homework with Bicks health issues or just buy him out… He has proved to be a below average GM! Maybe the worse after Peter Chiarelli and Pierre Dorion. Walhstrom was available yet this GM drafted another small dman in Boqvist and Beaudin? Evan Bouchard is Shea Webber like! Bad decisons all around. They are so small and light in the top 9 on the wings, apart from Saad, it’s scary.