In her article One player who has to deliver for each team in NHL’s Atlantic Division, Sportsnet’s Emily Kaplan focused on new Florida Panthers defenseman Adam Boqvist. Good choice!
While Panthers general manager Bill Zito made some impressive maneuvers to keep much of his championship core in place — defenceman Gustav Forsling signed a bargain of an eight-year pact back in March, while leading scorer Sam Reinhart took a home-team discount to stay this summer — some losses were inevitable. And some of the biggest came on the blue line, where the team will open 2024-25 without Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
While veterans like Forsling, Aaron Ekblad, and Dmitri Kulikov will be leaned on heavily, Zito also brought in some low-risk, affordable free agents, including Adam Boqvist. The 24-year-old defender has played parts of five seasons since the Chicago Blackhawks drafted him eighth overall in 2018 but has yet to really hit his stride. Dealt to Columbus as part of the deal that sent Seth Jones to Chicago in 2021-22, Boqvist started to find his game but struggled with consistency. After he was ultimately unable to harness his first-round potential with the Blue Jackets, the club bought out the final year of his deal — a $2.6-million cap hit. Zito signed Boqvist to a one-year deal for league minimum, handing the young rearguard an opportunity to prove he can turn his career around.
It’s worked before in Florida — look at Ekman-Larsson, who took his post-buyout opportunity and turned it into a Stanley Cup ring and a four-year pact with the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency this summer. Forsling, too, turned his fortunes around after Zito took a flyer on him. Could Boqvist be next? The opportunity is there for him to step up and take it.
Panthers prospect Jakub Kos scored the final goal of the game in Kometa Brno’s 3-0 win over HC Olomouc in a Czech Extraliga exhibition game. The Panthers chose Kos in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Stepan Zvyagin saw fourth line duty and went scoreless in Dinamo Molodechno’s 3-1 road win over HK Mogilev in action from the Belarusian Extraleague. The 20-year-old Zvyagin was a seventh round selection in the 2023 draft.
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed restricted free agent forward Nick Robertson to one-year deal worth $875K. Robertson, 22, produced 14 goals and 13 assists in 56 games last season.
The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Jarred Tinordi to a one-year, two-way contract worth $800K at the NHL level. Tinordi collected nine assists in 52 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season.
The New York Rangers have signed Adam Erne to a professional tryout agreement. Erne split his time between the Edmonton Oilers and Bakersfield Condors last season. He scored a goal and assist in 24 NHL games with the Oilers.