Adam Boqvist Just Getting Settled In At Four Nation Break

To be fair to Adam Boqvist, he just got here. An Islander of only five games, Boqvist’s sample size has been minuscule, to say the least. Like Mike Reilly and Robert Bortuzzo last season, Boqvist joined the Islanders via waivers due to an (almost) comical amount of injuries to their right-handed defensemen. When rookie Isaiah George fell out of favor with Head Coach Patrick Roy, Boqvist jumped in. 

Boqvist looked fantastic in his first game as an Islander, registering a goal in the team’s overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. But what’s unfortunate is that may have been the high-water mark.

Again, the sample size is small, but Boqvist struggled with the Islanders in his next four games. Much of that concerns his poor defense, which is the most important aspect of a “defense”-man. 

Hockeystatcards.com is a good way to quickly analyze a player’s overall contribution (not just counting stats like goals and points). They weigh both individual games and seasons into their “ratings” system. Overall, it's a solid surface-level view for any player. 

Their analytics do not paint Boqvist in a positive light...

He posts a +.3 offensive rating and a -3.0 defensive rating, which places his net rating in the 25th percentile of the league. His offensive contributions are considered well above average, but they do not even remotely make up for his poor defensive play. In his five games with the Islanders, Tampa Bay remains his only significantly positive result. His worst contest came against the Wild on Feb. 8, where he posted a game score of -2.05. 

With a player like Boqvist, these analytics are some of the only tools to judge him. Simply put, he has not put enough on tape yet to determine his overall grade. Sure, he’s had a great game and he’s had a terrible game with some net neutrals in between. But it’s tough to place a label on a guy who has played under 100 minutes with the Islanders in total. 

Overall Grade: C