Jim Montgomery said it is "undecided" if Boqvist will be in the lineup Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – Jesper Boqvist was back in Beantown Tuesday morning as he joined the Boston Bruins for practice after receiving the call-up from AHL Providence.
In Pavel Zacha’s absence – the forward is day-to-day with an upper-body injury – the B’s expanded their forward group with Boqvist. However, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said it was “undecided” if Boqvist would be in the lineup against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of players playing well right now in Providence. A little bit is how well he’s playing, and also it’s New Jersey and that’s where he played,” Montgomery said Tuesday of the decision to bring Boqvist up. “I always find guys dig in and want to show the other team why they could’ve kept him.”
Prior to signing his one-year, $775,000 contract with Boston in July, Boqvist spent the first four seasons of his career with the Devils – the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
The 25-year-old forward has been in the AHL for a majority of this year where he’s posted 14 points (five goals, nine assists) through 24 games with Providence. Boqvist appeared in one game, Oct. 26 against the Anaheim Ducks, with the Bruins this season.
Boqvist isn’t the answer to filling the Zacha void – Morgan Geekie, for one, is slotting into the first-line center position – but Montgomery noted that Boqvist’s versatility on both the wing and pivot position is an upside to his game that the team may utilize.
During Tuesday’s practice, Boqvist skated as the extra forward and got a few reps on the fourth line with Johnny Beecher and Oskar Steen. Jakub Lauko, who was scratched Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes, was back on his regular left wing with Beecher and Steen.
Zacha is the Bruins’ third major loss of the week. Charlie McAvoy remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury he sustained Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Derek Forbort (lower body) was placed on long-term injured reserve the same day.
Boston has been forced to deal with, and overcome, injury adversity all season, and Wednesday against the Devils will be another test of the squad’s depth.
“You don’t replace one of your top two centers and you don’t replace your top D-man with an individual,” Montgomery said. “It’s got to be a concerted effort by everyone eating more minutes, and they’ve got to do the job.”