On Tuesday, the Florida Panthers inked forward Jesper Boqvist to a two-year extension worth $1.5 million annually:
His brother, Adam Boqvist, who signed with the Panthers ahead of the 2024-25 season, landed on waivers. The New York Islanders claimed him on Jan. 31.
Could he be on his way to an extension, as well?
The 24-year-old has played fairly well in the Islanders' system, with head coach Patrick Roy electing to use the mobile youngster ahead of veteran Scott Mayfield.
Through nine games with the Islanders, Boqvist has one goal and two assists, playing at the point on the second power-play unit, which has sometimes logged more minutes than the top group.
He's shifty. He's quick. And he's also not afraid to get below the dots in the offensive zone, sometimes even finding himself on a breakaway, which he's accomplished twice in his short Long Island tenure (one for two):
It's still so early in his Islanders tenure that there have likely been no contract discussions.
General manager Lou Lamoriello has his work cut out for him ahead of the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline with pending unrestricted free agent forwards Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.
There's no rush to sign Boqvist, a pending restricted free agent, with arbitration rights, but if he keeps this play up, there would be no reason not to ink him to a multi-year extension.
The one caveat is the backend is log-jammed: Alex Romanov (pending RFA), Noah Dobson (pending RFA), Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Tony DeAngelo (pending UFA), Mike Reilly (pending UFA), Scott Mayfield and Scott Perunovich (pending RFA).
The Islanders have decisions to make, that's for sure
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