BLUE JACKETS EXPECTED TO BUY OUT FORMER FIRST-ROUND PICK
The Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to place young defender Adam Boqvist on unconditional waivers for a buyout later Sunday, shares Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.
The Blue Jackets would only be on the hook for one-third of his contract value should he clear unconditional waivers, as he’s being bought out before the age of 26.
That would burden Columbus with a $533K cap hit through the next two seasons, a full $2.7M in savings from the $3.2M salary that Boqvist was due next year, though also strapping them with an empty cap in 2025-26.
Boqvist is a surprising name to a list of pre-July 1 buyouts that also features Jack Campbell and Nate Schmidt. Unlike those two, Boqvist is closer to the beginning of his career than the end of it, though he’s been no stranger to struggles.
Boqvist has been in and out of Columbus’ lineups for much of the last three seasons since it acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks alongside the picks used for David Jiricek, Cole Sillinger and Aleksi Heimosalmi. In return, Columbus gave up defender Seth Jones and the picks used on Nolan Allan and Dominic Jones.
Boqvist joined the Blue Jackets with 76 NHL games and 29 points under his belt. But despite moving to a Columbus team that was, at the time, less competitive than Chicago — Boqvist wasn’t able to work his way up the depth chart.
He instead spent much of his first year on the team’s third pairing, posting 22 points, split evenly, in 55 games. That was enough offense to earn him a slight boost in power-play time last season, with Boqvist vindicating the boost with a career-high 24 points in 46 games.
But Boqvist hasn’t been able to avoid the injury bug in any of his five NHL seasons. That came to a point this season, when an upper-body injury ended Boqvist’s season in mid-March, after routinely holding him out of the lineup since December.
He was held to just 35 games on the year, tied for the fewest games he’s played in one season, and Boqvist posted a career-low 10 points as a result.
Despite clear skill in carrying and managing the puck, a lack of assuredness in making plays and air-headed defense has kept Boqvist from taking off.
He was previously due a $2.6M cap hit this season — a number that could be palatable for teams looking for a spark on waivers. Should he make it to the open market, the young Boqvist will surely have no shortage of suitors.
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