COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS TO BUY OUT REMAINDER OF ADAM BOQVIST’S CONTRACT
The Columbus Blue Jackets placed defenseman Adam Boqvist on unconditional waivers on Sunday, with intentions of buying out the final season of his contract.
As Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli points out, because of Boqvist being just 23 years old, the Blue Jackets will be receiving a rare cap credit for the 2024-25 season:
Boqvist was set to earn $2.6 million on the final season of his contract and now the Blue Jackets will receive a $66,666 cap credit for next season and be on the hook for $533,334 in dead cap space for the 2025-26 season.
The right-handed defenseman was originally a first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, eighth overall in 2018 and was acquired by the Blue Jackets in the Seth Jones trade in the summer of 2021. Last season in Columbus, Boqvist appeared in 35 games, scoring once and adding nine assists.
The Swedish defenseman’s best season was back in 2022-23, when he posted 24 points in 46 games. Unfortunately injury troubles and inconsistent production have been two narratives around Boqvist early on in his career.
With the 2024 free-agent market littered with right-handed defensemen, the 23-year-old now becomes an interesting free-agent option for a number of teams, including the teams who are going to be looking to sign one of Brett Pesce, Sean Walker or Matt Dumba. They could now see Boqvist as a back up plan and perhaps a change of scenery will revitalize his young career.
As for the Blue Jackets, they will enter free agency on Monday looking to refresh their roster. Freshly minted general manager Don Waddell has roughly $24 million to work with in cap space and while the team has a number of pending restricted free agents to re-sign, they also have Patrik Laine involved in trade talks. Needless to say, the Blue Jackets are going to look very different next season and now you can scratch Boqvist off their long-term plans.
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2024-06-30T17:53:53Z dg43tfdfdgfd
