One of the key pieces of the Seth Jones trade, Adam Boqvist has proved to bring some high-level skill to the Blue Jackets lineup.
In 98 games with Columbus over two seasons, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft has produced, notching a 16-30-46 line. Unfortunately for both the Blue Jackets and Boqvist, though, he’s battled a variety of injuries over the past two seasons.
When healthy, the 23-year-old defenseman is a building block piece for the Jackets, one who hopes to continue cementing himself as a key blueliner for the team who can play in both zones.
Boqvist talked with BlueJackets.com last week to talk about his summer and what he hopes to accomplish this season. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
So let’s start with your summer. I know you go back home to Sweden, so what do you get to do when you’re over there?
“I got to go back pretty much right after the season. I went to Dubai for two weeks and then came home, started training right away. And then when my girlfriend and I came home, we sat in the apartment and we were like, ‘This is so tight. We need to get out of this apartment.’ So we bought a house actually in Gävle. That’s where I moved when I was 14, so all my friends and stuff are there. We bought a house there on the water. It’s nice for the dog to just go in the backyard. I bought a trimmer and stuff like that. A lot comes with it, but it was nice.
"My brother actually bought a house six minutes away, so I picked him up to go to training every morning. It was good. And then I went down south to Copenhagen for a weekend with my mom and dad and my girlfriend. It was nice to be home. I was happy to be back. It was a long summer. Especially in like August, all my buddies start working again so I was just sitting on my couch. I’d work out, skate, come home, and I couldn’t do anything. It was raining as well in Sweden.”
You said in August all your buddies start working again. Is that a thing in Sweden where people can take time off in the summer?
“Yeah, I think you have five or six weeks off. So I know my mom and dad had like two weeks, then worked for a week, then two weeks, then worked for one, and then two weeks.”
That’s pretty cool. Sweden is doing it right.
“Exactly, eh? That’s what was so nice. When you come home in June, July, all the guys are free. It’s pretty easy to play golf and stuff. It’s good to be back. Then I came back (to Columbus) Aug. 30. I got furniture and stuff like that. We actually got a place right before the end of last season, so we didn’t have to deal with all that in the summer. But it was a good summer.”
You went to Dubai, you went to Copenhagen. It seems like Europeans do foreign travel so much more than Americans. We might take one trip each summer, but is it normal there to travel to different countries?
“I think it’s just because like Copenhagen, we took the car down there. It’s easy.”
For us, it’s like going to Chicago or Michigan.
“Exactly. Even when you go to Italy, it’s like an hour flight. It’s like flying to New York from here. London is like a two-hour flight. It’s not too big of a deal. It’s just nice sometimes to get away from the same thing every day. I like to be in the sun as well. Get a tan. I don’t like to be in the water, though. When we were in Dubai for two weeks, I was in the pool for five minutes and that’s it. I can’t be in the water. I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s underneath me, when you can’t see it. It doesn’t do anything for me.”
That’s fair. So, from a hockey standpoint, you come back, and you’ve had ups and downs the last couple of seasons. What was training like to be ready and put your best foot forward here?
“I think the biggest thing for me was to get stronger. I still have a lot of work to do, but I think that was the biggest message I got from management and (strength and conditioning coach Kevin Collins). Just keep adding strength to be able to play against bigger men and play minutes. I saw my fitness testing, my results, everything was better than last year, so I did something right. But I still have progress to get up to. I think that’s what I've been working on the most consistently every day, pushing me.”
You’re not the biggest guy in the world. Is it harder to keep on weight and strength than some people just because of your frame?
“Yeah. (Head athletic trainer) Mike Vogt said, ‘You are stronger than you look,’ because you don’t see too many muscles on me, and that’s been a bug in my head all the time. I am pretty strong, but it doesn’t look like I’m strong. But it’s just how I’m built. I want to get stronger, stay healthy. That’s the main point for me this season, to play 82 games.”
Obviously, that’s the goal because you’ve had the injuries the past two seasons. When you’ve played, you’ve racked up points and played pretty well. How much would it mean to you to be able to play 82 this year?
“I think I know how I can play, and I want to play at that level all the time. I think if I can play consistently, I think that would be pretty good for me and good for the team. I know I can be effective. I know I can defend, but maybe not in the same way as (Erik Gudbranson) or other guys, but you just have to be smart out there.”
