And while Boqvist is being humble about his impressive night, his performance did not go unnoticed by John Hynes who noted that Boqvist adjustment from the Swedish Hockey League to NHL-style play has developed at 'an accelerated pace.'
"You're starting to see him feel a little more natural with the way the game is played, and I think in the competitive areas of the ice, he's done a good job of getting into and utilizing his skill and speed," Devils coach John Hynes said. "But also understanding in the NHL or these types of games, you have to be able to play in the hard areas of the ice, and he's done that."
In the game against the Rangers, Boqvist was the leader in ice-time among Devils forwards with 18:07.
9. With the roster now down to 27 players, there will be far less to-ing and fro-ing for some of the younger players who remain on the training camp roster. You see, when training camp opens the Devils use two separate locker rooms to house all players in an effort to make everyone has their own stall. Veterans and core players remain in the official Devils locker room, while rookies and prospects are posted up in the former game-day locker room around the corner.
So, when Jack Hughes arrived at the Prudential Center on Monday morning, he made his way to the official locker room to sit in his stall for the first time. He, along with Ty Smith and Jesper Boqvist were located in the secondary locker room up until Monday morning.
"It's just really exciting for the group," Hughes said. "To be in one] locker room and start to develop more of a team aspect. For us it's really exciting and just shows that the season is right around the corner."
Jack's excitement was palpable, his smile big, but there's much more of a purpose to reuniting the team in one place at this point of training camp. Most of these players will make the Devils opening night roster, this week altogether is a chance for bonding and gelling together as a group.
***"***It's about getting that tight group," Blake Coleman said. "As a team you want to bond together and spend some time together now and really become close. The closer you are off the ice; I think it translates on the ice.
10. There was one other thing quite noticeable about the move from two to one locker room: the placement of stalls. It caught my eyes instantly; Hughes was sitting next to Taylor Hall. It was purposeful too.
"Taylor really actually mentioned it to me," coach Hynes said. "Which to be honest with you is a good sign. He said, 'Eventually when Jack comes in, you can put him next to me' and I think that shows - Taylor's, I think a good role model for him. Taylor's gone through a lot of things that he's going through. You just look at what Taylor's accomplished in his career, being a first overall pick and being a young player in the league. So, I think it's a good mix and hopefully, that helps create some conversation and some talk. So it's nice to have a young guy be able to play with Taylor, and it's even better that he requested it."
"It's exciting," Hughes said. "It's really nice to get in the big room, finally I have a stall here. Especially being beside Hallsy, a guy I can probably lean on this year, it will be good and I'm sure it will help me a lot."
ONE MORE TAKEAWAY:
I couldn't help but notice[an article by NBCSports.com's Sean Leahy that popped up on my Twitter timeline. Leahy attended the NHL Media Tour in early September and polled NHL players on their 2019-20 'sleeper teams.' Some high-powered NHL players took notice of the work Shero did over the summer and pointed it out to Leahy.
Toronto star forward Auston Matthews had this to say about the Devils roster:"I'm not really sure they're a sleeper team but they've made a lot of really good acquisitions this summer. They've got the first overall pick, [Nikita] Gusev from Vegas, P.K. [Subban], and they've got some pretty good young guys that have been there for a while like [Nico] Hischier and [Taylor] Hall. They missed the playoffs last year but they're always a tough team to play against. They play fast and they're going to be a team that surprises some other teams."
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes also had the Devils in mind:"There was a lot of big off-season moves but I think one team that really improved is the Devils. Their additions on the back end, forward end, they're going to be a pretty good team this year."
And finally, a great rival on the ice and in the Devils Metropolitan division, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin kept his answer simple: "New Jersey."