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Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has been effusive in his praise of Adam Boqvist, the 18-year-old defenseman who Chicago selected with the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
And because of that, Boqvist may not be leaving the parent club for the OHL just yet. After Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Quenneville told the media that Boqvist will not be reporting to the London Knights on Friday.
And Quenneville even went a step further by suggesting that Boqvist may never get to London.
Adam Boqvist is not heading to London tomorrow, which sounds like a change of plans. He's sticking around and will get in some games next week. Q is impressed. I asked Q if it's even conceivable that Boqvist makes the team. "I'm not throwing that out of the realm of possibility."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) September 21, 2018
One play in particular that Quenneville was asked about following Thursday’s game was Boqvist’s break-up of a 1-on-1 opportunity for Detroit forward Andreas Athanasiou. And Boqvist passed that test with flying colors, according to Quenneville:
Q on seeing Boqvist skate with Andreas Athanasiou, one of the league's fastest skaters: "Yeah, and he’s only going to get faster."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) September 21, 2018
The Blackhawks blue line depth has taken a hit before the season even started. Gustav Forsling needed surgery on his right wrist, a procedure that projects to have him out with an injury until at least November. Then, as training camp opened, Connor Murphy went down with a back injury that could have him out through December. Brent Seabrook was out for a few days with an abdominal injury that appears to have healed, but Jan Rutta was just labeled as “day-to-day” with a groin injury.
All of those injuries open the door for Chicago’s first top-ten pick in a decade to break training camp as a member of the Blackhawks.