Boqvist is an offensive dman for sure and so is Beaudin but Mitchell and Joker are more in the mold of complete 200ft any situation D.
Have not seen much of Beaudin play so cannot comment on his defensive deficiencies if any ..But like Boqvist needs to add muscle strength to pay at the NHL level to be even average I'm NHL physical battles son the boards and in front protecting the crease .
Have seen litsb9f Boqvist in okay with London this season. . HE actuallyis not as soft as I thought. .gets his body in the way ...it timid like Forsling or soft like His. .BUT I just think he needs more development time to add more muscle and strength ..Defending with the stick is very good ..so really not that bad defending g athletically. A bit more developing required in developing better hockey sense as to anticipating rather than just reacting. ..but that should cone with more time and experience too..I think he has potential to be effective defensively ..just has to work on a few things. ..but he already is good with the stick ...good with closing off guys because hi skating gets him there in time ..He is not a shot blocker ...He will never be a defensive shutdown guy...but hecalready has some aspects that are better defensively than many of our current dmen.
As to Boqvist on 9ffense...despite the impressive goals and assist totals for an OHL rookie ,I still think he needs another year I juniors to get even Better offensively. THE toal offensive game is NOT there YET!
What I mean is...he plays like a support player ..not a take charge #1 star dman should ...he does not commad the ice or dominate games as he should ...THIS should come next season after several of London's veteran dmen leave ...like Bouchard and Regula;in a sense it is u deratandavle ..It is not really HIS TEAM ...Bouchard is the vet Captain and leader of the dmen..Regula also has been there several seasons .And so as a rookie Boqvist has to be just a support guy ..not assume a leader role ..Also he still is so young .Next season I want to see more leadership and confidence and command of the game from him. IT IS this even more than getting better defensively that I need to see before 8 can say he is ready to help the Hawks in the SHOW.
Let him develop...Get stronger.Learn more about even better defending ..and most of all...learn to take over the team and make it HIS TEAM to lead ...
He has potential to be a great even 2-WAY dman ...if you call what Keith did in his all-star years ...it just will take a bit more time. He will neverbover-match guts physically. .but he us not afraid to get his body in there ..so if he just gets stronger he can be at least "average" in the using the body part of the game ..he is not a total softy .but he needs to add muscle ..which he can over more time.
I think next season he will show more take charge...both in the offensive and defensive aspects of the game. Do not rush the process.