4th Overall the Senators Take Brady Tkachuk

[BritishSen]

This was the geezer I wanted, looks very bright and seems a bit of a nutter, the best combination.

 

[Icelevel]

Just awful. Should have given the pick up.

Ha. The absolute dumbest thing you could do.

 

[HSF]

Ha. The absolute dumbest thing you could do.

Agreed. It would the dumbest move to make

 

[SensFactor]

Will not be in top 10 players in 2028 re-draft.

Not even close to best player available, but certainly a low ceiling/high floor pick who will contribute as a complementary player.

I beg to differ. You win games with leaders like Tkachuk. Exactly what this team needed. Only other players I would have selected at 4 outside of who was already taken would have been Bouchard, Hughes and Dobson for defensive help. There is a reason zadina fell.

 

[Sensfanatic]

It's a lot harder to teach character than skill. Tkachuk over Zadina has a good chance of being Bowers over Tolvanen 2.0.

What?? Teaching skill at this stage in a player’s career? I think they should label this type of thinking the “Lazar delusion”.

 

[topshelf15]

Speed and skill are nice but if we dont have guys willing to go into the dirty areas with purpose ,then what is the point...This team has been one of the worse possession/forecheck teams for far too long ...We didnt need another skilled permeter guy ,we needed the muscle and skill below the circles...

 

[Peptic Balcers]

I would have preferred Zadina or Hughes but I still think Tkachuk is going to be a great player. Obviously we left a lot of offensive upside on the table to take him, but he still projects to be a good offensive player.

I hate using intangibles to justify taking a lesser offensive player, but I kind of like the idea of him being a prick to Marner/Nylander/Matthews/Drouin in the rivalry games

 

[Countdown0]

That’s what we said about Kopitar too.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the right pick was made. I'm just saying that the Sens weren't the only team to pass on him. Maybe scouts saw something in Zadina at the combine they didn't like. Maybe both the Yotes GM and ours just f***ed up big time. I don't know, and only time will tell if either of these options or some other possibility is correct. I just know that if Zadina turns into a 50 goal scorer, the Sens weren't the ONLY team who missed out on those 50 goals.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

The best analaogy I can make off the top of my head is the Bruins taking Jake DeBrusk over Mat Barzal. Is DeBrusk a good player with an impressive power forward skill set and intangibles? Yes. Would I like him on my team? Yes. Would I rather have him than Barzal? No, I'll take Barzal and his offensive upside over DeBrusk.

I'm not freaking out about the pick. I like Tkachuk as a player. I just like Zadina better. I think Ottawa has a desperate need for high end skill and scoring especially with Hoffman gone. They also have a handful of good
character guys already with Duchene, Pageau, Stone, Smith, Paajarvi, Pyatt, and even a veteran like Burrows who is allegedly good in the room. Zadina has a higher ceiling and fits the profile of a scorer better while also being solid in the two way game. That doesn't mean I think Tkachuk is an awful pick or a bust in the making. I just preferred Zadina.

Power forwards are hard to acquire - they always have been - and we thought we were getting one of the better ones with Bobby Ryan years ago. But they're also being phased out of the NHL as the league becomes more centered around speed/skill/skating. Lots of these power forward types start declining/depreciating as they approach 30. Guys like Lucic, Bobby Ryan, and Perry have become a cap burden for their teams and do not impact the game like they did 5 years ago. Guys like Toews and Kesler have slowed considerably. Mike Richards burned out rather quickly as he approached 30. Wayne Simmonds is not nearly as effective as he once was. Teams built on power forward types who play heavy hockey like the Ducks and Kings were swept in the first round by teams with more speed and skill.

I also think it's easier to add character through free agency/other avenues than scoring. You can find a guy like Paajarvi or Thompson or Pyatt to come in and add character and leadership to a room. Same on defense. The cost of adding skill/scoring is much greater in terms of cost, whether that's dollars in free agency or assets in a trade.

That is the one thing that really worries me.

The NHL has that concussion lawsuit on the horizon, and they have been thoroughly embarrassed by antics from guys like Bertuzzi, Marchand, etc, over the last few years. Add in hockey becoming an increasingly super-rich game (aka, if you want your kid to succeed, better put him in a hockey school with a $30k per year tuition, or fall behind the curve) with parents who certainly don't want to see their little princes walk around with CTE.

I believe the NHL is going to transition into a pure skill game within the next 10 years or so. Any gritty/physical/agitating players drafted now had also better have a high-end skill component.

 

[SENATOR]

Zadina will be a 50 goal scorer guaranteed for Detroit one day and an offensive dynamo and a superstar. Tkachuk will be a very nice utility players, very effective during playoffs.
And not so effective during the regular season. He was just ok in NCAA. I bet the GM Melnyk saw him playing during WC and scouted him on TV. Brian Lee all over.
In my opinion Tkachuk will be traded after five years for a second round draft pick. Zadina will win a Stanley Cup with Detroit.

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

Disappointed we passed on Zadina but honestly I get a Scheifle vibe from Tkachuk. I’ll take it.

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

Stoked to see Tkachuk Stone combo. Mix in some Brown and oh baby

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

Zadina gave me a Laine vibe and Tkachuk a Scheifle vibe. Both important players to have on your team if you want success but I think Scheifle type is harder to get.

 

[Peptic Balcers]

White-Brown-Tkachuk line. Offense with lots of energy, they can be the Americano Line

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

White-Brown-Tkachuk line. Offense with lots of energy, they can be the Americano Line

They’re going to own around the net.

 

[NyQuil]

White-Brown-Tkachuk line. Offense with lots of energy, they can be the Americano Line

That’s a pretty good looking 2nd-3rd line.

 

[HSF]

Stoked to see Tkachuk Stone combo. Mix in some Brown and oh baby

My word if Ryan can somehow stay injury free it could have potential

Tkachuk and Duchene together is gonna be money both are strong around the boards

 

[topshelf15]

Meh falling in love with certain players, and then crapping all over your team when they dont take the one you like....Seems childish,nobody here is a scout or has put the hours in looking all over the world looking for these players...Yes we have had a shitty year,but we also have proven we can draft too,so ill trust the professionals rather than the upset kids on this board....Welcome to Ottawa Tkachuk

 

[Stylizer1]

so Tkachuk is going back to school?

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

My word if Ryan can somehow stay injury free it could have potential

Tkachuk and Duchene together is gonna be money both are strong around the boards

Good luck getting the puck from these men. Especially when tkachuk puts on some mass. He will be a monster.

 

[NyQuil]

Meh falling in love with certain players, and then crapping all over your team when they dont take the one you like....Seems childish,nobody here is a scout or has put the hours in looking all over the world looking for these players...Yes we have had a ****ty year,but we also have proven we can draft too,so ill trust the professionals rather than the upset kids on this board....Welcome to Ottawa Tkachuk

Please.

90% of voters on this board elected to take Zadina if he fell.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/thre...-they-take-him.2499001/page-17#post-146795449

It’s just as childish to pretend that this is the guy we all wanted all along.

I want Tkachuk to succeed but I’m going to rant a little bit the day after the draft.

 

[Asquaredx2]

Meh falling in love with certain players, and then crapping all over your team when they dont take the one you like....Seems childish,nobody here is a scout or has put the hours in looking all over the world looking for these players...Yes we have had a ****ty year,but we also have proven we can draft too,so ill trust the professionals rather than the upset kids on this board....Welcome to Ottawa Tkachuk

Eh nobody here is an NHL coach or player (other than burner accounts) but we still criticized the team's performance last year. It's kind of what these forums are for haha. And yes, it probably is childish.

 

[topshelf15]

Please.

90% of voters on this board elected to take Zadina if he fell.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/thre...-they-take-him.2499001/page-17#post-146795449

It’s just as childish to pretend that this is the guy we all wanted all along.

I want Tkachuk to succeed but I’m going to rant a little bit the day after the draft.

I wanted a player ,yes we all said Zadina ,Dobson etc etc...But in the end we drafted who the men we pay to look at these kids from every angle wanted,and that should be good enough given their decent draft record shouldnt it??

 

[topshelf15]

Eh nobody here is an NHL coach or player (other than burner accounts) but we still criticized the team's performance last year. It's kind of what these forums are for haha. And yes, it probably is childish.

Yeah poor wording,lets not pull the long knives out and carve up the kid before he plays a game for us ,is more on the lines in which I was going ...We are all better than that

 

[SENATOR]

I beg to differ. You win games with leaders like Tkachuk. Exactly what this team needed. Only other players I would have selected at 4 outside of who was already taken would have been Bouchard, Hughes and Dobson for defensive help. There is a reason zadina fell.

In the new NHL you win games with top 6 forwards, which Tkachuk is not. Especially playoff games. You need to score goals. Who will score goals in Sens uniform now? "Character" is nothing more but tough upbringing. Any psychologist will tell you this. Sometimes abusive upbringing, when parents are harsh on their kids. Canadian juniors with hazing and initiations made many times news headlines. Fighting in locker rooms is a normal appearance. Coaches sometimes are abusive too. People routinely misjudge character with desensitized behavior. Which Tkachuk is already showing.