I think Neighbours and Bolduc give off the same vibes: neither were labeled as like “sneaky” good picks by anyone, but everyone thought they were 1st rounders / early 2nds anyways. I think the fact that they don’t have any superlative quality is also part of it: neither are labeled as “the best x in the draft.” So I think that colors the perception of these picks a bit. But they also have a few other things in common:
- Very good character scouting. Both of these guys seem like genuinely good kids. They want to make the show, and are willing to put in the work / accept the coaching to make it. Rob Thomas was the same way, fwiw.
- They’re both tough to play against, more so Neighbours than Bolduc probably. I think that’s a good sign, bc people that can’t do that do not last long on this team. Also, we just traded Blais for Buchnevich, so those kinds of guys have value (and Army, for all his warts, seems to be good at maximizing that value on the trade market, a la Reaves).
- Most importantly, they’ve both hit their production goals. Bolduc has been cruising at or above PPG the last two seasons, which is phenomenal for a D-1. Neighbours was damn close to 2PPG for the majority of the season this year. That translates. They may not be the flashiest players, but they put up points at legit-NHL-prospect levels.
So I’m in favor of both. They’re not “sexy” picks, and they’ll both probably need some development time with the TBirds, but I think they are also both shrewd picks that are likely to work out. And I think the similarities between them are revealing about what our draft preferences are in the post-Barmy era.