Evan Bouchard vs Noah Dobson--who would have been your pick

[Jumptheshark]

Mods can nuke this thread if they like

I figure instead of having the debate in the Bouchard thread --have a seperate thread where we can discuss a topic that I think we will be having for awhile

24 hours ago we thought both would be gone by ten--but instead both we available


Dobson stats
Noah Dobson at eliteprospects.com
Ranked #5 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #10 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #8 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #8 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #5 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #6 by TSN/McKenzie

Bouchard stats
Evan Bouchard at eliteprospects.com
Ranked #10 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #8 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #6 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #7 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #4 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #7 by TSN/McKenzie


At first I was solidly in the Dobson as he fell but I have warmed up to Bouchard as I believe he has better all around play and I hope his skating will catch up with NHL levels

or another choice

Click to read more...

 

[ohheyhemsky]

I was hoping we'd get Boqvist, but I chose Dobson on this one. Bouchard's skating and intensity are enough for me to be a bit worried and I was worried about it before the draft for any team that selected him (I was hoping Vancouver would do it).

I'm really pulling for Bouchard now, as he's an Oiler but I still have some reservations.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I was hoping we'd get Boqvist, but I chose Dobson on this one. Bouchard's skating and intensity are enough for me to be a bit worried and I was worried about it before the draft for any team that selected him (I was hoping Vancouver would do it).

I'm really pulling for Bouchard now, as he's an Oiler but I still have some reservations.

Like most fans on this board---I think the team was shocked at their choices as well

Picking between the two is hard

For me--I also have a crazy reason why I take Bouchard over Dobson--I am not a fan of the Q when it comes to D men unless they get over 90 pts--Q is one of those leagues--I realise they are getting better--but I still prefer OHL and WHL D-men over ones from the Q unless the scoring is just off the chart

 

[McJadeddog]

Dobson. The league as all about speed and skating now. Bouchard seems good at everything, and great at nothing. Seems like he's a "safe pick" (as safe as a dman ever is I suppose), and he'll carve out a NHL career of some sort in all likelihood, but Dobson seemed like more of a home run pick. I don't think it was a slam-dunk one way or the other though, so lets hope our guy ends up being the better pick.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Like most fans on this board---I think the team was shocked at their choices as well

Picking between the two is hard

For me--I also have a crazy reason why I take Bouchard over Dobson--I am not a fan of the Q when it comes to D men unless they get over 90 pts--Q is one of those leagues--I realise they are getting better--but I still prefer OHL and WHL D-men over ones from the Q unless the scoring is just off the chart

That's actually not crazy at all. It's ALWAYS been a rule that scoring is weirdly inflated in the Q. There's a reason why Brad Richards was drafted so low.

I'm actually curious to see what the NHLe is in the Q as opposed to the rest of the CHL.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

I was 100% wrong about skating when it came to the separation between Draisaitl and Bennett and how it would affect their success in the NHL. I'm 100% hoping I'm wrong again.

 

[PKSpecialist]

Noah Dobson would have been my pick for sure, but it’s not the first time the Oilers took a different player than I would have obviously, so let bygones be bygones....

Evan Bouchard is an Oiler, he’s a very good prospect and a great puck moving defender with the point shot we’ve lacked since Souray.

He’s not a great defender, and his skating needs to improve, but there are very few defenseman at this age who don’t have some warts, so let’s start rooting for this guy instead of turning this into a Benson/DeBrincat debate for years.

 

[awesomo]

I was 100% wrong about skating when it came to the separation between Draisaitl and Bennett and how it would affect their success in the NHL. I'm 100% hoping I'm wrong again.

Two Birds with One Stone

Here are a couple of quotes from the ISS Hockey Draft Guide, look what they say about his skating:

Bouchard is one of the top two-way defenders in this year’s draft. He logs a lot of minutes for London and was relied on in every situation. He is a smooth skating, mobile defender that has an effortless skating stride. He has excellent vision and composure from the back end and rarely panics or turns pucks over. He is one of the best in the age group on the offensive blue line and has a knack for getting his cannon of a shot through traffic and on net. Very good on the PP and very good at finding the open man and not throwing the puck away, can walk the line and not afraid to fake shots or passes.​

ISS Scout Matt Manners:

“Quarterbacks the PP. Makes a great first pass and isn’t afraid to rush the puck up ice. Effortless skater with good quickness. Plays a complete game smart player. Not many weaknesses. Needs to get stronger to play at the pro level.”​

Both of those scouting reports say he an effortless skater. He’s also described as mobile with good quickness.
McKeen’s Hockey, who had him ranked 7th, had this to say.

“He has decent speed from a smooth stride and his lateral mobility really works to his advantage when walking the blueline. He may not be an electric puck rusher, but his skating is not a weakness either.”​

 

[CycloneSweep]

Two Birds with One Stone

His energy and explosiveness isnt super apparent...because he plays 30+ minutes a game. Gotta conserve energy

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Dobson for me, but no complaints about Bouchard. Great prospect with massive upside.

 

[jeg]

Picked Bouch as much as im sure Dobs will be a great player as well, this was the pick the Oilers needed to make
His Offence is elite
His Size and NHL readyness played a facture im sure
As far as his skating, i fully predict when hes not tasked at playing over 1/2 the game we see that greatly improve. The only way to play that much is conserve, and believe that what he has done

 

[Seachd]

Dobson. The league as all about speed and skating now. Bouchard seems good at everything, and great at nothing. Seems like he's a "safe pick" (as safe as a dman ever is I suppose), and he'll carve out a NHL career of some sort in all likelihood, but Dobson seemed like more of a home run pick. I don't think it was a slam-dunk one way or the other though, so lets hope our guy ends up being the better pick.

Exact opposite for me: Dobson is the all-around safe one, and Bouchard the homerun. I would have been happy with either.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Both similar in ranking and upside but I’ll take a D with size and strength over small any day so that’s the tiebreaker for me. Plus he’s physically more NHL ready with his size and late birthday which is critical for us.

 

[Paddy Padlock]

I was 100% wrong about skating when it came to the separation between Draisaitl and Bennett and how it would affect their success in the NHL. I'm 100% hoping I'm wrong again.

I remember the Draisaitl prospect thread, and that's the first thing I thought of when I was saw your comment

Yup, as someone mentioned, this is the defenseman version of the Draisaitl pick:

- Drafting for a very specific need (RH PPQB for Bouchard, size for Drai)
- Good size
- Bad skating (and the same type of skating issues
- Elite vision and passing
- Late birthday, exploded in his draft year
- NHL ready (supposedly)
- Defensive issues
- Questionable intensity
- Doesn't quite have elite upside
- Dragged a bad team around
- Selected before a safer, higher-upside player with high-end skating
- Fans were happy enough with him, but preferred someone else
- Drafted from a league that the Oilers favour (WHL vs. OHL and OHL vs. QMJHL)

You can't exactly compare a forward with a dman, but it's pretty funny.

 

[Seachd]

Both similar in ranking and upside but I’ll take a D with size and strength over small any day so that’s the tiebreaker for me. Plus he’s physically more NHL ready with his size and late birthday which is critical for us.

Well neither one is small.

 

[Roof Daddy]

Dobson has the higher ceiling (thus the more valuable prospect), but Bouchard was the right pick for us. The guy reminds me a lot of Pietrangelo with how he reads the play from the offensive blue line. Great vision and decision making when to sneak in from the point, when to unleash a bomb or take something off. This guy will run our PP for the next decade+.

Skating can improve. Defensive play can be coached (and Yawney has a great track record), but the skills Bouchard brings aren't really teachable.

Dobson is fantastic, but I'm super glad this is who we chose.

 

[Stud Muffin]

So many of us are just straight up lying lol, I wanted Bouchard, thought we go with Dobson and I was more than okay with either one.

 

[oobga]

I remember the Draisaitl prospect thread, and that's the first thing I thought of when I was saw your comment

Yup, as someone mentioned, this is the defenseman version of the Draisaitl pick:

- Drafting for a very specific need (RH PPQB for Bouchard, size for Drai)
- Good size
- Bad skating (and the same type of skating issues
- Elite vision and passing
- Late birthday, exploded in his draft year
- NHL ready (supposedly)
- Defensive issues
- Questionable intensity
- Doesn't quite have elite upside
- Dragged a bad team around
- Selected before a safer, higher-upside player with high-end skating
- Fans were happy enough with him, but preferred someone else
- Drafted from a league that the Oilers favour (WHL vs. OHL and OHL vs. QMJHL)

You can't exactly compare a forward with a dman, but it's pretty funny.

Yeah, seems pretty similar to Drai's draft situation for us. Bouchard was ahead of Dobson in most rankings mid-season. But, his team dumped players, while Dobson's was stacked. No one seemed to care that Bouchard absolutely exploded in the last part of the year, maybe it just gets boring seeing a not-flashy player pick teams apart with precision offensively. Dobson got a bump because of a growing optimism of his potential and the end comments are about how he "could" be the better guy with more development, kinda like Bennett vs Drai. And of course Dobson gets that shine on him from the playoff success on a great team. Honestly, I'm surprised that didn't suck our managers/scouts in.

Just a side note, I see that entry defense chart circulating a lot where Bouchard looks poor vs Bodson. But, the actual source of it, the writer said you can't really take it at face value because London played a trap, where the forwards were responsible to suppress entries and the D were ordered to back off. All London D looked bad by those measures because of the game plan.

 

[RipsADrive]

Personally I was looking for Dobson but I have 0 complaints with them choosing Bouchard.

I trust that the scouts did their job and chose the player they felt had the best chance of succeeding with the Oilers.

 

[Jumptheshark]

So many of us are just straight up lying lol, I wanted Bouchard, thought we go with Dobson and I was more than okay with either one.

I admit I was leaning to Dobson until I realised he was from the Q and as I said--I have a phobia against Q D-men unless their pts are off the charts

 

[The Hound]

I wanted Dobson, then Wahlstrom, then Bouchard. I’m not bothered though, we got a RH puck moving defenseman. I just hope we don’t rush him, we still need to shelter Bear into the league.

 

[JetsOilersfan]

Well - I hope we don't rush him. Only thing that scares me is some folks say he's 'NHL ready" - I'd rather he go back to develop more. Last thing I want to see is another ruined draft pick. I can see it now - we force him in for his big shot, he's not quite ready, his confidence is shattered, and we ruin yet another draft pick.

 

[BudBundy]

I wouldve been happy with either. Shocked we were forced to choose. I loved Dobson in the Mem Cup and I love Defensemen who skate like that so was really hoping we’d get him, but that was on the assumption Bouchard would be long gone. The consensus better player was Bouchard, so lets hope the scouts got it right. Aaaaand lets hope we dont “Schultz” him.

 

[nabob]

Reading this you realize how many posters aren’t that informed about the two players.

Hella happy with Bouchard, elite breakout pass, great leader great point shot that he loves to let go, logs a ton of minutes.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Yeah, Bouchard is a gem that needs polishing. I just wish that he could play in a league with better competition. Would he be eligible to play in a professional men's league in Europe?