Draft R4 #119: Rangers select Raoul Boilard (C, Baie-Comeau Drakkar/QMJHL)
- Thread starter nyr2k2
- Start date
FireGerardGallant
The Artist Formerly known as FireDavidQuinn
- Mar 19, 2016
- 6,653
- 7,570
DanielBrassard
It's all so tiresome
irishlaxburger2
Registered User
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
So we took Toronto's guy last night and we jumped in front of them again to take what I guess was their guy again
F*** off, Canada
F*** off, Canada
Roo Returns
Skjeikspeare No More
The band Genesis once made an album about a character named Raoul called The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The Rangers play close to Broadway and now have a Lamb and Raoul.
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
How much of Poirier's production was due to Justin Gill? I am just not in the loop with the Q at all right now.
HatTrick Swayze
Just Be Nice
Like that scouting report and the approach. Get a pipeline of role players going so you can spend on the top of the lineup.
94leetch
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2022
- 241
- 303
- Jul 6, 2017
- 14,077
- 13,158
After the top 10 on a very good year (I’d say three on a typical year) basically a crap shoot with exponentially declining odds. So … meh from a draft perspective. Could be useful trade capital, though.
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
Right. We are clearly operating with a theme in the mid-rounds these days. Find your bottom-six guys, there, so you can cycle them in and out and don't have to trade for them. I appreciate that we are being strategic like that. Just need to see the fruits of the labor (we are seeing some of it now with guys like Edstrom, Rempe, etc.) hit.
Mac n Gs
Drury plz
- Jan 17, 2014
- 22,742
- 13,267
Wheeler had him 84th:
Profile
After a disappointing 16-year-old season with two different teams in the BCHL, Boilard made the move to the QMJHL, played to nearly a point per game with a deep Baie-Comeau team (though his production and role diminished against Drummondville in the league final), and was one of the players of the game at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. He’s a good-sized center who plays a smart, fast, strong, decently skilled game with a playmaking tilt. He’s got good handles and poise on the puck, often holding onto it for that extra second to open up a pass back against the grain to a teammate. He reads off of and through coverage at an advanced level and shows well with the puck, although he’s not a natural scorer/finisher. He also excels in the faceoff circle and supports the play well enough to project as a center. He's not a dynamic skater but he’s an above-average one who plays the game with speed. He’s got some pro qualities and with more consistency and reps there could be a solid player there potentially.
Profile
After a disappointing 16-year-old season with two different teams in the BCHL, Boilard made the move to the QMJHL, played to nearly a point per game with a deep Baie-Comeau team (though his production and role diminished against Drummondville in the league final), and was one of the players of the game at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. He’s a good-sized center who plays a smart, fast, strong, decently skilled game with a playmaking tilt. He’s got good handles and poise on the puck, often holding onto it for that extra second to open up a pass back against the grain to a teammate. He reads off of and through coverage at an advanced level and shows well with the puck, although he’s not a natural scorer/finisher. He also excels in the faceoff circle and supports the play well enough to project as a center. He's not a dynamic skater but he’s an above-average one who plays the game with speed. He’s got some pro qualities and with more consistency and reps there could be a solid player there potentially.
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
So, I find it interesting that our drafts these days have a bit of a theme. Previous regimes' drafts felt more like throwing random darts at guys with no real rhyme or reason.
Are we allowed to have centers who "excel[] in the faceoff circle" (other than Tro) though?
Fitzy
Very Stable Genius
- Jan 29, 2009
- 35,741
- 23,045
Scouting report reads like Bryce McConnell-Barker's a little bit.
Matt Rentfree
Registered User
Boilard’s top quality is his playmaking. He sees the ice well and can make some great passes on both his forehand and backhand. He’s got good poise, and he’s a smart player both with and without the puck. There is a good level of creativity in his game. While we don't anticipate him becoming a top-6 player, he does have strong passing skills. He's good at generating offense through his transition play and can also create scoring opportunities from the wall, thanks to his effective puck-protection abilities and willingness to hold onto the puck for an extra second to allow his teammates to find open space in high-scoring areas. His solid frame allows him to protect the puck effectively, further helped by his reach and ability to escape pressure through edgework.
We would like to see him improve his skating. While he does have good edgework and agility, his acceleration and top speed need work. He doesn’t have the smoothest stride either; there’s some refinement that could be done to improve in that area. He does use his edges well to change directions, and that makes him tough to handle one-on-one in tight spaces, such as along the boards when he has the puck. Some of the best sequences we saw from him this season involved him pivoting away from pressure and protecting the puck from defenders, creating scoring chances. Possibly his best highlight of the season: an early-season goal he scored in Gatineau where that good puck-protection game was on display. He also used some deception along the wall and had a good give-and-go with his brother Jules.
If everything goes right with his development, we project him as a 3rd line center. For that, you need good hockey sense. We mentioned earlier that he’s a smart player offensively and has good skills in terms of playmaking and creativity. Away from the puck, we like his anticipation and stick activation to break down plays and create turnovers in the neutral zone. In his zone, he needs to work a bit on his positional game, but we feel that as he gains more experience, his overall defensive game is going to be solid. He barely played on the PK unit this season, but based on his IQ and tools, we think he’s going to be good in that department. Look for him to start playing more next season and become a bigger part of Baie-Comeau’s penalty kill.
He was strong in the faceoff circle in his rookie season, averaging 57%. With his role expanding and as he continues to face top centers around the league more often, we will see if he can continue to build on that percentage next season, as his minutes were slightly sheltered this year. One thing that made us drop him in our rankings since January is our need to see him compete harder on the ice. There were some games throughout the season against good teams such as Drummondville where he just didn’t bring it. We need to see him use his size more, play more on the inside and just be tougher to play against. We didn’t see enough of that this season
We don’t project him as a top-6 forward because his hands and shooting were too inconsistent for us this season. We felt that he mishandled the puck too many times while in transition. He did have some good moments in transition, beating players one-on-one, but overall, this area of his game was a letdown too often. The same goes with his shot. He scored some very nice goals from distance and from the left faceoff circle, mostly using his wrist shot. However, he also had moments where his shot didn’t look technically sound, and we saw him as having a tougher time translating as a 20+ goal scorer in the NHL. Consistency in those two areas (shooting and hands) was problematic in our eyes this season.
Our initial projection made earlier in the year was higher than it was in the second half; the more we watched him this season, the more we re-evaluated this as having been too high. Having said that, he still has potential to become a 3rd or 4th line center in the NHL if he puts in the work. We want to see him improve his speed and compete level. Sometimes a lack of compete level can be viewed as a player being lazy, but this is not the case here. We want to see more tenacity and urgency out of him that makes him a tougher player to play against, and that should help him improve his overall game–as well as improve his chances of reaching the NHL.
We would like to see him improve his skating. While he does have good edgework and agility, his acceleration and top speed need work. He doesn’t have the smoothest stride either; there’s some refinement that could be done to improve in that area. He does use his edges well to change directions, and that makes him tough to handle one-on-one in tight spaces, such as along the boards when he has the puck. Some of the best sequences we saw from him this season involved him pivoting away from pressure and protecting the puck from defenders, creating scoring chances. Possibly his best highlight of the season: an early-season goal he scored in Gatineau where that good puck-protection game was on display. He also used some deception along the wall and had a good give-and-go with his brother Jules.
If everything goes right with his development, we project him as a 3rd line center. For that, you need good hockey sense. We mentioned earlier that he’s a smart player offensively and has good skills in terms of playmaking and creativity. Away from the puck, we like his anticipation and stick activation to break down plays and create turnovers in the neutral zone. In his zone, he needs to work a bit on his positional game, but we feel that as he gains more experience, his overall defensive game is going to be solid. He barely played on the PK unit this season, but based on his IQ and tools, we think he’s going to be good in that department. Look for him to start playing more next season and become a bigger part of Baie-Comeau’s penalty kill.
He was strong in the faceoff circle in his rookie season, averaging 57%. With his role expanding and as he continues to face top centers around the league more often, we will see if he can continue to build on that percentage next season, as his minutes were slightly sheltered this year. One thing that made us drop him in our rankings since January is our need to see him compete harder on the ice. There were some games throughout the season against good teams such as Drummondville where he just didn’t bring it. We need to see him use his size more, play more on the inside and just be tougher to play against. We didn’t see enough of that this season
We don’t project him as a top-6 forward because his hands and shooting were too inconsistent for us this season. We felt that he mishandled the puck too many times while in transition. He did have some good moments in transition, beating players one-on-one, but overall, this area of his game was a letdown too often. The same goes with his shot. He scored some very nice goals from distance and from the left faceoff circle, mostly using his wrist shot. However, he also had moments where his shot didn’t look technically sound, and we saw him as having a tougher time translating as a 20+ goal scorer in the NHL. Consistency in those two areas (shooting and hands) was problematic in our eyes this season.
Our initial projection made earlier in the year was higher than it was in the second half; the more we watched him this season, the more we re-evaluated this as having been too high. Having said that, he still has potential to become a 3rd or 4th line center in the NHL if he puts in the work. We want to see him improve his speed and compete level. Sometimes a lack of compete level can be viewed as a player being lazy, but this is not the case here. We want to see more tenacity and urgency out of him that makes him a tougher player to play against, and that should help him improve his overall game–as well as improve his chances of reaching the NHL.
Roo Returns
Skjeikspeare No More
Drury's trying to build a Stanley Cup champ that mimics the 2000 Baltimore Ravens
Sayba
Dark Schneider
- Jul 7, 2009
- 2,519
- 2,585
Seems like a 3rd / 4th line center potential if he hits, I’ll take it.
Machinehead
HFNYR MVP
He's currently our only prospect who isn't in the NCAA or AHL/ECHL.
will1066
Registered User
- Oct 12, 2008
- 48,127
- 67,200
Little known: He's the mastermind of the Rao's Homemade pasta sauce empire.
