RW Tyler Boucher - Belleville Senators, AHL (2021, 10th, OTT)

[uncleben]

I am NOT a professional scout.
I am even far from being one of the most knowledgeable HF prospect posters

...But I had Boucher at 51

This one was surprising

 

[William H Bonney]

People will cry reach but Boucher would have likely been a consensus top 15-20 prospect if he didn't get hurt this year.

 

[ccman68]

yet there are people who tell me ottawa is good at drafting even though they make trash picks every year

 

[Morgs]

*Guy resembles Tom Wilson*

Let's reach 30 picks on him. I fully expected a reach, but 10th? Holy f***.

 

[Go Wings]

People will cry reach but Boucher would have likely been a consensus top 15-20 prospect if he didn't get hurt this year.

Ottawa is drafting 10th overall, even by your logic of 15-20 prospect is a reach.

 

[Constable]

Tyler Boucher may truthfully be the worst top-10 pick in NHL history. His upside is that of a 4th liner, pure 4th liner as he has no mentionable offensive skills and is practically exclusive at defensive coverage and man to man plays, I would be highly suspect of him as a draft pick

 

[William H Bonney]

Ottawa is drafting 10th overall, even by your logic of 15-20 prospect is a reach.

Poor wording but I don't mean a 15-20 range, I mean he would have been in the consensus top 15 or 20. If true, drafting him at 10 isn't really a reach.

 

[Constable]

yet there are people who tell me ottawa is good at drafting even though they make trash picks every year

Ottawa is showing that the people (like me) who were skeptical of almost all of their draft picks since the start of their rebuild may be right and Ottawa may just be lucky

 

[William H Bonney]

Tyler Boucher may truthfully be the worst top-10 pick in NHL history. His upside is that of a 4th liner, pure 4th liner as he has no mentionable offensive skills and is practically exclusive at defensive coverage and man to man plays, I would be highly suspect of him as a draft pick

Holy hyperbole.

 

[WORLDSTARHIPHOP]

yet there are people who tell me ottawa is good at drafting even though they make trash picks every year

lol this guy just spewing random bs

 

[ForsbergForever]

So Tyler Boucher is not another way to spell Cole Sillinger?

 

[Constable]

Holy hyperbole.

This is not hyperbole lol. He spent much of his time with the USNDTP juniors and was outpaced by pretty well every prospect worth a damn there- players not to be drafted for a year or more.

He's the first player I can think of that's spent *any* time on that team and been drafted the same year

 

[William H Bonney]

This is not hyperbole lol. He spent much of his time with the USNDTP juniors and was outpaced by pretty well every prospect worth a damn there- players not to be drafted for a year or more.

He's the first player I can think of that's spent *any* time on that team and been drafted the same year

You seem to not know anything about the NTDP.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Surprise pick but Dorion is a good scout. The thing is, if he hits on this pick, that's a nasty forward group with him and Tkachuk

 

[PlayersLtd]

Ottawa is showing that the people (like me) who were skeptical of almost all of their draft picks since the start of their rebuild may be right and Ottawa may just be lucky

Shameless spin that shows the depths of your own ignorance.

 

[DJB]

Sens plan on just hurting people with Tkachuk, Greig and Boucher.

I see some top 6 upside so I'm good with the pick even if the value at 10 might not be the absolute best

 

[Rodzilla]

Sens plan on just hurting people with Tkachuk, Greig and Boucher.

I see some top 6 upside so I'm good with the pick

We’ll probably lose Tkachuk before this « top 10 » pick is ready.

 

[Sensinitis]

yet there are people who tell me ottawa is good at drafting even though they make trash picks every year

You expect all their picks to be golden? Their track record speaks for itself. If there's one thing the Sens do well, it's drafting.

 

[Samsquanch]

People will cry reach but Boucher would have likely been a consensus top 15-20 prospect if he didn't get hurt this year.

Im really, really relieved to see you in here justifying this pick for my Sens (and I hope you take that as a high compliment).

Trent Mann is a scouting master in my honest opinion. And I trust him to make the right pick for the Sens. But holy shit this was a like a next level big balls move.

Mann has done some phenomenal work as the Sens chief scout - Chabot, Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Sanderson, Pinto, Formenton to name just a few. But I cant help but feel like this pick will define how the hockey world really ranks his greatness as a scout.

Bold, bold move - but I cant help but like it knowing full well that Mann and Dorion realize that the hockey world is laughing/questioning the pick - and they are fully banking on having the last laugh. That means something.

So as a fan, my interest level is at an all time high knowing that they were fully willing to use their own personal reputations on a big gamble. There was zero pressure to gamble in their situation - they were playing with house money (because their prospect depth is already crazy), and they could have easily made a much, much safer pick without putting their own reputations on the line.

For that reason alone its hard not to be excited. There is nothing more assuring as the client than when you see that a talented professional (with the resume to prove it) is willing to double down and bet on themselves.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

If you don’t know what you are saying, it’s be better to refrain from commenting. Too many people here don’t have a clue what they are saying.

Boucher is far from a boxer. He’s a skilled power forward. I could see him scoring at a first or second line rate eventually. He missed a lot of time this season, so that hurt his draft stock with the public perception, but he showed good improvement from last season with making more happen from shift to shift. He’s also a huge physical presence. One of the most punishing hitters in any recent draft. I wouldn’t have taken him this high, but I absolutely could see him being the 10th best player in this draft. He’s Tom Wilson 2.0 if he hits his ceiling.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I had him round 2. Suprised it was a forward especially guys on the board tbh

 

[Korpse]

yet there are people who tell me ottawa is good at drafting even though they make trash picks every year

Go ahead and name those trash picks every year.

 

[Samsquanch]

yet there are people who tell me ottawa is good at drafting even though they make trash picks every year

Chabot, Tkachuk, Sanderson, Pinot ECT ECT were all called bad picks by those same, lost people.

And if you want to base your opinion off of public polls and loud mouths on the internet/social media - then you deserve to be confused and stupefied like you are right now. Ottawa is inarguably one of the best teams at drafting.

Ill cut you some slack though because even our own fan base STILL has an uncomfortable amount of fans that seem to think they know how to scout better than the pros - and show no signs of feeling shame when they have to dial back their opinions after proven to be wrong - but continue with the same annual routine of bitter outrage at every draft regardless of history not being on their side....

2021 would be the best draft in NHL history to admit as an arm chair scout that your in way over your head, and that taking a strong opinion on any player is not a very logical approach.

 

[William H Bonney]

Im really, really relieved to see you in here justifying this pick for my Sens (and I hope you take that as a high compliment).

Trent Mann is a scouting master in my honest opinion. And I trust him to make the right pick for the Sens. But holy shit this was a like a next level big balls move.

Mann has done some phenomenal work as the Sens chief scout - Chabot, Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Sanderson, Pinto, Formenton to name just a few. But I cant help but feel like this pick will define how the hockey world really ranks his greatness as a scout.

Bold, bold move - but I cant help but like it knowing full well that Mann and Dorion realize that the hockey world is laughing/questioning the pick - and they are fully banking on having the last laugh. That means something.

So as a fan, my interest level is at an all time high knowing that they were fully willing to use their own personal reputations on a big gamble. There was zero pressure to gamble in their situation - they were playing with house money (because their prospect depth is already crazy), and they could have easily made a much, much safer pick without putting their own reputations on the line.

For that reason alone its hard not to be excited. There is nothing more assuring as the client than when you see that a talented professional (with the resume to prove it) is willing to double down and bet on themselves.

I don't have a comprehensive pulse on the draft prospects (and no one here does) as I only really follow American prospects closely at this stage, so I don't really have an opinion if Boucher was the right pick at 10. But I knew a bunch of people who don't follow the NTDP or USHL would overreact when the pick happened. People are acting like he's Tyler Biggs or something and it's so wildly inaccurate.

They don't know who Boucher is because he missed the U18s and that's where they get their first exposure to the guys who aren't the huge NTDP names during their 2 years with the program. They're stat watching and it's not a good way to scout and project. Boucher has the frame, very good skating, and plenty of skill. And no one with the NTDP '03 team had a better development curve between their U17 and U18 season. The only reason he wasn't a lot higher in draft rankings is he got hurt.

And the Senators know this well. Two of their young studs - Tkachuk and Norris (even though they didn't draft him, they obviously knew his NTDP game very well) - had very similar development progression paths as Boucher with the NTDP. Statistically they were just okay in their U17 seasons but the tools and ability were obvious - they just needed time. And all three took huge development leaps in their U18 seasons, albeit Boucher with a smaller sample size. I'm sure the Sens see the similarities there as do I.

 

[stocker]

Reminds me of Ryan Getzlaf