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

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AmericanDream said:
In barely 45 games played in 2 years after a significant injury you are comfortable stating this about him??

And then say "Certain posters"......right...
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Injuries have definitely hurt his development but he hasn't produced like a top 6 forward at any level in his career, so it shouldn't shock anyone that he's not producing like one after being drafted.

Still think with his good size and speed combination that he could be a Clutterbuck/Hathaway type player, despite producing at a level that screams bust, but I do think his hockey IQ is clearly a weakness and will inhibit his ability to become a key offensive contributor at the NHL level.

Hope I'm wrong though. As a Sens fan I would love nothing more than seeing him prove me wrong.
 
Hale The Villain said:
Injuries have definitely hurt his development but he hasn't produced like a top 6 forward at any level in his career, so it shouldn't shock anyone that he's not producing like one after being drafted.

Still think with his good size and speed combination that he could be a Clutterbuck/Hathaway type player, despite producing at a level that screams bust, but I do think his hockey IQ is clearly a weakness and will inhibit his ability to become a key offensive contributor at the NHL level.

Hope I'm wrong though. As a Sens fan I would love nothing more than seeing him prove me wrong.
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Boucher was one of the few players on the NTDP that was PPG (14gp 9G 5A 14P) in their draft year. Doesn't obviously mean they're a top 6 forward but Josh Norris was 61gp 61p, Brady Tkachuk was 61gp 54p in their grade 12 year. Can't write off his offensive upside this fast considering all the other factors.
 
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Hale The Villain said:
Injuries have definitely hurt his development but he hasn't produced like a top 6 forward at any level in his career, so it shouldn't shock anyone that he's not producing like one after being drafted.

Still think with his good size and speed combination that he could be a Clutterbuck/Hathaway type player, despite producing at a level that screams bust, but I do think his hockey IQ is clearly a weakness and will inhibit his ability to become a key offensive contributor at the NHL level.

Hope I'm wrong though. As a Sens fan I would love nothing more than seeing him prove me wrong.
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I am just saying, his body of work is very limited over the past 2 years. He is a very smart kid by the way, his dad was as well - I know hockey IQ/smarts isn't the same but I would really hold off on making any claims about a players hockey IQ this early on. He is a big player that uses his physical gifts to plow through the competition, thinking the game like a Kane or Gaudreau hasn't been what he needed to do.

I think he is realizing like many bigger players do once you reach a certain level you simply won't be bowling through players any longer, so he will have to adjust/adapt and I will agree with you there. I think he needs a bit more time before we cross this bridge however, this kid needs hockey, lots of hockey to catch up.
 
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KotkaCaufield said:
this might be the worst toop 10 pick of the last decade
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Way too early to tell. There are some doozies if we're going back as far as 2012. At least he's still got time to develop. Also just for fun here's a list of the worst ones I could find.
Griffin Reinhart (2012, 4th overall)
Michael Dal Colle (2014 5th overall)
Jake Virtanen (2014 6th overall)
Olli Juolevi (2016 5th overall)
 
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He’s not a typical 10OA, and there almost certainly will be 10 better players than him, but most of the people trashing him the past year have no clue what they’re saying.

He’s a good player and was very clearly a first round caliber pick. He went higher than he should’ve due to the way he plays, but teams don’t have unlimited first round picks. You pick the players you want when it’s your turn to pick.

He didn’t have a good season last year, but he was coming off a season where he barely played, so it took him some time to get going. He wasn’t playing too badly at BU, but the team was very bad, he wasn’t given much ice time for BU, and he had bad puck luck almost all of last season. His stats improved with Ottawa in the OHL as the season went on.

He probably will not become Tom Wilson 2.0, but that’s his potential. His floor is Chris Neil, which is a valuable NHL player. Most likely, he ends up a middle sixer.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich said:
He’s not a typical 10OA, and there almost certainly will be 10 better players than him, but most of the people trashing him the past year have no clue what they’re saying.

He’s a good player and was very clearly a first round caliber pick. He went higher than he should’ve due to the way he plays, but teams don’t have unlimited first round picks. You pick the players you want when it’s your turn to pick.

He didn’t have a good season last year, but he was coming off a season where he barely played, so it took him some time to get going. He wasn’t playing too badly at BU, but the team was very bad, he wasn’t given much ice time for BU, and he had bad puck luck almost all of last season. His stats improved with Ottawa in the OHL as the season went on.

He probably will not become Tom Wilson 2.0, but that’s his potential. His floor is Chris Neil, which is a valuable NHL player. Most likely, he ends up a middle sixer.
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I think his floor is lower than Neil but generally agree. Floor is 8-15g, 25-35pts, ~2 hits per game bottom 6er. Ceiling, a 3-4 hit per game, 15-25 goal, 45-60 top 6er. Realistically, 10-20 goals, 35-50pt winger, ~3 hit per game 2nd/3rd liner.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich said:
He’s not a typical 10OA, and there almost certainly will be 10 better players than him, but most of the people trashing him the past year have no clue what they’re saying.

He’s a good player and was very clearly a first round caliber pick. He went higher than he should’ve due to the way he plays, but teams don’t have unlimited first round picks. You pick the players you want when it’s your turn to pick.

He didn’t have a good season last year, but he was coming off a season where he barely played, so it took him some time to get going. He wasn’t playing too badly at BU, but the team was very bad, he wasn’t given much ice time for BU, and he had bad puck luck almost all of last season. His stats improved with Ottawa in the OHL as the season went on.

He probably will not become Tom Wilson 2.0, but that’s his potential. His floor is Chris Neil, which is a valuable NHL player. Most likely, he ends up a middle sixer.
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His floor is 1000 nhl games. Got it.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich said:
He’s not a typical 10OA, and there almost certainly will be 10 better players than him, but most of the people trashing him the past year have no clue what they’re saying.

He’s a good player and was very clearly a first round caliber pick. He went higher than he should’ve due to the way he plays, but teams don’t have unlimited first round picks. You pick the players you want when it’s your turn to pick.

He didn’t have a good season last year, but he was coming off a season where he barely played, so it took him some time to get going. He wasn’t playing too badly at BU, but the team was very bad, he wasn’t given much ice time for BU, and he had bad puck luck almost all of last season. His stats improved with Ottawa in the OHL as the season went on.

He probably will not become Tom Wilson 2.0, but that’s his potential. His floor is Chris Neil, which is a valuable NHL player. Most likely, he ends up a middle sixer.
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Lol at his floor being Chris Neil. Ridiculous.
 
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Bevans said:
You said his floor is Chris Neil. This is extremely high praise. Neil was better in his draft -1 than Boucher was in draft +1.

Would love to see him become Chris Neil but to call that his floor is wildly optimistic.
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Do you mean Neil was better in his +1 than Boucher in his +1? I guess I agree, although I wasn't watching OHL games in 1997 and 1998, so thats only going based off stats.

My point is that I think his floor is a Neil type of career. Does it include over 1000+ games? No, I'm talking about stuff like playing style, best seasons, career highs in points, role for an NHL team. Someone can have a Neil type of career, play five less seasons, and still have a similar type of career. It's unlikely anyone plays over 1000 games, so I'm not saying playing 1000 games is anyone's floor.

I don't see Boucher as less than a good bottom six winger that adds hitting, fighting ability, a fear factor to how he plays, and a little offense. As much as his last season didn't go as planned, you don't need to live up to offensive expectations to be a grinder. It's not as if he was a complete non-factor last season. He didn't score as anyone would've liked him to, but he was a capable hockey player that was a valuable player in other parts of the game.
 
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Boucher will likely make the NHL, and have a career, but I'll never be convinced he was a good pick at #10. Maybe at #28 or so. I think the Sens' 2nd rounder Ostapchuk will have a better career.
 
Pavel Buchnevich said:
He’s not a typical 10OA, and there almost certainly will be 10 better players than him, but most of the people trashing him the past year have no clue what they’re saying.

He’s a good player and was very clearly a first round caliber pick. He went higher than he should’ve due to the way he plays, but teams don’t have unlimited first round picks. You pick the players you want when it’s your turn to pick.

He didn’t have a good season last year, but he was coming off a season where he barely played, so it took him some time to get going. He wasn’t playing too badly at BU, but the team was very bad, he wasn’t given much ice time for BU, and he had bad puck luck almost all of last season. His stats improved with Ottawa in the OHL as the season went on.

He probably will not become Tom Wilson 2.0, but that’s his potential. His floor is Chris Neil, which is a valuable NHL player. Most likely, he ends up a middle sixer.
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His floor is AHL grinder.

To say a players floor is a guy played over 1000 games is ridiculous
 
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At a similar stage of his career, Chris Neil looked like nothing more than a 4th line enforcer with limited prospects long-term.

His hockey smarts, net front presence and surprising offensive pop at times didn't really come along until later.

I was as surprised as anyone. I think I posted something like "Write Chris Neil's name down in permanent marker on the 4th line for the rest of his career."

In the end, he became a very serviceable 3rd liner who could be trusted with ice time and responsibility, and his physicality was well-appreciated seeing as he was swift enough to employ it frequently.

We've had guys like McGrattan who seem fearsome but were always too late to hit anyone during the run of play, as good as he was in fights.

Neil was also one of the best at chipping the puck high out of the zone without icing it (weird skill but my god, so many players have trouble with that for some reason), was well-versed at the dump and chase and played the game the right way.

When I look at Tyler Boucher, I expect more than I expected from Chris Neil. I don't think I'm the only person who doubted that he'd end up playing 1,000 games.

I'm certainly hoping for tweener offense from Boucher (much like Grieg and Ostapchuk) as opposed to the strictly bottom six type contributions of a Chris Neil.
 
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Kryptekah said:
Hear that everyone? “nbwingsfan” says Tyler Boucher’s floor is an AHL grinder. Guess things are settled then.
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You think he’s a guaranteed quality NHL player? Because that’s what a “floor of Chris Neil” would be?
 
Maturing is realizing that even though Boucher was selected too high, he is still a legit prospect…
 
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