Zaddy
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2013
- 13,058
- 5,850
Bouchards game will not translate to the NHL very well. watching his highlights, he is not a good skater at all, He has a good wrist shot and a good slap shot, a lot of his up ice rushes are generally quick flips into an open net by getting to the net in time. He will not have this time in the NHL because of his lack of first step and speed. His passes are not all world. I think he will take too long to develop at the NHL level. Boqvist is who the Oilers need to target. you only get so many opportunities to draft a defenseman like him. Speed, quickness, shifty, good shot, good stickwork, high IQ, great passer. This should start and end with Boqvist. There is absolutely no reason to pick anyone else if BQV is available. I don't see a reason to suddenly shift to the hottest player. Boqvist comes as advertised. He is not much further away then Dahlin. Very similar except Dahlin is bigger.
I tend to agree, I think Bouchard is getting a bit overrated and I think like you say his lack of speed and first step is going to be a big issue. The NHL is an incredibly fast league these days and it's especially important for d-men nowadays to be really quick. Bouchard is not that and I don't think the rest of his game makes up for it. I think he's actually one of those guys who is going to need significant time in the minors before taking the step to the NHL and even then I don't think he'll be more than a middle-pairing defenseman.
I'd probably take Hughes over him even though Hughes is a lefty, much smaller and doesn't have a great shot. What Hughes does have though is incredible skill and talent coupled with fantastic skating in every way possible. I think I'd rather take my chances with him and his skillset. I also think it's pretty telling that the HockeyProspect guys (who are generally very good at OHL scouting) have Bouchard only at #15 and have had him very low all year (think they had him outside the 1st round the first couple of months of the season).
The problem for me would be choosing between Bouchard and Dobson (if Boqvist and Hughes are both gone). I've only seen Dobson at the Hlinka (where he played a mostly defensive role, but excelled at it) and highlights, so he's pretty tough to judge for me but really, his highlights aren't that impressive and I feel like a big part of why he's producing well is because he's playing in the Q. What is his offensive upside really like? Really tough to say. I could see him being more of a JayBo type at the NHL level. Good player but not a game-breaker in any way. But I do think he has a higher ceiling than Bouchard, but probably less likely to reach it.
Lets say we draft at #7 and this is how the draft goes down:
1. Dahlin
2. Svechnikov
3. Zadina
4. Tkachuk
5. Boqvist
6. Hughes
Who do you take? Bouchard? Dobson? Smith? Wahlstrom? Or even someone like Wilde or Kotkaniemi? That's a really tough one for me. Honestly I'd probably lean more towards Smith or Wahlstrom than Bouchard or Dobson. I think Smith could be a top-pairing defenseman. He's just so smooth and smart and a terrific skater. I can't see him not being a successful NHLer with that skillset. And Wahlstrom is a goalscorer with great hands, skill and skating. Don't think you can go wrong with either one of those. Ultimately I'd probably go with Smith. D-men > wingers, and it doesn't hurt that he's an Alberta boy and a teammate of Yamamoto. Oilers scouts should've seen plenty of him.