Prospect Info: Tyler Boucher (F) - PART III

[Ice-Tray]

They saw something they like in Boucher over Sillinger, it’s as simple as that.

Right now it looks like they chose poorly, but time will tell. They didn’t need to be ‘right’ right off the bat so there is still time for their vision to blossom, but Sillinger had a great year and thy is undeniable.

There really isn’t much to debate at this point is there? All that’s left is that Boucher gets back on track this summer and nails it next season.

He’s our guy, the shoulda coulda woulda ship has left port.

Post automatically merged: May 2, 2022

The bold is news to me. Everything I saw from him showed a player more than willing to engage physically. Don't think I'd seen anyone suggest he was viewed as "light". Poor skating was the biggest concern I saw, specifically wrt his acceleration. From what I've seen he is pretty steady on his skates and has good lateral movement.

I think there was work ethic concerns and maybe an element of being soft kinda like a Logan Brown.

Either way. These things are often hard to project at the pro level since the kids are teenagers. Some put it together, some don’t.

Sillinger looks like he’s putting it together, Logan Brown not so much. Maybe they were a little gun shy because of Brown, who also had all the skill and pedigree

 

[Oscar The Grouch]

One way to look at it. I wont be taking this route, i saw him play you can see the tools. Obviously not the production you are looking for but I think next year the 67's are gonna be alot better team. He will start the year off in a normal training camp maybe start judging his production next season under normal circumstances.

Are you THRILLED with his development?

 

[bert]

Are you THRILLED with his development?

No but I'm not writing him off either. Can it be one without the other?

 

[Icelevel]

If only looking at stats it's beyond as bad as it gets, his stats are among the worst in the past 30 years for a 1st round forward, up there with Jay O'Brien, who also left the NCAA after his D+1 season. Like it or not, your expected to score in a junior league as an NHL drafted player, especially a 10th overall.

Watching him play in both the NCAA and OHL you can see he has skating and physicality that don't show up on the statsheet, that's why he is still a very legitimate prospect.

Anyone who says that this year has been anything short of extremely disappointing is kidding themselves, it was the exact opposite of what you want to see. Nobody wants to see a guy have to leave a development program because they are struggling, and then nobody wants to see that person struggle in their new environment. We all know he can skate and hit. What we don't know is that he can produce, and he never showed that this year.

How did the year go if not bad, and how do we arrive at that conclusion?

That’s the thing though. He wasn’t ”struggling” (in the ohl at least) like you say. Coaches and team mates and Dorion and myself who saw him live think he played great hockey. Just needs to develop more.

 

[BondraTime]

That’s the thing though. He wasn’t ”struggling” (in the ohl at least) like you say. Coaches and team mates and Dorion and myself who saw him live think he played great hockey. Just needs to develop more.

If you don’t think he struggled in the OHL this year as a 10th overall pick, I’m not sure what to tell you

 

[Icelevel]

If you don’t think he struggled in the OHL this year as a 10th overall pick, I’m not sure what to tell you

Don’t need to tell me anything. I watched him and he was good. Right on track to be an impact player in Ottawa.

 

[Tap on the Ankle]

I know points isn't everything but it's exceptionally rare for a D+1 future NHLer to not produce at least decently (close to point per game) in the CHL. Meaning any guy who played in the NHL at all, even just a few games, not just the top 6/impact players.

If he put up ~80pts in 68 games next season he would be on a similar trajectory to Kyle Platzer.

Hope I'm wrong but it's hard to have faith when there's just no other examples of anyone doing it. Would be a great story if he did make it after all the doubt.

 

[Icelevel]

I know points isn't everything but it's exceptionally rare for a D+1 future NHLer to not produce at least decently (close to point per game) in the CHL. Meaning any guy who played in the NHL at all, even just a few games, not just the top 6/impact players.

If he put up ~80pts in 68 games next season he would be on a similar trajectory to Kyle Platzer.

Hope I'm wrong but it's hard to have faith when there's just no other examples of anyone doing it. Would be a great story if he did make it after all the doubt.

Are you guys making stuff up? Where is “all the doubt” coming from?
You mean posters on hfboards?
Sorry to burst the bubble but..

 

[OD99]

I didn't say he projected like them.... beyond their eventual role. Silinger plays different than Lazar or whatever failed forward we picked. However, in the end he doesn't project as a PP1 RW or L1 RW. So he slides down and at best is a 2RW. He didn't project to kill penalties or any other secondary role other than scoring where he is blocked by Batherson,. Its an exaggeration, but like adding a future Dadonov or Hoffman to our middle 6 who can't defend or support the team in leveraged situations. He projected like a guy who wouldn't be on the ice late whether you were wining or losing. He can't matchup vs the other teams best and he can't dominate the other teams checkers.

This team is taking players who can play their role exceptionally well. They may miss on Boucher but they took a kids who projects to be elite at his skill set vs good often preferred skill set and one of the easiest positions to replace.

You keep saying things that arent true.

1. Light scoring winger easiest to replace.

I would imagine a non scoring 4th liner who hits to keep job is easiest position to fill.

2. Light scoring winger...

Sillinger was and is a C so not same at all

3. Can't match up against other teams best or dominate their checkers.

Says who? At 18 and scoring like he has he is doing just fine.

4. Can't PK.

Is anyone taking about Bouchers defensive game? Did he PK at all in college or for the 67s? Actually asking because I haven't heard a word about him being a defensive player at all.

We all want him to develop but let's keep to what is at least true.

And IF the team wants a guy like Boucher they should have drafted Sillinger and then traded Sillinger for Boucher plus other assets. Taking an inferior player is always a bad move.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

From an extremely optimistic viewpoint he sort of reminds me of Fisher. Physical, fast, decent skill but absolutely no deception in their games.

However Fish scored 100 points in his post draft season and was better looking.

 

[PlayersLtd]

Prior to playing for the 67's Tyler Boucher played a grand total of 46 hockey games over 2.5 seasons, one of them as a freshman on a middling BU program that he did not fit into.

I know the bar was low but he progressed once he came to town. That's after making a giant career decision to leave BU, getting COVID (at the worst time), battling multiple injuries (at the worst times) and suffering mentally. He showed a lot more than just promising flashes with the 67's this year and he absolutely destroyed the USNTD development tourney in the summer of 2021, outplaying guys like Chaz Lucius iirc. If there was ever a time to cut a guy some slack it's now with Tyler Boucher.

All things considered, I for one am excited about a lot of what he demonstrated this year and without question the adversity is going to serve him well. He'll get a feature one day between periods once he's cracked the NHL that talks about his tough path in 2021-22 and we're all going to get goose bumps and forget this arguing. Then we'll start to see Boucher jerseys in the stands as his contributions slowly rise and his impact as a very unique and valuable player is felt. No doubt in my mind.

Why on earth not be patient and hopeful it plays out this way instead of writing him off after such an extraordinarily challenging couple of years? It's borderline cruel at this point.

 

[OD99]

Prior to playing for the 67's Tyler Boucher played a grand total of 46 hockey games over 2.5 seasons, one of them as a freshman on a middling BU program that he did not fit into.

I know the bar was low but he progressed once he came to town. That's after making a giant career decision to leave BU, getting COVID (at the worst time), battling multiple injuries (at the worst times) and suffering mentally. He showed a lot more than just promising flashes with the 67's this year and he absolutely destroyed the USNTD development tourney in the summer of 2021, outplaying guys like Chaz Lucius iirc. If there was ever a time to cut a guy some slack it's now with Tyler Boucher.

All things considered, I for one am excited about a lot of what he demonstrated this year and without question the adversity is going to serve him well. He'll get a feature one day between periods once he's cracked the NHL that talks about his tough path in 2021-22 and we're all going to get goose bumps and forget this arguing. Then we'll start to see Boucher jerseys in the stands as his contributions slowly rise and his impact as a very unique and valuable player is felt. No doubt in my mind.

Why on earth not be patient and hopeful it plays out this way instead of writing him off after such an extraordinarily challenging couple of years? It's borderline cruel at this point.

Where is all this coming from?

Who is being cruel? Who is writing him off?

I don't believe I have seen more than 1 or 2 posts about him being a bust.

On the flip side there are loads of posts about how foolish anyone who has misgivings will look in a few years when he is (as example) having intermission pieces about him...because he is a sure fire impact NHLer who will be winning us playoff games.

The extremists seem to be the optimists while the rest are saying it hasn't looked good yet but he has tools.

Its like posters want people to call him a bust so they can defend him when all the skeptics are saying is we arent encouraged by his production.

 

[PlayersLtd]

Where is all this coming from?

Who is being cruel? Who is writing him off?

I don't believe I have seen more than 1 or 2 posts about him being a bust.

On the flip side there are loads of posts about how foolish anyone who has misgivings will look in a few years when he is (as example) having intermission pieces about him...because he is a sure fire impact NHLer who will be winning us playoff games.

The extremists seem to be the optimists while the rest are saying it hasn't looked good yet but he has tools.

Its like posters want people to call him a bust so they can defend him when all the skeptics are saying is we arent encouraged by his production.

The general tone from many that it was the worst tenth overall pick by any team in recent memory is cleary insinuating bust status and that has been prevalent since the day his name was called instead of Sillinger's.

The sceptics are far more defeatist than you're making it out. The credit you give to 'the rest' vs the extremists, in your comparison, is in fact the extremists position. Me, an extremist I suppose, could find a lot of common ground in how you characterize 'the rest' when you say 'it hasn't looked good yet but the tools are there.' That's what most of the people trying to put a positive spin on him are saying. The negative view however is far less optimistic than what you're characterizing.

Not unsurprising that opinions are strong. As I said somewhere else, people are here to debate and as such a temperate stance that preaches something benign like patience isn't all that fun because no longer are you debating the player, instead it turns into something altogether different, more akin to debating our own personal outlooks or attitudes toward life.

Admittedly, some of my defiance is spill over from the main prospects board where it's more negative but nonetheless my same point stands, people here are writing him off way too early when chilling out a bit and giving him some rope for what he's been through is quite obviously due. And subsequently, some of that same rope is also due to PD.

 

[SensontheRush]

So, are we ignoring the possibility that Sillinger told our crew "I would be disappointed if you guys drafted me"?

These hardline takes assuming perfectly professional behaviour from 18 year olds, and people in general, don't accurately capture reality at all.

 

[OD99]

The general tone from many that it was the worst tenth overall pick by any team in recent memory is cleary insinuating bust status and that has been prevalent since the day his name was called instead of Sillinger's.

The sceptics are far more defeatist than you're making it out. The credit you give to 'the rest' vs the extremists, in your comparison, is in fact the extremists position. Me, an extremist I suppose, could find a lot of common ground in how you characterize 'the rest' when you say 'it hasn't looked good yet but the tools are there.' That's what most of the people trying to put a positive spin on him are saying. The negative view however is far less optimistic than what you're characterizing.

Not unsurprising that opinions are strong. As I said somewhere else, people are here to debate and as such a temperate stance that preaches something benign like patience isn't all that fun because no longer are you debating the player, instead it turns into something altogether different, more akin to debating our own personal outlooks or attitudes toward life.

Admittedly, some of my defiance is spill over from the main prospects board where it's more negative but nonetheless my same point stands, people here are writing him off way too early when chilling out a bit and giving him some rope for what he's been through is quite obviously due. And subsequently, some of that same rope is also due to PD.

Ok I guess I am just missing something.

Haven't seen anything about worst 10th overall in years, etc...

Also don't see people writing him off yet but all good.

I think he has a lot of work to do but genuinely hope he puts it together and scores in bunches next year.

 

[DanyHeatley]

Boucher will play less than 30 NHL games

 

[DJB]

So, are we ignoring the possibility that Sillinger told our crew "I would be disappointed if you guys drafted me"?

These hardline takes assuming perfectly professional behaviour from 18 year olds, and people in general, don't accurately capture reality at all.

Is that an actual quote?

 

[Micklebot]

So, are we ignoring the possibility that Sillinger told our crew "I would be disappointed if you guys drafted me"?

These hardline takes assuming perfectly professional behaviour from 18 year olds, and people in general, don't accurately capture reality at all.

Yes, we are ignoring the made up scenario that is based on, what? Cognitive dissonance?

The team picked Boucher because they really liked him, if the just didn't like Sillinger, for example because they didn't think he could get his skating to where it needed to be, they had plenty of other well regarded options.

 

[BondraTime]

Yes, we are ignoring the made up scenario that is based on, what? Cognitive dissonance?

The team picked Boucher because they really liked him, if the just didn't like Sillinger, for example because they didn't think he could get his skating to where it needed to be, they had plenty of other well regarded options.

Absolutely, they liked Boucher more than Sillinger, and took him over him. And that’s perfectly fair, that’s their job to make the decisions, we get to sit here and pick them apart from a distance with no repercussions.

Boucher has all the tools to be an effective guy and is a very legit prospect, but saying his year offensively was anything short of completely disappointing or just “stat-watching” is just putting your head in the sand for the sake of it.

 

[Micklebot]

Absolutely, they liked Boucher more than Sillinger, and took him over him. And that’s perfectly fair, that’s their job to make the decisions, we get to sit here and pick them apart from a distance with no repercussions.

Boucher has all the tools to be an effective guy and is a very legit prospect, but saying his year offensively was anything short of completely disappointing or just “stat-watching” is just putting your head in the sand for the sake of it.

I think people want to imagine this is a similar scenario to Tkachuk's production before we drafted him. If you just looked at box scores with Tkachuk, you'd key in on 8 goals and be worried about his ability to score, but if you watched the games you'd have seen him generating a ton of shots and chances, going to the dirty areas of the ice and causing havoc and doing all the things that suggest his offense will translate. Boucher to me shows the tools to do that type of stuff, and a flash here and there, but he's not doing it right now. I hope he gets there, but right now I don't see it.

 

[SensontheRush]

Is that an actual quote?

No haha, I guess I have to admit I'm being silly. More a general curiosity. Dorion opened up about difficulties attracting Free Agents; I don't think it's ridiculous to consider a parallel sort of impediment experienced when dealing with amateurs.

Yes, we are ignoring the made up scenario that is based on, what? Cognitive dissonance?

The team picked Boucher because they really liked him, if the just didn't like Sillinger, for example because they didn't think he could get his skating to where it needed to be, they had plenty of other well regarded options.

Yeh, I wouldn't say otherwise, but there's a lot to "really liking" a player that seems to be assumed away, and an ignoring of what could potentially explain why an ostensible much more skilled player would be "less liked".

We know one of the cited reasons for passing Sillinger is that we're already covered in what he would offer us, but that doesn't really sound like a full, solid explanation to me.

It's a made up scenario sure haha, but you never know, why shouldn't an amateur be more honest about their feelings?

When we go "WTFFFF", it's generally because we are operating with incomplete information, and I think as much as there is a "liking Boucher" factor, there should be some openness to the likelihood of an "avoiding Sillinger" factor.

I guess I'm just sick of reading about Sillinger in the Boucher thread, and people being torn on having the chance to draft him is a product of us being fans and not having the full picture IMO.

 

[ksens]

I think people want to imagine this is a similar scenario to Tkachuk's production before we drafted him. If you just looked at box scores with Tkachuk, you'd key in on 8 goals and be worried about his ability to score, but if you watched the games you'd have seen him generating a ton of shots and chances, going to the dirty areas of the ice and causing havoc and doing all the things that suggest his offense will translate. Boucher to me shows the tools to do that type of stuff, and a flash here and there, but he's not doing it right now. I hope he gets there, but right now I don't see it.

Boucher looks like someone who should be thinking about where they are going to play OUA hockey with their CHL scholarship package.

At this point if he can turn it around and have more than a cup of coffee in the NHL it would be a major renaissance. Here's hoping he can.

 

[Micklebot]

Boucher looks like someone who should be thinking about where they are going to play OUA hockey with their CHL scholarship package.

At this point if he can turn it around and have more than a cup of coffee in the NHL it would be a major renaissance. Here's hoping he can.

I think he's got enough motor and physicality to carve out a 4th line role as a floor, obviously he could do worse and never make it, but that's currently my baseline expectation of he doesn't take a big step forward.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

So, are we ignoring the possibility that Sillinger told our crew "I would be disappointed if you guys drafted me"?

These hardline takes assuming perfectly professional behaviour from 18 year olds, and people in general, don't accurately capture reality at all.

And he told the Columbus blue jackets hed be thrilled to be drafted by them?

 

[Micklebot]

And he told the Columbus blue jackets hed be thrilled to be drafted by them?

His dad only spent 13 games playing here, he was in Clb two whole years, he made lifelong friends there, him and his mom probably never even came over here for suitcase sillinger's brief stint...