Prospect Info: Tyler Boucher (F) - PART III

[Alf Silfversson]

It's still impossible to say what kind of producer he'll be in the NHL since he's played about a half season worth of games over the last 2 years, but all I know is if he, Grieg, and Kleven are all on the team...yikes. 21st century version of the Hanson brothers.

Can't wait. Bit scared at the same time though.

Only one of those players, so far, has shown any sign of having the puck skills necessary to be more than a journeyman in the NHL (hint: it's not Tyler).

I worry that we will shoehorn a couple of these players into the big team and end up lacking the basic hockey skill to be a competitive team.

 

[HSF]

Man this guys just gotta play …missing some important developmental time

 

[cudi]

i take it back, he is starting to remind me of Wilson

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

I'm getting Dean Portman vibes from this guy, he's been watching too much Mighty Ducks.

 

[starling]

What a train wreck. I hope somebody talks to the guy and explains that it's not some tryouts and he doesn't need to prove anything, so he can calm down and start working on his game.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Honestly, I'm starting to think having him in Ottawa is a bad move. Best thing for him is to be playing in a league far away from the Sens and Sens fans, and then forget about him for a good three years or so. Let him grow and develop without any expectations. Then see where he's at after three years. It's bad enough he was picked waaaay too early in the draft (not his fault!), but now he's right under everyone's noses and being evaluated shift by shift. That is not the proper environment for the kid to be successful.

 

[OD99]

So far have only seen the clip of the hit and chatter about an impending suspension but hoping someone can provide more insight?

Was he in a top 6 role? Get PP time?

How was the rest of his game? Any decent offensive touches?

Have tickets to the Wed game against Kingston and was hoping to see him but sounds like he is most likely out.

 

[Johnny Hanson]

So far have only seen the clip of the hit and chatter about an impending suspension but hoping someone can provide more insight?

Was he in a top 6 role? Get PP time?

How was the rest of his game? Any decent offensive touches?

Have tickets to the Wed game against Kingston and was hoping to see him but sounds like he is most likely out.

He was playing as the 13th forward. He was not taking a regular shift, assuming they are easing him back in after being off for so long. In his limited time he looked pretty noticeable. You can’t miss his physical play and you can see right away he’s a great skater but other than that, he wasn’t able to show too much in this one

 

[RAFI BOMB]

I re-watched the hit multiple times and it looks far cleaner than some are making it out to be. It is difficult to assess without seeing another angle but I did review an HD version of the hit and slowed it down frame by frame. From what I saw the principle point of contact was Peric's left shoulder and not his head. Peric even looked like he attempted to dodge the hit by moving to his right, that he saw the hit coming at the last second made an attempt to evade it but that the net limited his room to move. Boucher landed a clean hit to Peric's shoulder.

The issue will come down to what Boucher did with his stick. As Boucher looks to initiate the hit he swivels so that his right shoulder will hit Peric's left shoulder. By doing this Boucher's stick goes from outside Peric's left shoulder to across his body. After Boucher lands his hit to Peric's shoulder, and as Peric is simultaneously falling into the net from the hit and attempting to evade the hit, Boucher's stick ends up clipping Peric's helmet.

I'm pretty sure Peric played the rest of the game so he didn't sustain any injuries and it also makes it far more doubtful that the principle point of contact was the head. Actually the fact that he played the rest of the game suggests that what I stated above is likely a more accurate representation of what actually happened.

Interestingly, Boucher swiveling to his right to make his right shoulder the principle point of contact could actually be argued to be far safer than looking to initiate contact with his left shoulder. Once Peric recognized the hit was coming he looked to brace himself for the hit and shifted towards his right in an attempt to dodge it. If Boucher would have lead with his left shoulder then that might have increased the chances of the principle point of contact being Peric's head.

This seems consistent with all players in such a situation. A puck carrier coming from behind the net and looking to accelerate around it is likely to have their head shifted towards the net. Therefore if a player is looking to hit them, using the shoulder closest to the net and the player is more likely to result in contact to the head. Swiveling to use the opposite shoulder to initiate contact is a safer option and gives the puck carrier more time to brace for contact. But as we see in this situation a potential issue is stick placement.

 

[JD1]

I re-watched the hit multiple times and it looks far cleaner than some are making it out to be. It is difficult to assess without seeing another angle but I did review an HD version of the hit and slowed it down frame by frame. From what I saw the principle point of contact was Peric's left shoulder and not his head. Peric even looked like he attempted to dodge the hit by moving to his right, that he saw the hit coming at the last second made an attempt to evade it but that the net limited his room to move. Boucher landed a clean hit to Peric's shoulder.

The issue will come down to what Boucher did with his stick. As Boucher looks to initiate the hit he swivels so that his right shoulder will hit Peric's left shoulder. By doing this Boucher's stick goes from outside Peric's left shoulder to across his body. After Boucher lands his hit to Peric's shoulder, and as Peric is simultaneously falling into the net from the hit and attempting to evade the hit, Boucher's stick ends up clipping Peric's helmet.

I'm pretty sure Peric played the rest of the game so he didn't sustain any injuries and it also makes it far more doubtful that the principle point of contact was the head. Actually the fact that he played the rest of the game suggests that what I stated above is likely a more accurate representation of what actually happened.

Interestingly, Boucher swiveling to his right to make his right shoulder the principle point of contact could actually be argued to be far safer than looking to initiate contact with his left shoulder. Once Peric recognized the hit was coming he looked to brace himself for the hit and shifted towards his right in an attempt to dodge it. If Boucher would have lead with his left shoulder then that might have increased the chances of the principle point of contact being Peric's head.

This seems consistent with all players in such a situation. A puck carrier coming from behind the net and looking to accelerate around it is likely to have their head shifted towards the net. Therefore if a player is looking to hit them, using the shoulder closest to the net and the player is more likely to result in contact to the head. Swiveling to use the opposite shoulder to initiate contact is a safer option and gives the puck carrier more time to brace for contact. But as we see in this situation a potential issue is stick placement.

Thanks for this. I watched that clip 3 times on a 10 inch tablet and couldn't see what was so vicious about it. He caught a kid behind the net with his head down. Didn't leave his feet. And on the small screen I'm using, I didn't see an obvious elbow or forearm.

 

[BondraTime]

He got a checking to the head penalty, and caught him with his forearm rather than his shoulder. If you miss a hit with your shoulder you can’t follow through by extending your arm and elbow. OHL is going to look at the hit and penalty received and dole out a suspension I would believe.

 

[LeProspector]

He got a checking to the head penalty, and caught him with his forearm rather than his shoulder. If you miss a hit with your shoulder you can’t follow through by extending your arm and elbow. OHL is going to look at the hit and penalty received and dole out a suspension I would believe.

OHL is completely diffrent from the NHL when it comes to suspensions. They pass then out like Candy on halloween.

 

[aragorn]

If he continues to play that way in the NHL he's gonna be dropping the gloves with a lot of big guys. I imagine that the coaches will talk to him after a few fights teaching him to be picking his spots better. Tkachuk is better at picking his spots, Tom Wilson is better at it & most guys get better at it as they mature in the NHL.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Suspended?

One thing I like is that you can’t teach aggression, and you can’t teach enjoying hitting either.

If this kid can round into form and become a solid NHLer for us, then he already possesses some rare elements to his game.

 

[Cosmix]

I re-watched the hit multiple times and it looks far cleaner than some are making it out to be. It is difficult to assess without seeing another angle but I did review an HD version of the hit and slowed it down frame by frame. From what I saw the principle point of contact was Peric's left shoulder and not his head. Peric even looked like he attempted to dodge the hit by moving to his right, that he saw the hit coming at the last second made an attempt to evade it but that the net limited his room to move. Boucher landed a clean hit to Peric's shoulder.

The issue will come down to what Boucher did with his stick. As Boucher looks to initiate the hit he swivels so that his right shoulder will hit Peric's left shoulder. By doing this Boucher's stick goes from outside Peric's left shoulder to across his body. After Boucher lands his hit to Peric's shoulder, and as Peric is simultaneously falling into the net from the hit and attempting to evade the hit, Boucher's stick ends up clipping Peric's helmet.

I'm pretty sure Peric played the rest of the game so he didn't sustain any injuries and it also makes it far more doubtful that the principle point of contact was the head. Actually the fact that he played the rest of the game suggests that what I stated above is likely a more accurate representation of what actually happened.

Interestingly, Boucher swiveling to his right to make his right shoulder the principle point of contact could actually be argued to be far safer than looking to initiate contact with his left shoulder. Once Peric recognized the hit was coming he looked to brace himself for the hit and shifted towards his right in an attempt to dodge it. If Boucher would have lead with his left shoulder then that might have increased the chances of the principle point of contact being Peric's head.

This seems consistent with all players in such a situation. A puck carrier coming from behind the net and looking to accelerate around it is likely to have their head shifted towards the net. Therefore if a player is looking to hit them, using the shoulder closest to the net and the player is more likely to result in contact to the head. Swiveling to use the opposite shoulder to initiate contact is a safer option and gives the puck carrier more time to brace for contact. But as we see in this situation a potential issue is stick placement.

Thanks for your comments. I watched it a few times and could not see clearly enough to state what happened. The clip looked like a head hit but it was too blurry to say anything for certain.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

 

[TheDebater]

Great news if true, I personally loved the hit but not at the expense of sitting out more games due to getting suspended.

I hope he continues to play physical but also takes some time to show us the other aspects of his game and work on becoming a better overall hockey player. The Senators brass must have seen at the very least 2nd line potential in taking this guy in the 1st round let alone top 10 but so far all we have really seen is a great skating physical monster.

 

[JD1]

That's good. I didn't see anything in that hit other than catching a kid with his head down. But, as I said, I only watched it on a tablet. Looks like your analysis was spot on.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

 

[RAFI BOMB]

That's good. I didn't see anything in that hit other than catching a kid with his head down. But, as I said, I only watched it on a tablet. Looks like your analysis was spot on.

Yeah it seems like my analysis was fairly accurate considering he didn't receive any additional discipline or a suspension. There was only one angle to view the hit from so that made it challenging to assess. It actually seems like the call on the ice at the time was actually the wrong call as it wasn't a check to the head. If anything, a more appropriate call would have been high-sticking. But it is understandable that the refs made that call given what it looked like on initial glance and without the benefit of video review.

 

[TheDebater]

Yeah it seems like my analysis was fairly accurate considering he didn't receive any additional discipline or a suspension. There was only one angle to view the hit from so that made it challenging to assess. It actually seems like the call on the ice at the time was actually the wrong call as it wasn't a check to the head. If anything, a more appropriate call would have been high-sticking. But it is understandable that the refs made that call given what it looked like on initial glance and without the benefit of video review.

Do you guys think that disciplinary reviews are somewhat heavily biased towards the result?

Take that exact same hit Boucher laid out the other day, but let us pretend that the receiving player stayed down because he bumped his head on the ice too hard.

Clean hit, no malice, no headshot.....no injury.

Clean hit, no malice, no headshot....kid gets helped off the ice.


Would there still be no suspension?

 

[JD1]

Do you guys think that disciplinary reviews are somewhat heavily biased towards the result?

Take that exact same hit Boucher laid out the other day, but let us pretend that the receiving player stayed down because he bumped his head on the ice too hard.

Clean hit, no malice, no headshot.....no injury.

Clean hit, no malice, no headshot....kid gets helped off the ice.


Would there still be no suspension?

I can't speak to the OHL process as I don't pay enough attention

At the NHL level I think the offender and the result are part of the equation at both the DoPS and on ice levels

 

[RAFI BOMB]

Great news if true, I personally loved the hit but not at the expense of sitting out more games due to getting suspended.

I hope he continues to play physical but also takes some time to show us the other aspects of his game and work on becoming a better overall hockey player. The Senators brass must have seen at the very least 2nd line potential in taking this guy in the 1st round let alone top 10 but so far all we have really seen is a great skating physical monster.

He will. Troy Mann had a chance to work with him before Boucher joined the 67's. Mann spoke highly of him and mentioned that the key is for Boucher's hands to catch up to his feet and that they were working on ways for him to slow the game down. This was very similar to the read I had on him from watching his play this year. I felt that Boucher's mind is going a million miles an hour, that he is thinking multiple steps ahead to the succession of moves and plays that he wants to make, and has a desire to execute them in rapid fashion at maximal speed. But that the problem is that by rapidly attempting to process all that it is easy to make mistakes in execution. Maybe I am off in my assessment but I see attributes in his game that remind me of Tyler Ennis. If he can be developed properly and put all his tools together I could see him becoming a bigger, stronger, nastier and better defensive version of Ennis. Alternatively, he might just become something like Tom Wilson if he puts all his tools together and is developed properly.

 

[TheDebater]

He will. Troy Mann had a chance to work with him before Boucher joined the 67's. Mann spoke highly of him and mentioned that the key is for Boucher's hands to catch up to his feet and that they were working on ways for him to slow the game down. This was very similar to the read I had on him from watching his play this year. I felt that Boucher's mind is going a million miles an hour, that he is thinking multiple steps ahead to the succession of moves and plays that he wants to make, and has a desire to execute them in rapid fashion at maximal speed. But that the problem is that by rapidly attempting to process all that it is easy to make mistakes in execution. Maybe I am off in my assessment but I see attributes in his game that remind me of Tyler Ennis. If he can be developed properly and put all his tools together I could see him becoming a bigger, stronger, nastier and better defensive version of Ennis. Alternatively, he might just become something like Tom Wilson if he puts all his tools together and is developed properly.

A bigger, stronger, more physical Tyler Ennis is a pretty elite level talent in the NHL.

 

[SensontheRush]

I think it's fair to consider, as part of a development assessment, which team drafted said individual.

For example, if the Rangers or Montreal drafted Boucher, then you could have probably written him off from the start.