Prospect Info: Tyler Boucher (RW/LW) - Don`t sleep on Tyler Boucher

[Icelevel]

Agree I don't see anything that makes me think he's ready to be in the nhl...he is a long term project

2 years

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I'm not sure Boucher should go back to junior, with his size & the way he hits it might be better for his development to play with men. He seems to play a heavy pro game & made some pretty nice passes & tips to players that junior kids don't see & can't make. I think he would be great on a line with Greig in Belleville & the two could really develop some chemistry together. I'm not sure junior is going to help his development as much as playing with Greig could & I think he needs a coach to push him more as Mann could do. If he returns to junior than fine, but his game looks to fit the pro game more than junior.

Depends what we want him to be as a pro.

If all we care about is having a 15-20 point fourth liner that can make a decent pass once in awhile, then the AHL and playing pro is the place to be.

If we want him to be a 25-40 point guy in the NHL down the road, we want him to be where he can play a lot of games and have the puck on his stick and making plays as often as possible. I think the best place for that is junior.

But...I do admit he is a kid that really needs structure and a solid system to play at his best. You can see he thrives in a system where peoplea round him are reliable and predictable. That does muddy things, because junior (at least the 67s last year) really lack in the structure department.

 

[bert]

Agree I don't see anything that makes me think he's ready to be in the nhl...he is a long term project

He wasn't supposed to be ready for the NHL. He needs to go to Jr. He needs to develop offensive instincts and play in all situations. Next year AHL.

 

[BondraTime]

Agree I don't see anything that makes me think he's ready to be in the nhl...he is a long term project

Of course he’s not ready to be in the NHL, he was always a long term project.

He has lost so much playing time, and was already behind his draft peers with his development and skills.

He needs a full year in the OHL where he can learn to push the play, get open, make some passes and finish. He doesn’t have any of that in his game at the moment.

He’s 2 years away, at minimum, from getting a full time gig in the NHL. If he is here earlier than that, he would have had an incredibly, nearly miraculously, jump in his development.

He has the skating, size, shot, tenacity, and drive to be an NHLer for sure. He hasn’t been able to put those together yet. He needs reps at the Junior level, and then the AHL level, to grow his game. We want him to be more than a simple North-South banger.

His camp definitely shows how much more development he needs, that’s for 100% certain.

 

[KingAlfie11]

He has the skating, size, shot, tenacity, and drive to be an NHLer for sure. He hasn’t been able to put those together yet. He needs reps at the Junior level, and then the AHL level, to grow his game. We want him to be more than a simple North-South banger.

I agree, he just need to play big miutes in the OHL and then and the AHL and I truly believe he has the potential to become a very productive power forward for us.

 

[Big Muddy]

Re: OHL versus AHL. Wherever he gets the best coaching I'd say. Boucher has the tools & just needs the development and needs to learn & acquire the elements of the pro game. So, wherever he can be coached to develop those aspects is the correct answer imho.

 

[cudi]

Re: OHL versus AHL. Wherever he gets the best coaching I'd say. Boucher has the tools & just needs the development and needs to learn & acquire the elements of the pro game. So, wherever he can be coached to develop those aspects is the correct answer imho.

where he gets the most ice time is the correct answer.

 

[BondraTime]

where he gets the most ice time is the correct answer.

OHL is really the only answer

 

[cudi]

OHL is really the only answer

agreed. pretty insane to me the people suggesting he play AHL. He still has so much to prove in junior. He's proved nothing besides the fact he can hit someone thru the glass.

 

[Big Muddy]

where he gets the most ice time is the correct answer.

OK, I'll revise - where he gets the most ice time + the best coaching. If he has good coaching and instructors, he'll learn a lot from them. That can potentially save a bunch of wasted time.

If I'm guessing correctly, the fear is that he'll get less ice time in Belleville? That's on Dorion & Mann to make sure that doesn't happen. They need to have a cogent development plan for him and make sure that it is implemented.

BTW, if you are interpreting what I am saying as Boucher should skip playing in the OHL, you would have reached the wrong conclusion. Its more of a case that I don't know as much about 67s coaching versus Mann & company in Belleville.

I know from personal experience that I saved a lot of wasted time and developed skills much faster with a good instructor and mentor.

Sadly, we live in a world where "nuance" has no place. It's either for or against. This is a general comment versus aiming it anyone in particular. It's just the world we live in now.

 

[Icelevel]

Ohl, ahl, evaluate.

Simple. He looks good so far.

 

[Oscar The Grouch]

agreed. pretty insane to me the people suggesting he play AHL. He still has so much to prove in junior. He's proved nothing besides the fact he can hit someone thru the glass.

There are posters here arguing that he is somehow too good for the OHL. Too bored to put up points.

 

[Xspyrit]

Brady? He of 31 points in 40 games in his draft year? And leading a high end team in assists and 4th in points? And that was as the youngest player on the team. Thats a bad example if you want to say its not the right league for that type of player.

Boucher went to the same team that was even better than the one Brady played on, and had 3 points in 17 games.

Not only there's a 31 in 40 vs 3 in 17 difference but Boucher was in his D+1 (while Brady was in his draft year, like you mentioned)

If Boucher had the numbers he put last year in his draft year, nobody would have considered him in the first round at the very least.

Brady was a 3rd OV pick and his stats were considered to be highly suspect. Countless people used it to say his ceiling was that of a 2nd/3rd line grinder. You must have a terrible memory if you don't remember the conversations about his points in college (or lackthereof).

The main critic about Tkachuk was his lack of goals and people were worried that he wouldn't be able to score much at the NHL level. Yes it's 4th OA vs 10th OA but the difference about their college performance is astronomical and even more considering it's D+0 vs D+1. This is not fair to Brady in retrospective, he was criticized much more harshly

 

[ottawah]

Brady was a 3rd OV pick and his stats were considered to be highly suspect. Countless people used it to say his ceiling was that of a 2nd/3rd line grinder. You must have a terrible memory if you don't remember the conversations about his points in college (or lackthereof).

And I mean Hell, he's already posted better seasons in the NHL offensively than he ever did before he turned pro. He's a way better NHL star than he was a college or junior player, which is exactly my point.

Tyler Boucher was a 10th OV pick in a weak draft that was barely scouted. And he was expected and known to be a long term project from day one... Different players and different expectations for the picks.

Look at a player like Alex Tuch. A guy who was thoroughly outscored and outplayed by a younger Colin White during their time together at B.C....but which one turned out to be a PWF and the much better pro player in the end though?

My point remains, college isn't necessarily the best place for a freshman power forward to develop or shine.

The concern on Brady was the lack of goals and reliance on assists for a winger not overall points, those were more center stats. I had questions about the type of pro he would be based on those (and many people did), but lets remember he started college as a 17 year old. extraordinarily few NCAA players put up those numbers at that age so lets not act as though those numbers were terrible, they were very high end.

And yes Brady put up better numbers eventually in the NHL. But he was 17 years old at Uni. If he had stayed in school for 4 years he would have blown away his NHL numbers. Just like some great CHL players have better numbers in the NHL. How many current NHL players numbers are better than their first CHL year? Pretty much every one. That is no surprise.

Boucher was heavily scouted. He played for USNDP, the most scout attended non-pro team in the world. Yes his draft year was cut short, but he likely saw just as many if not far more scout viewings than most prospects in that draft.

As for Tuch, lets not forget for a second that as a younger player than Boucher he led his NCAA team in points, having 5 times the ppg total of Boucher. And his freshman year in University has been his best year, NHL included to date.


So no, I see zero evidence that the NCAA is a bad choice for freshmen power forwards to develop based on those two examples.

 

[OD99]

I won't say the it is an absolute MUST he put up good points in the OHL this season but it's pretty close.

If he struggles with points early I can see him getting down mentally and then things could really get tricky. He can't just be making a big hit every 3 games, he needs to be a, "go-to" player on the team.

 

[ottawah]

I won't say the it is an absolute MUST he put up good points in the OHL this season but it's pretty close.

If he struggles with points early I can see him getting down mentally and then things could really get tricky. He can't just be making a big hit every 3 games, he needs to be a, "go-to" player on the team.

He will get every opportunity to be the go to guy on the 67's, and I do believe that is what he needs. That would not be the case in the AHL.

But mostly he has to concentrate on playing his game. Trying to force the points is not a good idea, thats not how you get to the NHL. He needs to accumulate those points playing his style.

 

[Flamingo]

Boucher got an empty-netter and 6 shots on goal for the 67s vs Erie today.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

Boucher got an empty-netter and 6 shots on goal for the 67s vs Erie today.

 

[Sun God Nika]

on top of the empty netter the guy had 6 shots on net according to the boxscore.

Pretty impressive since he just got cut from the NHL roster a day ago. Excited to see how he progresses throughout the season.

 

[playasRus]

Imagine this board if he fumbled the EN goal

2 years

Two years away from being 2 years away?

 

[GCK]

I watched Boucher against Hamada last night.

Boucher looks more confident but he looks like an above average CHL player, far from dominant.

Hamara is smooth but needs time to grow and get stronger. Way too early opinion, we may have drafted a player.

 

[KevinRedkey]

If he was picked a round later, the haters wouldn't even be talking about him. It's not his fault the Sens reached (a lot) to take the guy though.

 

[cudi]

If he was picked a round later, the haters wouldn't even be talking about him. It's not his fault the Sens reached (a lot) to take the guy though.

lol just because people give their honest evaluation doesn't make them 'haters'. Such a weird thing these days.

 

[GCK]

lol just because people give their honest evaluation doesn't make them 'haters'. Such a weird thing these days.

Unless they are Brannstrom haters. Then they really are haters or so I’m told.

 

[Micklebot]

If he was picked a round later, the haters wouldn't even be talking about him. It's not his fault the Sens reached (a lot) to take the guy though.

That works both ways though, If he was picked a round later, many of his supporters wouldn't be talking about him.

The reality is he was picked where he was picked and with that comes expectations. If he doesn't meet those expectations people will discuss it. Not sure he's meeting expectations for a second rounder either,