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

[L'Aveuglette]

Boucher looks to me like a Colin Greening who’s not afraid and will continue to hit and fight after he gets given a contract.

But biggest upside for Boucher is you can see he loves the game within the game - not goals or winning but the competition for space and respect for the uniform (character I guess it can be called) but the real kind. He’s a kid playing a hard game because he wants to, not because he’s looking for a contract.

Still think he projects as a bottom pairing player - but a really solid one that never takes a step backward

I see a kid that will probably be out of the league by age 25 if not earlier. Hell, he could be a career AHLer.

 

[bert]

Lazar at his 19 WJC was when I knew he was a bust. I think he even put up some decent points but it became so obvious his IQ was an issue trying to play with McDavid.

Same with Boucher it seems, he has all the tools to be a supplementary linemate for high IQ players. But the result is always underwhelming when he is put in that role.

This isnt true, he was good until the Canada game. I dont mind the criticism he gets plenty of it is deserved. But alot of it is hyperbole and has more to do with posters ego's than anything else.

 

[HSF]

He's injured again.

him and greig will fit right in with the senators

 

[L'Aveuglette]

him and greig will fit right in with the senators

Is Ridly still injured?

 

[BondraTime]

Lol 99.9 %

So 999 out of 1000 are late bloomers
So every player but 1 drafted every 4-5 years

No, 999 aren’t late bloomers in that scenario. The 1 is the late bloomer using that scenario.

Basically, if you’re playing in the CHL or comparable leagues at 16 you can’t be a late bloomer, which is obviously incorrect.

 

[Tuna99]

I see a kid that will probably be out of the league by age 25 if not earlier. Hell, he could be a career AHLer.

Could be, could play 1000 games like Chris Neil.

Chris Phillips had a poor WJC and started his NHL career as a LW and was a healthy scratch. He had to reinvent his game to fit into the NHL

 

[OD99]

He is big and they do take longer. You can say that its not true but it is.

I am passionate because I want to wait and see before labelling him a bust?.... Call me passionate then.

Why do so many posters so passionately hate him? Thats the better question. Its f***in weird. Didnt hear a peep from anyone until he had a bad game.

Your response to my post shows how passionate you are but specifically I don't think I have seen you put so much energy into 1 player before.

Your last sentence is the real answer though. Like a few others you are taking criticism of his game to mean posters "passionately hate him".

Nobody talked about him as there wasn't much to say, but when he scored 2 rebound goals then a few posters decided it was time to anoint him a finished product ready to be a 2nd liner in the NHL. At the same time renewing their efforts to chastise anyone who isn't a full believer as a hater, not a fan, miserable, etc...but I digress.

My main point is I fully agree big players take longer to develop but he is clearly not an overly big player. He is pretty much bang-on average size for an NHLer.

How are you looking at him as a special case to develop? He has good size for junior a great shot for junior and a great mean streak for junior but he isn't able to produce. Why?

 

[bert]

Your response to my post shows how passionate you are but specifically I don't think I have seen you put so much energy into 1 player before.

Your last sentence is the real answer though. Like a few others you are taking criticism of his game to mean posters "passionately hate him".

Nobody talked about him as there wasn't much to say, but when he scored 2 rebound goals then a few posters decided it was time to anoint him a finished product ready to be a 2nd liner in the NHL. At the same time renewing their efforts to chastise anyone who isn't a full believer as a hater, not a fan, miserable, etc...but I digress.

My main point is I fully agree big players take longer to develop but he is clearly not an overly big player. He is pretty much bang-on average size for an NHLer.

How are you looking at him as a special case to develop? He has good size for junior a great shot for junior and a great mean streak for junior but he isn't able to produce. Why?

My response that I want to wait to label him a bust says that I am passionate? REACH.

Quote one person that said the bolded. Show me one post.

He is bang on the size of a large NHL player once they are 25 years old not 19. Hence why he is still adjusting to his body.

He is producing.... He is scoring at a 38 goal pace. I keep seeing this same argument about him not producing... Simply repeating it wont make it true. He has 3 goals in this tournament and 9 in 17 games in the OHL.

So this leads me back to my original argument why is it that so many posters want to shit on him? Why do you insist on it? I didnt like the pick at the time I still dont like it. But I am not going to ignore what I am watching or the realty of the situation so I can stroke my own ego and declare him a massive bust.

 

[Cosmix]

They call him "The Fireball" though.

But yeesh Boucher reminds me too much of Lazar at the WJC but with even lower hockey sense.

Their high skilled teammates buzzing around trying to create while they are just trying to keep up.

Not sure why Dorion and Mann hate hockey sense so much.

Perhaps because they lack the understanding of its importance due to their own lack of it?

 

[Cosmix]

100% agree in the pros. AHL or NHL. But junior has gotten soft and the IIHF is even softer. You can't hit like a freight train anymore at that level

Even in the NHL the league has become soft; the Gryba penalty for standing in the way of the Montreal forward and thus getting hit is an example.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Is Ridly still injured?

nope I think he's scored in 4 straight something like that

 

[OD99]

My response that I want to wait to label him a bust says that I am passionate? REACH.

Quote one person that said the bolded. Show me one post.

He is bang on the size of a large NHL player once they are 25 years old not 19. Hence why he is still adjusting to his body.

He is producing.... He is scoring at a 38 goal pace. I keep seeing this same argument about him not producing... Simply repeating it wont make it true. He has 3 goals in this tournament and 9 in 17 games in the OHL.

So this leads me back to my original argument why is it that so many posters want to shit on him? Why do you insist on it? I didnt like the pick at the time I still dont like it. But I am not going to ignore what I am watching or the realty of the situation so I can stroke my own ego and declare him a massive bust.

OK cool, no conversation to be had as you are too emotional to discuss.

At least you admit you are now in the camp of the righteous and anyone who disagrees doesn't know how to be a fan.

 

[Bileur]

They don't hate hockey sense, they just don't value it as highly as other teams.

Tkachuk and Stutzle are smart players, but I wouldn't consider hockey IQ their stand-out trait by any means. Considering they were top 5 picks it would be shocking if they weren't smart hockey players. Wouldn't consider them evidence the Sens value IQ highly.

Also wouldn't consider Ostapchuk or Kastelic as players with great hockey sense. I'll give you Sanderson, Greig and JBD though.

The traits the Sens scouting staff value under Mann's leadership are obvious at this point. Primarily they look at tools (size and skating), physicality, character, bloodlines and defensive play. Hockey IQ, puck skills, playmaking ability - these aren't things they value nearly as much as other teams, which is how Boucher being drafted 10th OVR happens in the first place.

I think they see it like other attributes I listed. If that’s the standout skill, fine, but they don’t necessarily value it above some others.

I agree with Bondra’s analysis about Ostapchuk so I won’t repeat it.

Kastelic has consistently been a PK and PP option at different levels despite what used to be pretty terrible skating. You can’t do that without good hockey sense. He’s not Patrice Bergeron out there but he’s definitely got strong hockey sense.

 

[Cosmix]

Boucher is either hurt or suspended constantly dang

Is he hurt or a healthy scratch? I have not seen any official reports.

EDIT: The announcement says Boucher is "injured" but did not provide any details.

 

[Cosmix]

For me, the skills I would look for in a draft pick are in approximate order:
1. skating (first 3 steps quickness, edge work, top speed, agility)
2. puck handling skills
3. shooting
4. passing/playmaking
5. hockey IQ (intelligent offensive & defensive play)
7. physicality
8. size

 

[JD1]

Even in the NHL the league has become soft; the Gryba penalty for standing in the way of the Montreal forward and thus getting hit is an example.

I thought that hit ruined Gryba. I don't think he knew what he could and couldn't do after that and lost his edge

Player 61 was the best though. Rispek.

 

[ottawah]

Lol 99.9 %

So 999 out of 1000 are late bloomers
So every player but 1 drafted every 4-5 years

No 999 out of 1000 are not late bloomers. In fact incredibly few are which is why 99.9% of them do not make the NHL. That sorta the point. The late bloomers are the ones in that lower percentage that can make their way up , not the ones that are in the top .1% at 16/17 who just take longer to figure out the NHL game.

I basically differentiate between a late bloomer and a late to adapt. Tage Thompson late to adapt, Paul late to bloom. Wilson late to adapt, Simmonds late to bloom. Thompson and Wilson were always in that top .1%, whereas Paul and Simmonds were well down the list and had a long road to travel.

 

[Senator Stanley]

Is he hurt or a healthy scratch? I have not seen any official reports.

EDIT: The announcement says Boucher is "injured" but did not provide any details.

He was there to receive his bronze medal and didn't show any noticeable signs of injury, so hopefully it's relatively minor.

 

[BondraTime]

Simmer with some less than positive things to say, thankfully he’s not exactly a beacon of reliability.

 

[PlayOn]

He is big and they do take longer. You can say that its not true but it is.

I am passionate because I want to wait and see before labelling him a bust?.... Call me passionate then.

Why do so many posters so passionately hate him? Thats the better question. Its f***in weird. Didnt hear a peep from anyone until he had a bad game.

Yeah, I’ve gotta say I think people that are “passionately” defending Boucher are doing so because there are literally thousands of posts about it being a waste of a 10th overall pick, how terrible he has been and repeating his stats line over and over again as if anyone thinks it’s good.

Maybe he will figure it out, maybe he never will. It feels like there’s a lot more energy towards this than it merits. At the end of the day it’s a message board, so people can talk about what they want, but the sheer volume of posts catastrophizing this pick does often feel like maybe people are using Boucher as proof that Sens management and drafting is indeed incompetent - because it’s the same stuff we heard about Brady, and then Pinto, and Josh Norris, and whoever else was allegedly destined to be nothing more than a third liner. And then that was completely wrong, so let’s never lose focus on the one time it may have been right.

Colorado took Tyson Jost 10th overall. Tampa took Slater Koekkoek 10th overall. Chicago took Jack Skille 7th overall. Lots of teams have burned good picks and been fine. It feels strange to dwell so deeply on this rather than just rooting for him. Half the time the discussion isn’t even around his performance in a given game, it’s just knocking him and the fact that the Sens even picked him. No one disputes that at this point in time, it doesn’t look good. What is in question is whether 5 years from now it will or won’t, and really only time will tell.

Freedom of speech and all, so to each their own. But Boucher’s defense squad, if you wanna call it that, is a reaction to the endless ire directed towards him more than anything.

 

[Samboni]

Is he hurt or a healthy scratch? I have not seen any official reports.

EDIT: The announcement says Boucher is "injured" but did not provide any details.

I think his feelings got hurt from the benching after the second period last night. IMO his absence in today’s game has more to do with his poor play yesterday than anything else.

 

[Cosmix]

I think his feelings got hurt from the benching after the second period last night. IMO his absence in today’s game has more to do with his poor play yesterday than anything else.

I suspect it is a nagging injury coupled with his play as affected by the injury.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I think his feelings got hurt from the benching after the second period last night. IMO his absence in today’s game has more to do with his poor play yesterday than anything else.

Did he come out on the ice to get his medal?

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Rangers mindf***ing Dorion and Mann into taking Boucher and then taking Othmann is one of the greatest 4D Chess moves ever

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

Rangers mindf***ing Dorion and Mann into taking Boucher and then taking Othmann is one of the greatest 4D Chess moves ever

Othman is what people thought they were getting in Boucher.