I completely disagree with people who didn't like Boucher being picked 10th OA & here is why. First, that was a yr where they could swing for the fences, they already had Stutzle, Tkachuk, Batherson, Norris, Chabot, Sanderson, Pinto & Kleven, JBD & even Formenton in the fold, they had plenty of skill If they would have taken another skilled player what would that have done? Yes, he would have been at the top of our prospect pool & those that care about that would be maybe happy for a yr or two if he worked out, so what? We acquired another skilled player in DeBrincat who could help now & there was & still is all kinds of controversy surrounding him including too small, too soft & too easy to play against. IMO that is what picking another skilled prospect for our pool would have been, given we already have plenty of good young skilled players on the roster & needed tougher, harder players to play against which is what Boucher is. We also added Giroux another very skilled experienced vet & Chychrun who is young enough that he could be with the team for quite some time, they have plenty of skill.
Picking Boucher was an opportunity to take a player that brought the raw tough skills that so many teams covet & end up paying so much more for at the TDL. Take Alex Kilorn for example, he was a 3rd line player most of his career & only in the last two yrs has his production increased substantially that he earned himself a 4 yr $6.25 mil contract at 33 yrs old. Josh Anderson is another guy that many teams wanted & Crouse, Wilson & Laughton are also guys that lots of teams would want & would pay a 1st rd pick for. We have yet to see what Boucher can do for a team especially a good team & believe it or not he has some offensive skill, if he can stay healthy we may even get to see it this yr in Belleville. Was he worth a 1st? If he can help us in future contend for a playoff spot & help get us into later rds than the answer is YES. If all he ever does is be a 4th line player like Chris Neil than we pay him like a 4th line player, but he still helps us be much harder to play against than some of these skilled guys are. We have a young team & plenty of time to re-stock the prospect cupboard. Lots of guys have been picked in the 1st rd that never made it, at least with this guy & the way he plays he will find a role for himself in the bottom six where he helps make room for his linemates & allows them to create scoring chances. He might even do that on a top six role.
Our top six & top 4 D are pretty much set & with Ostapchuk, Boucher, Sogaard, JBD & Greig already pushing for NHL jobs they should be able to fill the bottom six & bottom pairing soon enough with good decent young players. Then we have outside shots like Sokolov, Jarventie, Halliday, Pettersson & Merilainen who could steal a roster spot. This strengthens every position on the roster & not just the top six or top 4 which seems to be all that some care about, it's a positive not a negative. We can't just have skilled players on this team we also need some rugged players as every team has proven in the past to also be hard to play against. The prospect pool in time will recover given our team is so young, they have plenty of time.
