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

[BondraTime]

His shot is good. His skating is good. His motor is excellent. Time will tell, but I'm convinced he's got the tools and drive to be more than just a sparkplug. I think he'll get there (in some capacity).

I think we just need to reset expectations and the timeline for him as a prospect. He'll never meet the initial expectations or draft position. He was a project who got injured and lost a lot of dev time. Team took a longshot pick that probably wasnt going to pan out as expected, regardless, but the injuries certainly didn't help.

Pretend he was drafted in the 3rd round. He's 13 games into his pro career. He has 18 shots in his last 6 games. I think he'll be fine.

You’re describing what his best case initial expectations were when drafted. A guy who can produce and play up and down the lineup, 2 way guy.

Most people have adjusted expectations, him making it as a spark plug may actually be out batting his average where things stand now. Him making the Sens as a spark plug would be a fantastic outcome from where we sit now with what we have seen the past 3 years.

Pretending he was drafted in the lower rounds, he’s Cole Reinhardt, where describing him as a guy who may be a spark plug on the 3rd/4th line would be agreed upon by most people.

 

[dumbdick]

We'll see i guess.

 

[HSF]

I'm anticipating he'll play bottom six in the NHL.

At this rate he will be a dime a dozen 4th liner. Don't think he scores enough or brings enough in the defensive end to be a 3rd liner

 

[otown]

Still in disbelief that he was selected in the first round. Probably would have been available way later. Another PD crap shoot!

 

[dumbdick]

Still in disbelief that he was selected in the first round. Probably would have been available way later. Another PD crap shoot!

Why were you shocked? He was ranked by many as a first round player. Bobby Mac, hockey news, etc. Did you know someyhing they didn't?

Alternatively, are you an expert?

 

[Xspyrit]

He's likely never going to be a top six power forward, but he'll be an upgrade on our 4th line guys, and likely a coach favourite.

I hope you end up being right on this but he's already 21 y/o and at that age, Parker Kelly, Cole Reinhardt, Zack McEwen, Rourke Chartier, Matthew Highmore, Angus Crookshank, Egor Sokolov, Zack Ostapchuk, etc were all way ahead.

One thing for sure is that he needs to stay healthy from now, can't afford to miss any other extended time

Why were you shocked? He was ranked by many as a first round player. Bobby Mac, hockey news, etc. Did you know someyhing they didn't?

Alternatively, are you an expert?

If he averaged 49th OA there, he must have been out of the 1st round on a LOT of lists.... this is based on 15 different sources

EOTP’s 2021 Consensus NHL Draft Rankings

The 2021 NHL Entry Draft begins on Friday, and EOTP has been keeping track of most of the rankings to come out ahead of the draft. Some rankings have more correlation to how the draft will unfold than…

www.habseyesontheprize.com

 

[RAFI BOMB]

If this kid makes it, crows are going to go extinct from the amount y'all gonna be eating.

To be fair, most people on here will likely be happy to eat crow if Boucher makes it. If Boucher somehow becomes a top six winger or something that justifies such a high pick, most people on here will probably come back for 2nd or 3rd helpings of crow.

At least I am assuming that is the case. I think most of his critics would be ecstatic to be proven wrong if that is what ends up happening.

 

[dumbdick]

I hope you end up being right on this but he's already 21 y/o and at that age, Parker Kelly, Cole Reinhardt, Zack McEwen, Rourke Chartier, Matthew Highmore, Angus Crookshank, Egor Sokolov, Zack Ostapchuk, etc were all way ahead.

One thing for sure is that he needs to stay healthy from now, can't afford to miss any other extended time



If he averaged 49th OA there, he must have been out of the 1st round on a LOT of lists.... this is based on 15 different sources

EOTP’s 2021 Consensus NHL Draft Rankings

The 2021 NHL Entry Draft begins on Friday, and EOTP has been keeping track of most of the rankings to come out ahead of the draft. Some rankings have more correlation to how the draft will unfold than…

www.habseyesontheprize.com

He's finally healthy and 13 games into his AHL career right now.

We'll all know soon enough what we've got here.

Maybe he'll turn it around or maybe he won't. I'm not a pro scout, but i like what i've seen in my few amateur viewings. I'm not sure how many games you've seen of his. Maybe you've seen more.

By the sumer we should have a better idea.

 

[bert]

At this rate he will be a dime a dozen 4th liner. Don't think he scores enough or brings enough in the defensive end to be a 3rd liner

At this rate? He's in his 20 year old year in the AHL playing his 13th game haha. What do you even mean? He's lost significant development time. He literally just started playing. It's simply way too early.

 

[Icelevel]

At this rate? He's in his 20 year old year in the AHL playing his 13th game haha. What do you even mean? He's lost significant development time. He literally just started playing. It's simply way too early.

He’s the youngest player in Belleville aside from Ostapchuk (few months younger).

 

[otown]

Why were you shocked? He was ranked by many as a first round player. Bobby Mac, hockey news, etc. Did you know someyhing they didn't?

Alternatively, are you an expert?

Nobody had him in the top ten and yes, I am an expert!

 

[dumbdick]

Nobody had him in the top ten and yes, I am an expert!

"Extra!"
"Extra!"
"Random fan in disbelief after player he's never seen fails to be drafted 'way later' than experts anticipated!"




...



By the way, I agree it was a bad stretch pick and made too soon. I'm just having fun with your post about being in disbelief he didn't go way later than the 1st round.

I can see the allure of the Tom Wilson type player they were hoping for. Hubrus strikes again for PD at the draft. Dorion had a hard on for players with high floors and low skill. Thats how we got boucher, white, lazar, pinto, bowers, etc.

He kept picking guys that had an NHL style of play in junior. As it turns out, you still need a minimum level of skill to carry the mail in the bigs. Better to pick guys with the necessary skill and teach the finer points later.

 

[BondraTime]

If any of our scouts thought Wilson was a comparable, they should have been fired to the moon

 

[dumbdick]

If any of our scouts thought Wilson was a comparable, they should have been fired to the moon

Hockey news listed tom wilson as his comparable in their draft preview.

 

[BondraTime]

Hockey news listed tom wilson as his comparable in their draft preview.

Should be fired to the moon, like they were with Ceci as Seabrook and Lazar as Parise

They aren't similar players whatsoever, other than being physical. Stylistically, sure, the same way Girgensons was considered similar to Wilson in 2012 because they were big and physical; but ability, size, fighting and skill based? Definitely not.

Wilson was a 6'4, monster of a human being, who was still not close to fully developed (gained ~25 pounds since being drafted) who was laying waste to everyone in the OHL as a 16 and 17 year old, with 17 fights and 17 wins before he was even drafted, and showed marked improvement offensively over the 2nd half of the season where he was a ppg over the last half of his draft season and playoffs.

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

Hockey news listed tom wilson as his comparable in their draft preview.

hockeynews is garbage.

 

[dumbdick]

Should be fired to the moon, like they were with Ceci as Seabrook and Lazar as Parise

They aren't similar players whatsoever, other than being physical. Stylistically, sure, the same way Girgensons was considered similar to Wilson in 2012 because they were big and physical; but ability, size, fighting and skill based? Definitely not.

I mean, if you agree they're "stylistically similar" why all the moon threats? They both play a hard hitting style that is often crossing the line into suspensions. Those projections are listed as "best case" scenarios.

If i ignore hindsight and just consider what people knew at the draft, I understand the comparison.

Who would you have compared boucher to at the time of the draft for a "best case" comparible?

 

[Micklebot]

I mean, if you agree they're "stylistically similar" why all the moon threats? They both play a hard hitting style that is often crossing the line into suspensions. Those projections are listed as "best case" scenarios.

If i ignore hindsight and just consider what people knew at the draft, I understand the comparison.

Who would you have compared boucher to at the time of the draft for a "best case" comparible?

I don't want to answer for Bondra, but at the time of the draft, I saw Boucher's absolute best case a Dustin Brown, he had a few 50-60 pts seasons coming out of the lockout, which might be a bit high even with a best case scenario, but that was the guy I thought lined up best for him in my extremely limited viewings.

 

[BondraTime]

I mean, if you agree they're "stylistically similar" why all the moon threats? They both play a hard hitting style that is often crossing the line into suspensions. Those projections are listed as "best case" scenarios.

If i ignore hindsight and just consider what people knew at the draft, I understand the comparison.

Who would you have compared boucher to at the time of the draft for a "best case" comparible?

There was no best case scenario for Wilson.

Wilson is Wilson because he's a 6'4 225 pound behemoth who can beat up any player in the league. There is, and was, no route to that for Boucher

I would have, and did, compare him to Clutterbuck. A guy who will hit everything, and run people through the boards, who may get you 20-30ish points a year. Nobody is scared of him as a fighter, but he will fight and answer the bell whenever he has too.

 

[ottawah]

You shouldn't focus on stats with Boucher.

The issue is that two way players in the NCAA, OHL etc almost never make the NHL. They are scoring stars before adjusting to the NHL. Focusing on stats is important.

How many NHL players have never had a PPG season in the CHL?

The only one on the current roster is Kubalik, who most certainly would have if not going back to Europe.

Just pick any team and check. It almost never happens. So yes, stats watching is worth looking at because out of the CHL is the best predictors of players who do not make, although not predictors of players who do.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Still in disbelief that he was selected in the first round. Probably would have been available way later. Another PD crap shoot!

No likely not. Don’t let the last 3 years fool you. His draft position was high but he wouldn’t have been available “way later”

 

[ottawah]

His shot is good. His skating is good. His motor is excellent.

And yet with all that he's not been a strong scorer?

1 goal in 13 games at the AHL.

I'm certainly hoping he can make the NHL, I hope all prospects do. But my expectations are very low.

 

[dumbdick]

There was no best case scenario for Wilson.

Wilson is Wilson because he's a 6'4 225 pound behemoth who can beat up any player in the league. There is, and was, no route to that for Boucher

I would have, and did, compare him to Clutterbuck. A guy who will hit everything, and run people through the boards, who may get you 20-30ish points a year. Nobody is scared of him as a fighter, but he will fight and answer the bell whenever he has too.

Do you consider the difference in comparable between Tom Wilson and Cal Clutterbuck to warrant all this "shot into he moon" bravado?

 

[BondraTime]

Do you consider the difference in comparable between Tom Wilson and Cal Clutterbuck to warrant all this "shot into he moon" bravado?

They aren't similar players whatsoever....One is the most feared player in the past 20 years to play in the top 6, the other is a 4th line guy who hits a lot. It's a staggering, staggering difference

This was a month after the draft, I was hoping for +15ish points and from Clutterbucks 20pts career average, and 15 added pounds from Boucher's draft weight, neither of which I'm not sure is realistic at this point

Add 2/3 inches and a few pounds, and 15-20+ points to Clutterbuck and I think that’s what you’re looking at with Boucher, which would be a gigantic win

 

[dumbdick]

And yet with all that he's not been a strong scorer?

1 goal in 13 games at the AHL.

I'm certainly hoping he can make the NHL, I hope all prospects do. But my expectations are very low.

Yeah. His production sucks despite his relatively good fundamentals. I think his playmaking, hands and vision are pretty meh. He gets lots of shots and he's just back from injury.

I'm hoping it starts to translate into a bit more success as he gets his rhythym in the AHL.