I have my pro Boyd bias's, obviously, and Boyd is one of the older players on this roster at 19.
I really like Boyd so far. It's not so much his stats (he is Canada's leading scorer) but how he's scoring them - in traffic. For years, I've seen tons of goals in this tournament that you just think "if that was the NHL, that wouldn't have worked" be it that they needed too much time to make the play, or it was too fancy, or that wouldn't have worked in the much tougher NHL systems and traps.
But not Boyd. Boyd scores his goals in traffic, and he gets them because he knows where to be at the right time - a goal scorer's knack, and he gets the shot off quickly.
Additionally, Boyd's game is refined... he knows how to play the other side of the puck, has a strong 2-way game and is very good defensively.
What Boyd has to work on... physical strength. Like all young players, Boyd could beef up.
When will he be ready... at least another year, maybe more. Not NHL ready yet.
Boyd was a highly regarded player going into his draft year, a 1st overall pick in the Bantam draft and projected to be a top 5 pick in his NHL draft year, but his stock slipped when he didn't produce immediatly. Boyd's a slow developer, but it looks like he's coming along nicely, which is a huge bonus for the Flames.
Projection... no idea... maybe a Stoll or Kobasew or Lombardi type player.
