Who do you take at 9th Overall

Who do you take at 9th Overall


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broadwayblue

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Mar 4, 2004
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Here are a few different takes on Bouchard's skating:


Showcases smooth four-way skating ability

He doesn’t move as well as guys like Ryan Merkley or Quinn Hughes, but Bouchard is a well above average skater.

He can skate and shoot and he’s got a good head.

Bouchard has decent speed when he gets going, but needs to work on his first step and acceleration. He has to work on his agility, and footwork. It is pretty good going forward, and he can walk the line to open up passing and shooting lanes in the offensive zone. However, it can be an issue in his own end. Bouchard does have good balance. He is strong on the puck and wins battles on the boards.
 

offdacrossbar

misfit fanboy
Jun 25, 2006
15,907
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I suggest you stop reading reports and watch a video or 2 - I'm not trying to be snarky here either.

Then watch one of any of the other draft eligible D slated to go in the same range - Those are what excellent skaters look like.

no snark taken.

i have watched him and have seen my share of london games. i watch alot of major junior.

reading reports and watching film is how i form opinions. like most here.

his skating is not a problem. at all. his overall game makes him perhaps the top D in this draft after dahlin.

point producer.
joins the play
can finish
pp point guy
smart. very smart
defensively aware
efficient stick work
difficult to beat 1 on 1
great passer
can start the rush
makes smart decisions in all zones
minute eater
captain

not an excellent skater (not blazing speed) but more than inadequate. more like very good overall skater

just my opinion of course.
 

Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
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If your reading reports where Bouchard is a good skater but needs to work on his shot I advise looking for someone else’s reports. Its the exact opposite with him. His shot from everything I’ve seen is really good, but he defenitly needs to improve with skating although I do think his skating issues are overrated
You have to show me these reports because I literally can't find them.
 

GoAwayPanarin

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Here are a few different takes on Bouchard's skating:


Showcases smooth four-way skating ability

He doesn’t move as well as guys like Ryan Merkley or Quinn Hughes, but Bouchard is a well above average skater.

He can skate and shoot and he’s got a good head.

Bouchard has decent speed when he gets going, but needs to work on his first step and acceleration. He has to work on his agility, and footwork. It is pretty good going forward, and he can walk the line to open up passing and shooting lanes in the offensive zone. However, it can be an issue in his own end. Bouchard does have good balance. He is strong on the puck and wins battles on the boards.

Yeah that last one falls more in line with what I've seen.

His ability to walk the line as he moves up is a giant ? for me. Good enough in Juniors but I have my doubts that he'll be able to create those same openings in the pros.
 

Mac n Gs

Gorton plz
Jan 17, 2014
22,580
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I’m sticking to my guns that Dobson has that extra bit of room for physical growth that I don’t see from Bouchard. Bouchard is already in a man’s body and I don’t see him filling out more.

Either one of them would be a good pick, and I’d say that they’ll have roughly equivalent careers.
 

Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
141,276
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Tbh I don’t expect Bouchard to be available at 8.

If he is, and we’re in that spot, he should be the pick

I have him 5th

1)Dahlin
2)Svechnikov
3)Boqvist
4)Wahlstrom
5)Bouchard
6)Zadina
7)Smith
8)Tkachuk
9)Hughes
10)Dobson

If Bouchard is there at 8, IMO it's not even close.
 

Savant

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Dobson all the way, unless Wahlstrom drops. Dobson is the better defender. Higher upside, and isn't really like any other defender in their system; especially on the right hand side.

Also, Gorton made his name as a Q specialist, so if Dobson is the pick, I would be very comfortable it's the right guy. Rangers just traded an all purpose Dman, I think Dobson is the player at that stage who has the skill set to best replicate that.

I would be happy with Bouchard as well but I think I would go Dobson. Might change my mind though.
 
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Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
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He's a great prospect but this is a deep draft and I don't think he's a better prospect than the five guys ahead of him.

Boqvist is playing defense against men at 18.

Wahlstrom is a 1.53 PPG player in the USNDT Program the same age Tkachuk put up 0.85 PPG, and Tkachuk is a consensus top 10 pick.

Bouchard has similar production as a defenseman in a lower scoring league.

Zadina is getting slightly overrated because he had a great WJC.
 
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YoSoyLalo

me reading HF
Oct 8, 2010
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I know it’s a hot take, but I agree with Zadina being overrated.

Even if he IS a better prospect than Wahlstrom/Boqvist, I think the gap is significantly smaller than some may suggest.
 
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Matz03

Registered User
May 5, 2015
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405
Boulder, CO
Someone will reach for Bouchard at 4-6, and hopefully that means we can snag one of the guys who seem to be universally higher rated like Boqvist, Hughes, or Wahlstrom.
 
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GoAwayPanarin

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He's a great prospect but this is a deep draft and I don't think he's a better prospect than the five guys ahead of him.

Boqvist is playing defense against men at 18.

Wahlstrom is a 1.53 PPG player in the USNDT Program the same age Tkachuk put up 0.85 PPG, and Tkachuk is a consensus top 10 pick.

Bouchard has similar production as a defenseman in a lower scoring league.

Zadina is getting slightly overrated because he had a great WJC.

It's not just the WJC's, he's been pretty much a wire to wire consensus top 3 selection. This isn't a Casey Mittlestadt situation where a strong tournament boosted his stock way higher than it should have been boosted.

I can understand the argument for Boqvist if you believe that he's an EK clone, don't really agree with the rest.
 

GoAwayPanarin

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Dobson all the way, unless Wahlstrom drops. Dobson is the better defender. Higher upside, and isn't really like any other defender in their system; especially on the right hand side.

Also, Gorton made his name as a Q specialist, so if Dobson is the pick, I would be very comfortable it's the right guy. Rangers just traded an all purpose Dman, I think Dobson is the player at that stage who has the skill set to best replicate that.

I would be happy with Bouchard as well but I think I would go Dobson. Might change my mind though.

Its worth noting that the Rangers have never drafted a guy out of the Q in the 1st round. If they're really turning a page and doing things differently, drafting Dobson would signal that as much as anything else they can do this summer.
 

Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
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It's not just the WJC's, he's been pretty much a wire to wire consensus top 3 selection. This isn't a Casey Mittlestadt situation where a strong tournament boosted his stock way higher than it should have been boosted.

I can understand the argument for Boqvist if you believe that he's an EK clone, don't really agree with the rest.

Don't really understand why when guys ranked below him produce similar numbers and one of them is a defenseman.

Following a very similar career arc, Zadina doesn't have much better numbers than Chytil.
 

Dijock94

Registered User
Apr 1, 2016
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In order

1.Dahlin
2.Svechnikov
3.Zadina
4.Wahlstrom
5.Boqvist
6.Tkachuk
7.Bouchard
8.Dobson
9.Hughes
10.Farabee
11.Smith
12.Veleno
13.Wilde
 

Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
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Speaking of Wahlstrom having better numbers than Tkachuk when they were both 17, Jack Hughes is 16 and has better numbers than Wahlstrom...

giphy.gif
 

GoAwayPanarin

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Don't really understand why when guys ranked below him produce similar numbers and one of them is a defenseman.

Following a very similar career arc, Zadina doesn't have much better numbers than Chytil.

Its about more than just points. His physical tools are very impressive.

It's important to note that Wahlstrom plays on a pretty stacked line with the NTDP. Now it's partially that stacked because of him, but it shouldn't be ignored. I like him though.

I've already aired out my concerns about Bouchard so no need to go into that again.
 

Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
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Everything I've read about Bouchard reminds me of God, who fell to 9th.

And Bouchard wears #2...
 

Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
141,276
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Its about more than just points. His physical tools are very impressive.

It's important to note that Wahlstrom plays on a pretty stacked line with the NTDP. Now it's partially that stacked because of him, but it shouldn't be ignored. I like him though.

I've already aired out my concerns about Bouchard so no need to go into that again.
Fair point on Wahlstrom
 

McRanger

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We would need a pretty epic run on defensemen for Wahlstrom (or Tkachuk) to drop to 8.

Something similar happened in 2012 with Filip Forsberg and Mikhail Grigorenko. Both were considered anywhere from the 2nd best to the 4th best forward (behind Yakupov and grouped with Galchenyuk) and were projected to go anywhere from #2 to #10. In the end there was a run of 7 straight defensemen and both ended up dropping to #11 and #12, respectively.

Unlikely, but it could happen.
 

Lays

Registered User
Jan 22, 2017
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As of this moment, I think its possible.

Hes the wildcard in the top 10. I can see a case for him going #3, I could also see him falling out of the top 10 all together.
I see that guy being Hughes more but I definitely think one of them may fall out of the top 10
 
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