2018 Draft: 1st pick: Evan Bouchard (D) - Signs ELC

[sportsdynasty]

I'm hesitant having Bouchard play with the big club next season. Having said that, I want to see him in some game action first.

Why would you be hesitant to have Bouchard play? He could be better than all our D. Especially offensively. Try him 4 games at least and see how he performs. Then give him 9. Then play him the whole season if he's that good.

 

[shoop]

Why would you be hesitant to have Bouchard play? He could be better than all our D. Especially offensively. Try him 4 games at least and see how he performs. Then give him 9. Then play him the whole season if he's that good.

This.

Some guy on the Stauffer show was questioning the value of giving a rookie nine games in the NHL. Seemed like an odd point.

There is plenty of value to a young guy getting a cup of coffee. Get a real feel for the speed of games and intensity of practices. See how veterans handle their preparation and approach the game. Figure out what you need to work on in junior or AHL. Junior in Bouchard's case.

I really do hope he is good enough to start the season with the Oilers.

 

[CycloneSweep]

This.

Some guy on the Stauffer show was questioning the value of giving a rookie nine games in the NHL. Seemed like an odd point.

There is plenty of value to a young guy getting a cup of coffee. Get a real feel for the speed of games and intensity of practices. See how veterans handle their preparation and approach the game. Figure out what you need to work on in junior or AHL. Junior in Bouchard's case.

I really do hope he is good enough to start the season with the Oilers.

For a guy like Bouchard who plays 30+ minutes and is a beast offensively...it is probably in his best interest to get a couple games at the least so he can figure out exactly what he needs to work on to make the jump.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

I still can't believe how many minutes he logged; he definitely has elite endurance

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Why would you be hesitant to have Bouchard play? He could be better than all our D. Especially offensively. Try him 4 games at least and see how he performs. Then give him 9. Then play him the whole season if he's that good.

This is how the Oilers have developed a very well earned reputation for rushing prospects.

9 games is too small of a sample size to determine much of anything.

What we do know, is they are still growing, and maturing at that age, and no prospect in history has ever had their development hampered by going back to junior and playing in the AHL.

 

[Aerchon]

I've got to temper my expectations.

I was just thinking about/looking at Dumba's career. Watched him a lot in junior and was never overly impressed. Played on a great team. Never played on the PK. Terrible in his own zone. Gifted premium PP time where he excelled but more from persistence than elite skill. Even offensively didn't scream elite. Is a good skater with an "engine".

I'm not even sure Dumba was a better skater than Bouchard at this age. Dumba was a heavy pinching offensive defenseman that always got caught and rarely had the speed to offset that. Dumba wasn't a free wheeling Karlsson level skater.

What I'm eventually getting to is Bouchard is so much better than Dumba it's scarey. Dumba went 7th OA, significantly worse prospect, and just hit 14 goals 50 points at age 23.

Bouchard has a similar shot, better wrister, better defensively, better passer, better IQ, better vision, and similar skater...

I see Dumba as being Bouchard's floor. Who knows how Bouchard will develop. Even great prospects are crap shoots but thinking about how much better Bouchard is compared to Dumba is exciting.

 

[mouz135]

Bouchard is easily in the same prospect class as those dmen were. I would argue above in fact. Just remains to be seen if he hits his ultimate ceiling. Further development is of course needed but he definitely has the potential to be an elite #1 dman.

You are being the biggest homer I’ve ever seen. Going ahead earlier and calling Bouchard the #1 dman from this draft and it won’t be close, I’ll take that bet all damn day.

I dare you to make these claims on the mains. You’d get torn to shreds, as you should.

 

[Aerchon]

You are being the biggest homer I’ve ever seen. Going ahead earlier and calling Bouchard the #1 dman from this draft and it won’t be close, I’ll take that bet all damn day.

I dare you to make these claims on the mains. You’d get torn to shreds, as you should.

This is an Oiler board. Homerism is allowed. I too believe Bouchard has a solid chance to be the best defender in this draft. I also think he has a good shot to be an elite #1 defender.

However Dahlin is obviously the better prospect/player right now.

Optimistic Oilers stuff stays here. Temper the homerism at least a bit for the mains. Just how it works.

 

[Aerrol]

I'm likely more optimistic than most and obviously he needs to work on his skating and defense. Those other dmen didn't instantly look great in the NHL either. It does take time to adapt and acclimatize to the NHL level and Bouchard will have to go through that as well.

Offensively he is as good as those other dmen in their draft years and I think his skating and defense is underrated if anything.

It's probably good that he doesn't have that added pressure of being a #1 pick or even a top 5 pick. He can go about his business of developing his weaknesses and becoming an all-around great dman without quite as much intense scrutiny that #1 picks Yak/Hall/RNH had every time they had a step back.

Likely more optimistic than most?! You're the guy who's gone on and on about how you think Bouchard is a better prospect than Dahlin ffs!

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I've got to temper my expectations.

I was just thinking about/looking at Dumba's career. Watched him a lot in junior and was never overly impressed. Played on a great team. Never played on the PK. Terrible in his own zone. Gifted premium PP time where he excelled but more from persistence than elite skill. Even offensively didn't scream elite. Is a good skater with an "engine".

I'm not even sure Dumba was a better skater than Bouchard at this age. Dumba was a heavy pinching offensive defenseman that always got caught and rarely had the speed to offset that. Dumba wasn't a free wheeling Karlsson level skater.

What I'm eventually getting to is Bouchard is so much better than Dumba it's scarey. Dumba went 7th OA, significantly worse prospect, and just hit 14 goals 50 points at age 23.

Bouchard has a similar shot, better wrister, better defensively, better passer, better IQ, better vision, and similar skater...

I see Dumba as being Bouchard's floor. Who knows how Bouchard will develop. Even great prospects are crap shoots but thinking about how much better Bouchard is compared to Dumba is exciting.

Pretty sure Dumba is a much better skater than Bouchard

 

[Tobias Kahun]

This is how the Oilers have developed a very well earned reputation for rushing prospects.

9 games is too small of a sample size to determine much of anything.

What we do know, is they are still growing, and maturing at that age, and no prospect in history has ever had their development hampered by going back to junior and playing in the AHL.

Rushing prospects? Only prospect they might of rushed was Draisaitl, but he has worked out just fine.

Look back at every other first overall as of late, they all jump straight to the NHL.

Nurse? went back for 2 seasons.
Ditto for klefbom.

This reputation of rushing prospects is just garbage you read from the mains on HF.

 

[MessierII]

Pretty sure Dumba is a much better skater than Bouchard

In 2012 I don’t think he was significantly better.

 

[nightfighter]

In 2012 I don’t think he was significantly better.

The thing with dumba is that how often has he been rumoured to be traded. Fans were often ragging on him even at last off season and saying he wasn't good enough. Patience is key with dmen otherwise they go on to blossom for another team.

Another great example with the wild is how they handled Brent burns. Didn't know what to do with his offensive potential so juggled him between forward and defense. Traded him away just before he went super nova.


Anyways, with Bouchard my hope is he atleast makes the decision to send him back really difficult. That is the best case scenario.

 

[4EDM14OIL93]

To be fair I think he said Bouchard was #1 before we even drafted him

 

[Aerchon]

Dumba skating was always considered one of his strengths. Bouchard's currently isn't considered a strength but is good.

The difference between the two is very small at the same age. Watched Dumba a lot, his skating not elite, especially transitioning to defense. Watched Bouchard's highlights and read reports his skating is good not great.

This is so similar to the Draisaitl situation. People really overstate thier skating issues.

 

[nexttothemoon]

You are being the biggest homer I’ve ever seen. Going ahead earlier and calling Bouchard the #1 dman from this draft and it won’t be close, I’ll take that bet all damn day.

I dare you to make these claims on the mains. You’d get torn to shreds, as you should.

Well to be fair, the dmen on that list they were debating about didn't have Merkley or Dahlin on it... so Bouchard would clearly be #1 on that list sans those 2.

I do however feel Bouchard was the #1 pick in this draft. Merkley/Dahlin I think were excellent picks as well. This was a draft where dmen trumped the forwards and will likely be known as a strong dman draft (and likely weakish for forwards) in years to come.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

You are being the biggest homer I’ve ever seen. Going ahead earlier and calling Bouchard the #1 dman from this draft and it won’t be close, I’ll take that bet all damn day.

I dare you to make these claims on the mains. You’d get torn to shreds, as you should.

He was saying this even before the oilers drafted Bouchard.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I send him to Europe to start playing against men. A 4th yr in jr wont help him, if anything it will allow him to cheat too much

I don't think he'd be legally allowed to play in Europe

 

[Bryanbryoil]

You are being the biggest homer I’ve ever seen. Going ahead earlier and calling Bouchard the #1 dman from this draft and it won’t be close, I’ll take that bet all damn day.

I dare you to make these claims on the mains. You’d get torn to shreds, as you should.

As others have said he said this far before Bouchard was an Oiler. That said it wouldn't be the first time than a non 1st overall became better than a 1st overall although I wouldn't bet against Dahlin.

 

[MoneyGuy]

Bouchard is easily in the same prospect class as those dmen were. I would argue above in fact. Just remains to be seen if he hits his ultimate ceiling. Further development is of course needed but he definitely has the potential to be an elite #1 dman.

Someone is seriously overrating Bouchard. He’s not in that league.

 

[McFlyingV]

I do think Bouchard's offensive game is starting to become underrated on here and the biggest reason is the lack of flash in his game. His poise, his ability to get hard accurate shots through traffic, his breakout pass and passing in general, his vision and offensive hockey IQ. All of these attributes are elite.

 

[KMart27]

This is how the Oilers have developed a very well earned reputation for rushing prospects.

9 games is too small of a sample size to determine much of anything.

What we do know, is they are still growing, and maturing at that age, and no prospect in history has ever had their development hampered by going back to junior and playing in the AHL.

What is the harm in giving a player some games in the NHL if he earns it? No player has had their development hampered by playing a few games in the NHL then going back to junior.

 

[McShogun99]

You are being the biggest homer I’ve ever seen. Going ahead earlier and calling Bouchard the #1 dman from this draft and it won’t be close, I’ll take that bet all damn day.

I dare you to make these claims on the mains. You’d get torn to shreds, as you should.

How many times has the top rated Dman during his draft year become the best Dman from that draft class? Not very often. Dahlia should become the best of that class but for all we know some guy drafted in the 3rd round could become that player. I think Bouchard coild put up better numbers over his career due to the Mcdavid factor.

 

[Spawn]

How many times has the top rated Dman during his draft year become the best Dman from that draft class? Not very often. Dahlia should become the best of that class but for all we know some guy drafted in the 3rd round could become that player. I think Bouchard coild put up better numbers over his career due to the Mcdavid factor.

Interesting question.
2016: Juolevi - no (Sergachev or McAvoy)
2015: Hanifin - no (Werenski or Provorov)
2014: Ekblad - yes
2013: Jones - yes
2012: Murray - no (Lindholm, Reilly or Trouba)
2011: Larsson - no (Hamilton)
2010: Gudbranson - no (Fowler?)
2009: Hedman - yes
2008: Doughty - close. Can debate Karlsson
2007: Alzner - no (Subban)
2006: E. Johnson - yes
2005: J. Johnson - no (Letang or Vlasic)
2004: Barker - no (Green)
2003: Suter - maybe? Close between him, Weber and recently Burns
2002: Bouwmeester - no (Keith)
2001: Komisarek - no (probably Hamhuis)
2000: Klesla - no (Visnovsky)

That's as far back as I wanted to look haha. The bold are the guys I can remember having a tonne of hype as franchise type guys going into their draft years like Dahlin has had. But I was only 12 in 2000, so my memory might not be as good as I think it is for all of these years.

The hype for Dahlin is probably the highest since Hedman? Although the hype for Ekblad was pretty high to.

Obviously pretty early for the last few years.

 

[PaPaDee]

Why would you be hesitant to have Bouchard play? He could be better than all our D. Especially offensively. Try him 4 games at least and see how he performs. Then give him 9. Then play him the whole season if he's that good.

I’m reluctant because I’ve seen this team rush prospects too often. I’d prefer to be patient with him. Having said that, if he destroys camp, I’d be open to giving him a few games.