D Evan Bouchard - London Knights, OHL (2018, 10th, EDM)

[Llamamoto]

.76ppg would be pretty good for a draft season statline. d+1? meh

He has over a ppg since Merkley was traded. Plus, offence isn't his strongest suit. He was voted top-3 in hitting, pking, and defensive defensemen in the OHL. He's also quite young for his draft.

 

[Canucks LB]

This is not even a slight against him.
He just seems like a perfect player who looks good in junior but does not fit the NHL style of game that's being played now a days.

His shot is hard but slow release, said it since his draft. No chance that slapshot gets through on a regular basis.
His passing is great, nothing wrong there, absolutely elite.
His Hockey IQ is poor, especially in the defensive zone, Good instincts offensively
And the most important part is he skates in quicksand, he needs to improve in this area drastically.

I honestly feel like Dennis Wideman is a good comparison, maybe souray?
john Carlson is a stretch, Carlson shot is not just hard, but he gets it off fast.
Not to mention Elite offensive hockey IQ.

Who knows, I am not a fan of this guy, I don't see much more than 5/6 D-man.

I know i am probably in the minority, but it's fine, I said similar about MDC, Vilardi and other top prospects.

Then again, I shit on Horvat for his skating, and now it's his best asset, so every player develops differently.

Flame away

 

[Canucks LB]

Zubov had 90 points one season IIRC. I take that and ****ing run.

Bouchard will be like a hybrid of John Carlson and Brent Burns. Bomb of a shot, elite pp qb, amazing offensive instincts, beauty stretch pass, isn't good enough defensively to really be considered a true elite 1d. He'll probably need Klefbom + someone else to do the defensive heavy lifting just like Carlson needs Orlov/Niskanen and Burns needs Vlasic/Braun.

I still stick with my prediction from around December of last year - 60 ish point RHD that will be frustrating to watch defensively but an absolute monster when you have the puck. Can play big minutes, just won't take on the toughest matchups in those minutes. Also, his skating "issues" are way overblown, the skating is passable rn. He could probably focus on skating in the summer and improve massively (like Draisaitl did). What's a lot more worrying is his defensive positioning and how he sometimes just doesn't seem to give af on the backcheck. But, that can improve over time and with more experience. Guys like Werenski are premier offensive dmen in the NHL but are still developing the part where they play in their own zone. It'll come for Bouchard, I'm confident in him.

No offense what so ever, but comparing bouchard's potential to burns is asanine.

Burns is a complete monster in the offensive zone, the play flows through him, nice skater for his size, just outstanding hockey IQ and strength.
Absolute monster shot, and quick in acceleration, shoots from absolutely everywhere with stunning accuracy, has a extremely rare talent of getting shots off and getting it on net.
Who knows tho, Oilers having been begging for a legit #1 d-man, maybe he turns into that guy and I am off base.

We will see in 5-7 years I guess

 

[Llamamoto]

This is not even a slight against him.
He just seems like a perfect player who looks good in junior but does not fit the NHL style of game that's being played now a days.

His shot is hard but slow release, said it since his draft. No chance that slapshot gets through on a regular basis.
His passing is great, nothing wrong there, absolutely elite.
His Hockey IQ is poor, especially in the defensive zone, Good instincts offensively
And the most important part is he skates in quicksand, he needs to improve in this area drastically.

I honestly feel like Dennis Wideman is a good comparison, maybe souray?
john Carlson is a stretch, Carlson shot is not just hard, but he gets it off fast.
Not to mention Elite offensive hockey IQ.

Who knows, I am not a fan of this guy, I don't see much more than 5/6 D-man.

I know i am probably in the minority, but it's fine, I said similar about MDC, Vilardi and other top prospects.

Then again, I **** on Horvat for his skating, and now it's his best asset, so every player develops differently.

Flame away

Bouchard definitely has elite offensive IQ. TBH he probably has better IQ than Carlson when he was drafted. And he can get his shot away very quickly. His swing for clappers is actually extremely quick.

 

[Canucks LB]

Bouchard definitely has elite offensive IQ. TBH he probably has better IQ than Carlson when he was drafted. And he can get his shot away very quickly. His swing for clappers is actually extremely quick.

You can type to me he gets his shot away quickly, but it won't convince me, I have seen about 20-23 games of him roughly on tv and in person, and every-time I see him play I see the same thing over and over, the guys shot has a remarkably slow windup.

lets agree to disagree.



I literally just typed his name on youtube, and the first "Highlight package" showed me exactly what I have been talking about.

Clips
33 seconds
38 seconds
1:11

I am not going to sit here and makeup and say he is not a good passer tho, absolutely elite passer, easily the best part about his entire skillset, but how far will that take him?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Is Josh Manson a better comparison? He's someone I've used before.

It’s a better stylistic comparison, but I think he’s been overrated this season. And I was a big fan of his going into his draft, but I don’t think his game has developed that much. I think he’s more of a bottom half of the lineup player. He’ll probably play in the NHL, but I doubt it’ll be as an impact player.

 

[HOPE]

Bouchard's shot, passing, and IQ are all way better than Petry's.

Did i say otherwise? But why compare petry and bouchard when petrys strengh is obviously his skating and bouchard weakness is obviously his skating?

 

[bobbythebrain]

This is not even a slight against him.
He just seems like a perfect player who looks good in junior but does not fit the NHL style of game that's being played now a days.

His shot is hard but slow release, said it since his draft. No chance that slapshot gets through on a regular basis.
His passing is great, nothing wrong there, absolutely elite.
His Hockey IQ is poor, especially in the defensive zone, Good instincts offensively
And the most important part is he skates in quicksand, he needs to improve in this area drastically.

I honestly feel like Dennis Wideman is a good comparison, maybe souray?
john Carlson is a stretch, Carlson shot is not just hard, but he gets it off fast.
Not to mention Elite offensive hockey IQ.

Who knows, I am not a fan of this guy, I don't see much more than 5/6 D-man.

I know i am probably in the minority, but it's fine, I said similar about MDC, Vilardi and other top prospects.

Then again, I **** on Horvat for his skating, and now it's his best asset, so every player develops differently.

Flame away

"Low hockey iq". HF posters opinion or actual coaches...hmmm. I'll go with the professionals on this one.

Voted best hockey IQ 2 years running.

"Game won't translate to the NHL. " Hmmm.. I guess the 7 games he already played and looked fine was a fairytale

"Shot is slow and won't get through"
The kids mechanics literally look identical to Shea Weber

 

[soothsayer]

This is not even a slight against him.
He just seems like a perfect player who looks good in junior but does not fit the NHL style of game that's being played now a days.

His shot is hard but slow release, said it since his draft. No chance that slapshot gets through on a regular basis.
His passing is great, nothing wrong there, absolutely elite.
His Hockey IQ is poor, especially in the defensive zone, Good instincts offensively
And the most important part is he skates in quicksand, he needs to improve in this area drastically.

I honestly feel like Dennis Wideman is a good comparison, maybe souray?
john Carlson is a stretch, Carlson shot is not just hard, but he gets it off fast.
Not to mention Elite offensive hockey IQ.

Who knows, I am not a fan of this guy, I don't see much more than 5/6 D-man.

I know i am probably in the minority, but it's fine, I said similar about MDC, Vilardi and other top prospects.

Then again, I **** on Horvat for his skating, and now it's his best asset, so every player develops differently.

Flame away

The guy was literally voted by the coaches as one of the smartest players in the league, for the second year in a row. Stick to YouTube analyses.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

"Low hockey iq". HF posters opinion or actual coaches...hmmm. I'll go with the professionals on this one.

Voted best hockey IQ 2 years running.

"Game won't translate to the NHL. " Hmmm.. I guess the 7 games he already played and looked fine was a fairytale

"Shot is slow and won't get through"
The kids mechanics literally look identical to Shea Weber

"His Hockey IQ is poor, especially in the defensive zone, Good instincts offensively"

This was the most laughable part of his post.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I see a lot of problems in the comparison you are trying to make. What did you think of Boqvist's WJC? He's also in his first season on NA ice on a stacked team where his minutes are limited compared to some other star CHL defensemen. I think he's had a good season.

What problems do you see? Other than being a Boqvist homer ofc.

Boqvist’s WJC was a five game sample size. It has no relevance next to a 60 game OHL sample size, which has been subpar to say the least by top 10 pick standards.

But to answer your question, his WJC was average. He was gifted top unit powerplay time thanks to an injury to Liljegren, and got two secondary assists on Brannstrom powerplay goals in his first game.

Despite that, he ended up third in D scoring for Sweden behind both Brannstrom and Sandin, and was outplayed defensively by both of those guys as well.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

What problems do you see? Other than being a Boqvist homer ofc.

Boqvist’s WJC was a five game sample size. It has no relevance next to a 60 game OHL sample size, which has been subpar to say the least by top 10 pick standards.

But to answer your question, his WJC was average. He was gifted top unit powerplay time thanks to an injury to Liljegren, and got two secondary assists on Brannstrom powerplay goals in his first game.

Despite that, he ended up third in D scoring for Sweden behind both Brannstrom and Sandin, and was outplayed defensively by both of those guys as well.

You criticize Boqvist in every thread. Its funny that you are trying to call out others for their opinions of Boqvist.

The OHL is a junior hockey league. Boqvist averages well over 1PPG, and is one of the best defensemen in that league. He's too good for the league, and should've been in the AHL this season. We aren't going to learn much about his play until he gets to pro hockey.

I don't think the WJC should be regarded to too high of a degree, but its a good barometer. Boqvist performed very well there, as he also did at the WJC18 a year ago, and almost every tournament he's played in for Sweden.

 

[CycloneSweep]

You can type to me he gets his shot away quickly, but it won't convince me, I have seen about 20-23 games of him roughly on tv and in person, and every-time I see him play I see the same thing over and over, the guys shot has a remarkably slow windup.

lets agree to disagree.



I literally just typed his name on youtube, and the first "Highlight package" showed me exactly what I have been talking about.

Clips
33 seconds
38 seconds
1:11

I am not going to sit here and makeup and say he is not a good passer tho, absolutely elite passer, easily the best part about his entire skillset, but how far will that take him?

His hockey IQ can take him pretty far imho. He was also voted one of the smartest players in that coaches poll.
I think Bouchard is an NHL player 100%. What pairing quality will he be will entirely depend on his development.

On his shot not making it through, in the short time he was with the Oilers he played a game on our top PP unit for a game and the one thing most of us noted was how he always managed to get his shot thru.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Doesn’t mean it translates to higher leagues. Have you seen previous years results? Sam Bennett was ranked #1 for his conference back to back whereas Bouchard was ranked #3 for his conference. Cole cassels was ranked #2 for his conference yet Utica comets fans said he did not have the iq needed nor the footspeed to play at even an ahl level. As soon as his elc ended he was gone

Yes because hockey iq alone can't always take players far, its a bunch of the rest of his game.

Bouchard played 9 games for the Oilers and didn't look out of place on the third pair.

 

[Draiskull]

His hockey IQ can take him pretty far imho. He was also voted one of the smartest players in that coaches poll.
I think Bouchard is an NHL player 100%. What pairing quality will he be will entirely depend on his development.

On his shot not making it through, in the short time he was with the Oilers he played a game on our top PP unit for a game and the one thing most of us noted was how he always managed to get his shot thru.

Fake news until Button says so.

 

[McRpro]

Fake news until Button says so.

Still waiting for Zach Fucale to become a star goalie like Button said.

 

[CupofOil]

I'm not a big Bouchard fan but to say that his Hockey IQ is poor is horrible analysis. His offensive IQ is as high as any Dman in this draft. My biggest worry with his offensive game is the slow release on his shot but that can be worked on.
He will always have defensive shortcomings, I'm resigned to him being a mess defensively at the NHL level, but I think his offensive skills are very translatable and at the very least, he'll be a high level PP QB. He's great with the puck, without the puck he looks lost at times and generally disinterested. Maybe Ryan Whitney is a good comparable?

To the guy who said that Samorukov hasn't developed much this season. What? His play after the WJC is light years better than it was pre-WJC, I'd be hard pressed to find many CHL Dmen that have improved that drastically from 1st half to 2nd half. Whether or not it translates to pro remains to be seen.

 

[Mrb1p]

Jovo Cop is probably the last player I'd compare Bouchard too.

Jovo was a phenomenal skater and had grit and sand paper in his game.

Jeff Petry is who I'd probably compare Bouhchard too. Petry a bit better skater and Bouchard better vision but lots of similarities in their game

Petry is one of the best natural 360 skater I have seen in my lifetime. Guy can crossover and walk the line like he's a freaking water bug.

Bouchard doesn't have that. But if you wanted to say a dumb defender with a good shot and a great first pass, sure. Petry will usually cost a goal against and then make three good plays to make up for it, but he'll end up converting on .5 of them.

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

Bouchard has the offensive toolset of a pronger, big shot and great breakout passing ability. Bouchards game doesn’t need neidermayers skating albeit it wouldn’t hurt.
I feel like some people over value skating if that’s even possible

Oilers have some d that can skate the puck, not one of them can make a consistent pass

 

[Thebesthockey]

His brain fart in the WJC showed a glimpse of all that needs to known


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[780il]

His brain fart in the WJC showed a glimpse of all that needs to known


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Because a 5 game sample size is the be all end all on a player...


I guess everyone else on that Team Canada roster this year won't become anything either.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

His brain fart in the WJC showed a glimpse of all that needs to known


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Agreed, Puljujarvi should be a star any day now.

 

[McFlyingV]

His brain fart in the WJC showed a glimpse of all that needs to known


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I've made the same mistake in the past of judging a player too heavily off their WJC performance. Dumba comes to mind as a guy I completely wrote off due to a very suspect WJC's defensively where he was probably Canada's worst D. He sure has proved me wrong, and it's a great lesson to me at least that judging a player entirely off that tournament is often a bad idea.

 

[bobbythebrain]

His brain fart in the WJC showed a glimpse of all that needs to known


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Brutal post

Next

 

[A91]

I've made the same mistake in the past of judging a player too heavily off their WJC performance. Dumba comes to mind as a guy I completely wrote off due to a very suspect WJC's defensively where he was probably Canada's worst D. He sure has proved me wrong, and it's a great lesson to me at least that judging a player entirely off that tournament is often a bad idea.

Sciefele was trash in WJC too. RNH was dominant af.