Quinton Hughes vs. Adam Boqvist vs. Evan Bouchard vs. Noah Dobson vs. Ty Smith

[Lays]

It's really hard to compare all of them. I think Hughes and Boqvist have the chance to be a high end offensive producers ala Karlsson, but if they don't they may end up more like Krug or Gostisbehere. Bouchard seems more in the John Carlson mold, who if it comes to who would you rather have a 50 point Bouchard or 50 Point Hughes, I would go with Bouchard. Dobson seems like his ranking will be less tied to how many points he gets since he will be the most complete guy of the bunch. In the case of Smith, not sure he has the upside of the other 4 but he could still end up better then a couple of them when all is said and done

Why? Hughes is better defensively and has higher IQ+creativity+compete level....all Bouchard really has on him is size and physicality

 

[Disappointed EP40]

Hughes
Boqvist
Dobson
Smith
Bouchard

 

[Riseonfire]

I'd like to see Bode Wilde get thrown into this mix. I know early on he's clearly on the bottom but like another poster said, the underdog Lee won out in the last great comparison thread.

 

[lawrence]

I'd like to see Bode Wilde get thrown into this mix. I know early on he's clearly on the bottom but like another poster said, the underdog Lee won out in the last great comparison thread.

he will hit rock bottom on everyones list.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

he will hit rock bottom on everyones list.

Wilde prediction

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

Dhalin

Hughes
Bouchard
Dobson
Boqvist

Smith (Not even the same tier as the other 4)

 

[Smeagoal]

Dahlni

Hughes
Dobson
Bouchard/Boqvist/
Miller

 

[WonderTwinsUnite]

Why? Hughes is better defensively and has higher IQ+creativity+compete level....all Bouchard really has on him is size and physicality

Bouchard also has a massive edge in his shot arsenal, something that gives him value as a PP threat. Even with Hughes' natural improvements that come with strength and age, dont think he'll ever get his shooting ability to where Bouchard's is now.

 

[habsterr]

Boqvist
Dobson
Hughes
Bouchard
Smith

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

Dahlin

Hughes
Dobson
Boqvist

Bouchard
Smith

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

I'd like to see Bode Wilde get thrown into this mix. I know early on he's clearly on the bottom but like another poster said, the underdog Lee won out in the last great comparison thread.

It's honestly laughable for him to be included. There are at least 3 or 4 d-men from that draft who don't belong anywhere near a comparison to these players, but are still ahead of Wilde.

 

[Riseonfire]

It's honestly laughable for him to be included. There are at least 3 or 4 d-men from that draft who don't belong anywhere near a comparison to these players, but are still ahead of Wilde.

I mean, it was laughable to consider a 6th rounder in comparison to two 1st rounders but here we are, laughing in the other direction.

 

[boredmale]

It's honestly laughable for him to be included. There are at least 3 or 4 d-men from that draft who don't belong anywhere near a comparison to these players, but are still ahead of Wilde.

I disagree, after Smith I think you can make an argument for a bunch of defensemen being the best including Wilde. Every single one of them has warts of their own

 

[Nocashstyle]

Dhalin

Hughes
Bouchard
Dobson
Boqvist

Smith (Not even the same tier as the other 4)

I'm curious why. I generally know nothing about these prospects other than what I've read. As a Devils fan, I'm pretty happy with what I've heard about Smith. He put up great offensive numbers last year. Despite his offensive output, he's responsible defensively and has a perceived high hockey IQ. Most most drafts had him going earlier, and I saw a few with him at 9 or 10.

What is the reason most are putting him at number 4 on these lists?

 

[David Bruce Banner]

The way I saw it at the draft, and not much has changed since then...

Dahlin

Dobson
Bouchard
Hughes

Smith
Boqvist

 

[Scorcho]

Boqvist
Hughes
Smith
Dobson
Bouchard

this is my ranking as well.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Statistically speaking, Smith is just as good, if not better than most of these guys. He's just small, which doesn't really matter with his IQ

 

[WonderTwinsUnite]

In terms of stylistic comparisons (max offensive upside):

Hughes: Leetch//Keith (65 pts)
Bouchard: Weber/Souray (55 pts)
Dobson: OEL (50 pts)
Smith: Gostisbehere (50)

I think all of them actually have the ability to be high-end two -way defenders well, with Dobson being the best in his own end.

Adding these guys on to someone who I think will be a 6'3", 220-lb version of Drew Doughty in Dahlin, and you could say I'm very high on this class of defenders. Best since '08.

 

[bigbabybuda]

Hughes was the secong best player in this past draft imo. So my answer is him way above the others.

 

[My3Sons]

I’d be curious how many scouts or GMs will actually have seen all of these players play in person more than once or twice. I’m not sure looking at a YouTube video is the same.

 

[Jeffrey Pedler]

Bouchard
Dobson
Hughes
Smith
Boqvist

 

[Riseonfire]

Hughes was the secong best player in this past draft imo. So my answer is him way above the others.

See, I think his ceiling is the highest (other than Daddy Dahlin), it's just that I feel his stature also gives him the biggest bust-ability. Even if MANY things go right, he's Thomas Hickey, If things go perfect he's a better Ghost. If things go wrong, he's not even an NHLer. (all IMO, I have been very wrong before)

If we're using HF terms, He's like a 9.0C

 

[ManofSteel55]

Statistically speaking, Smith is just as good, if not better than most of these guys. He's just small, which doesn't really matter with his IQ

It has to be more than his size. He's not the only small d-man in this group.

 

[Aerchon]

Predraft I was just praying that one of the big 4 defensemen after Dahlin would drop to 10 (Oilers). The talk seemed to indicate Boquist could fall because of his size and concusion issues. Hughes was the #1 guy after Dahlin predraft. Bouchard was the #2 guy. Dobson was the number #3 guy but very close to Bouchard. Boqvist being the #4 from most of what I read and heard. Smith was a step behind those 4/5 if you include Dahlin but ahead of everyone else. I was extremly leary of drafting Boquist because of size/concusions and Smith because he is a tier below the players that "could" have been available at 10.

Pre-draft: Dahlin, Hughes, Bouchard, Dobson, Boqvist, and then Smith.

Then the draft happened and everyones consensus BOP got completely tossed out the window. As has happened before, forwards/centers leaped ahead in the draft because of thier importance to teams and forwards in general can have a quicker impact to a team. Not only did Bouchard drop but so did Dobson and Smith was still available as expected.

I was not expecting either Bouchard or Dobson to drop so really didn't look too much into them. After I did I was shocked at how good these two are. The are not your typical 10th OA picks in any draft. Bouchard especially seems to have somehow flown under the radar a bit. Big minutes, big body, good all around skills, one of the highest scoring CHL defensemen ever... Great one timer, great wrist shot, and described by most as having the best passing in the draft period. Not only amazing but really well suited for the exact role the Oilers are desperate to fill. All this on a bad team that as it got worse he got better and the most NHL ready body.

I know its homerism to some extent, but after doing some research I am shocked Bouchard fell to 10. I would be curious if someone with as good as skillsets has fallen that low before.

Post-draft: Dahlin, then a much smaller step down than I thought, Bouchard/Hughes, then a small step down to Dobson/Boquist who I think are a tiny bit overrated with more questions about how much of thier game translating to the NHL level, and then Smith who is a step down from that group but IMO at least a small step up from the rest of the drafts defenders even is better than I really had heard. Even Smith is generally undervalued than he should be. This was a very good draft for high end defensemen.

Bouchards skating and defensive play have been questioned but are far from actually being a liability and need only improve in the way most blue chips prospects do to be successful at the NHL level. His offense is just incredible and somehow completely underrated by many. He "could" end up being the best defender of the draft. Has high ceiling and floor unlike some of the others. So little separation for the top 5/6 defensemen and hindsight will be the only true way people will make thier cases for which one is truly better.

 

[mattydamon]

Predraft I was just praying that one of the big 4 defensemen after Dahlin would drop to 10 (Oilers). The talk seemed to indicate Boquist could fall because of his size and concusion issues. Hughes was the #1 guy after Dahlin predraft. Bouchard was the #2 guy. Dobson was the number #3 guy but very close to Bouchard. Boqvist being the #4 from most of what I read and heard. Smith was a step behind those 4/5 if you include Dahlin but ahead of everyone else. I was extremly leary of drafting Boquist because of size/concusions and Smith because he is a tier below the players that "could" have been available at 10.

Pre-draft: Dahlin, Hughes, Bouchard, Dobson, Boqvist, and then Smith.

Then the draft happened and everyones consensus BOP got completely tossed out the window. As has happened before, forwards/centers leaped ahead in the draft because of thier importance to teams and forwards in general can have a quicker impact to a team. Not only did Bouchard drop but so did Dobson and Smith was still available as expected.

I was not expecting either Bouchard or Dobson to drop so really didn't look too much into them. After I did I was shocked at how good these two are. The are not your typical 10th OA picks in any draft. Bouchard especially seems to have somehow flown under the radar a bit. Big minutes, big body, good all around skills, one of the highest scoring CHL defensemen ever... Great one timer, great wrist shot, and described by most as having the best passing in the draft period. Not only amazing but really well suited for the exact role the Oilers are desperate to fill. All this on a bad team that as it got worse he got better and the most NHL ready body.

I know its homerism to some extent, but after doing some research I am shocked Bouchard fell to 10. I would be curious if someone with as good as skillsets has fallen that low before.

Post-draft: Dahlin, then a much smaller step down than I thought, Bouchard/Hughes, then a small step down to Dobson/Boquist who I think are a tiny bit overrated with more questions about how much of thier game translating to the NHL level, and then Smith who is a step down from that group but IMO at least a small step up from the rest of the drafts defenders even is better than I really had heard. Even Smith is generally undervalued than he should be. This was a very good draft for high end defensemen.

Bouchards skating and defensive play have been questioned but are far from actually being a liability and need only improve in the way most blue chips prospects do to be successful at the NHL level. His offense is just incredible and somehow completely underrated by many. He "could" end up being the best defender of the draft. Has high ceiling and floor unlike some of the others. So little separation for the top 5/6 defensemen and hindsight will be the only true way people will make thier cases for which one is truly better.

I personally believe Hughes/Dobson are above Bouchard, but having said that it really depends what you are after. For the Oilers in particular, I believe Bouchard is really the perfect fit for them. Great shot, physical presence, good passer and minute muncher. I still have Dahlin>Hughes>Dobson>Bouchard>Boq but to me it seems like this was an exceptionally strong draft for D-men and these guys all could have gone top 5 in other drafts. Really stoked to see how these players pan out for their respective teams.

Though I am a nucks fan I've always liked the Oilers and am pretty excited for the future with Bouchard and Mcdavid teaming up for plays - super happy you guys were able to grab Bouchard.