Tyler Boucher Inks 3-Year ELC
In a move that was somewhat out of the blue, the Senators announced that they had signed 2021 first-round pick Tyler Boucher to a three-year entry-level contract.
Having signed a professional contract, today’s news signifies that Boucher’s time at Boston University has drawn to a close. Unlike the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) regulations, when a collegiate hockey prospect signs a professional hockey contract, it nullifies their amateur status according to NCAA regulations, making them ineligible to continue playing collegiate games.
Having been drafted out of the U.S. system and having played NCAA games, the Senators are left with two options. The Senators could elect to send him directly to Belleville where they can focus on his development and play themselves. What is more likely to happen is for Boucher to join the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. After taking Boucher in the seventh round of the 2019 OHL draft, the 67’s own Boucher’s draft rights.
Speaking to the media this afternoon, general manager Pierre Dorion indicated that the only way Boucher will play in Belleville is in the unlikely event that the OHL faces a lengthy shutdown.
Dorion also let it be known that Boucher recently tested positive for Covid, so once that matter is resolved, Boucher will then be assigned to the junior club.
The start to Boucher’s 2021-22 season obviously did not go the way anyone was hoping. The Senators drafted Boucher with the 10th overall selection this past summer, but the blend of physicality and offensive aptitude never really manifested itself in Boston. Boucher led the Terriers with 34 penalties in minutes, but the freshman only tallied two goals and three points in the team’s 17 games. He averaged 1.24 shots per game while averaging 0.18 points per game, only six of Boston University’s regulars averaged fewer.
It is true that questions regarding Brady Tkachuk’s natural goal-scoring ability were raised following his freshman season in which he scored eight goals in 40 games. But, it’s worth mentioning that he led the team in shots (131) and averaged 0.775 point per game. Despite playing in a reduced offensive role behind more tenured players like Bobo Carpenter and Jordan Greenway, Tkachuk still showed glimpses of the player that he would become in Ottawa.
Are there concerns about Boucher’s development?
Absolutely, but none of this means that his potential cannot be realized.
In fairness to the player, he has played sparingly over the past year because of the pandemic and a knee injury that he suffered last season. And the experiences that college hockey offers aren’t for everyone.
Every prospect has a unique development path and it is not always linear.
If playing for the Ottawa 67’s affords Boucher the opportunity to take on a larger offensive role and hopefully thrive while playing against peers his age, that may be better for his personal development than being a role player at Boston University.
Having ignored industry consensus, the Senators surprised many by taking Boucher so early in the 2021 NHL Draft.
It’s not the first instance that teams have chased a combination of size and goal-scoring ability before. During Boston’s heyday, teams sought the next Milan Lucic and with Washington now, it’s Tom Wilson.
Teams love chasing unicorn comps, but there’s a good reason why the prime years of players like Lucic and Wilson are so unique. Power forwards who can balance physicality and skill effectively are rare. For every one that pans out, there is a litter of high picks used to select players like Tyler Biggs, Nick Ritchie, Lawson Crouse, and Hugh Jessiman.
In a pandemic-stricken year that afforded the Senators’ scouts limited in-person viewing opportunities, perhaps they felt it was the right time to roll the dice on a player with Boucher’s projectable size and talent.
Or, maybe they big-brained it and bought into this hype that their amateur scouting staff are savants — electing to reach on a player who more safely projects as a bottom-six forward than someone who has more safely projectable offensive talent.
Every NHL organization needs the draft as their competitive lifeline. To create and sustain competitive windows, teams will always need an injection of young and inexpensive talent into their lineup. In Ottawa, it feels especially so. As an organization that struggles to be a desirable destination for players who have never experienced it or this city, the Senators can ill afford to whiff on its opportunities to add high-end talent to its ranks.
Whether they did so with Boucher remains to be seen, but this is an exciting opportunity for Boucher to not only reassert himself as an intriguing NHL prospect, but do it playing junior hockey in the nation’s capital.
Hopefully, the opportunity to play in front of Senators faithful every night adds more fuel to Boucher’s fire, but at the very least, it will be exciting to see what he can do with a fresh start.
Will he reward the Senators for having faith in him with the 10th overall pick or will his development stall and damage Ottawa’s reputation for drafting and player development?
Only time will tell.