To nobody’s surprise, the Ottawa Senators went off the board with their first selection
With the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the Ottawa Senators select…… Tyler Boucher!? The physical forward out of the USNTDP obviously caught the eye of Trent Mann and staff. Expected to be selected in either the end of the first round or early in the second round, the Senators likely could have traded back and still selected the power-forward, but if they felt he was the guy, who’s to judge.
This is the exact type of player that head coach D.J. Smith will love, a player who is noted by many to be the most physical player in the draft:
1/10 OTT Tyler Boucher RW: Most physical player in this draft, one of my quotes in the Black Book was that watching him run over guys is like watching an NFL linebacker playing hockey. He's smart, a very good skater, and an underrated playmaker. Needs to stay healthy. #NHLDraft
— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) July 24, 2021
With a nice frame at 6’1″ and 200 pounds, Boucher is already NHL size and he dominated with his physical play in every game. Boucher suffered a season-ending knee injury in January, appearing in only 19 games for the USNTDP program, where he scored 12 goals and added 7 assists for pretty solid production in a small sample size.
Scouting Report
Whenever you hear a scout talk about Boucher, they immediately turn to his tremendous physicality:
"“Whether it be a player with their head down, someone in the open ice, or along the offensive or defensive glass, Boucher does not show any mercy”"
This sounds like a player that would fit right in with Brady Tkachuk and the culture that D.J. Smith is starting to build with this team. Boucher is also a great skater that competes hard at every area of the ice, he’s likely to not be a regular in the top-six and will likely play as a defensively-minded 3rd line forward who can contribute at both ends of the ice.