Tuesday night we looked at Zach Nagelvoort, the first goalie taken by Edmonton during the 2014 NHL draft. Today, we look at Keven Bouchard, the second goaltender taken by Edmonton, who has seen his career to this point be the exact opposite of the promising Nagelvoort.
The Means Of Entry:
Bouchard was drafted by the Oil with their final pick in the draft this past year, the 183rd overall selection in the annual entry draft. Bouchard played this past season in the QMJHL, playing for the league champion Val-d’Or Foreurs. He was the back-up for the team, playing in only 27 regular season games and appearing in one game in the QMJHL playoffs. He did play in one Memorial Cup game as well.
Prior to his stint in the QMJHL, Bouchard played in the QMAAA, suiting up for the Jonquiere Elites. He played in 25 games that year for the squad. He’ll be going back to the QMJHL this season, and will have the starter’s job in front of him.
The Boxcars:
Keven Bouchard’s numbers are a far-cry from those of Nagelvoort, who posted extremely impressive numbers in his previous stops. During the 2012-13 season, Bouchard was underwhelming in the QMAAA league, posting a low .884 Sv% in 25 regular season games, he did follow that up with an impressive .918 mark in eight post-season games however.
Making the jump to the QMJHL proved to be difficult for the youngster, who was relegated to back-up duty behind Antoine Bibeau, a Leafs’ draft pick. In 27 games for the Foreurs, Bouchard posted a lackluster .887 Sv% along with a 2.95 GAA. In his one playoff appearance, Bouchard posted a .833 Sv%, and followed that up with a 1.000 Sv% in his lone appearance in the Memorial Cup.
Overall, Bouchard failed to even touch .890 in the save percentage category. While that doesn’t mean he is a lost cause as a prospect, it certainly is not a good sign, and makes one wonder why the Oilers passed on some solid players for a goalie with underwhelming stats late in the draft.
The Player:
This one is tough, because there isn’t much to say here. Bouchard is still pretty young, only 18 years old, but has some pretty good size at 6’3” and 205 pounds. Like Nagelvoort, he provides a big-bodied presence in net and is pro-sized already.
In terms of style of play, there is not much available here. Bouchard played in a small league, the QMAAA, two years ago, and saw limited duty as a backup this year in the QMJHL. Clearly, there is not enough information on him to get a clear read. What we do know is that the stats are not pretty.
SV% is one of the most important stats we can go off of with goalies. A .887 mark, no matter what way you slice it, is not very good. It’s a small sample size, but it isn’t a good sign. He struggled in the QMAAA too, which is a little eye opening. I’m not sure if it’s a problem with seeing the puck or if it’s a rebounding issue. It could be a lack of playing time problem, or it could just be that a young goalie is trying to adjust to the junior style.
The good news here is that Bouchard is big, can take up a chunk of the net, and has a lot of room to grow as a goalie. He’s young and has some talent, so he’s not a lost cause.
He’s a “saw me good” player that head scout Stu MacGregor admitted he and his staff basically had to fight for in order to get MacT to select. There’s something here that the Oiler scouts like, I’m just not sure what.
The 2014-15 Outlook:
Keven Bouchard’s outlook is a little different that his counterpart, Nagelvoort. Bouchard needs to establish himself as a starter in the QMJHL and post a close to, but ideally over, .900 Sv %. If he is able to do that, then he’ll be back on track as a prospect, and the pick will look a lot better.
It’s asking a lot, this is a player that has never touched the .900 mark and has never played more than 30 games in a season at this level. It would be a huge step forward for him, but it’s completely needed. Right not he just isn’t on track, and I’m trying to figure out why the Oilers made this selection.
Bouchard badly needs to step up this year, but whether or not he can do that as a starter in the QMJHL remains to be seen.
[adsanity id=1808 align=alignnone /]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
