Pierre Luc Dubois vs Matthew Tkachuk

A few days ago I sent out my own personal draft report on Jakob Chychrun and Olli Juolevi. I got a lot of positive feedback and I’m very thankful for that. It’s an interesting draft this year when it comes to defencemen. There are 3 guys at the top who could go in any order with Sergachev, Chychrun and Juolevi. Then there are two guys (Dante Fabbro and Jake Bean) not too far behind. But today I got a request for a comparison/head to head with Pierre Luc Dubois and Matthew Tkachuk, so here it is.

Pierre Luc Dubois

Dubois started the year on the bottom side of the top ten entering the year. The 6’3 205 lbs forward who plays for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) is a rugged forward with some pretty solid offensive skills. He finished the year with 62 GP , and tallied 42G, 57A (for 99 points) and 112 PIMs. He has a good shot and definitely isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty around the net. He tends to run around out there as well; he loves to hit to make other players lives miserable. I love his versatility and his work ethic. He’s a leader and does whatever he has to do to win a hockey game. Pierre is going to become a fan favourite wherever he ends up. Dubois game is quite well rounded in the fact that he doesn’t have many deficiencies in his game. He can play any forward position and plays positionally sound in his own end. At the beginning of the year lots of people had Julien Gauthier ahead of Dubois but then Gauthier finished the year with 41 goals but Dubois finished with 42 more point then Gauthier during the season.

Lots of scouts believe Dubois’ ceiling could be very high. To me, Dubois is a hybrid of Milan Lucic and Jamie Benn. I’m not sure he’ll ever put up the offense that Benn does, but he definitely has the leadership qualitites and goal scoring ability. Likewise with Lucic I think Dubois will put up more offence than Lucic but has a similar rugged style to his game.

Matthew Tkachuk

While Dubois climbed up the rankings all year, the opposite happened with Tkachuk. He’s a 6’1″, 195lbs forward who plays for the London Knights. I wouldn’t say Tkachuk has done anything wrong to drop slightly in the rankings, but it’s kind of a slippery slope for two reasons:

1. Some people are sceptical of him because he plays on arguably the best line in the entire OHL with Christian Dvorak and Mitch Marner. All three guys have well over a 100 points which begs the question “how good is Matthew Tkachuk”?
2. A couple players have really made a charge up the rankings since the beginning of the year. The few that I talk to believe he will be a very good player, but the reason he may slide is because of who he plays with. He could slide to 6 or 7 which at some point a team could be getting an absolute steal there.

Matthew Tkachuk has a very high hockey IQ and he’s a very talented playmaker with a nose for the net. He’s not as big or as mean as his dad Keith, but he’s a rugged forward with very good offensive instincts. He isn’t afraid to get into the blue paint and the corners to create offence for his team. He’s not an elite skater, but he’s probably a bit above average. I imagine once he gets to the next level he’ll try to improve that slightly. He likes to slow the game down to his speed, Tkachuk is a wonderful passer with very good puck skills and is a fantastic player. Matthew Tkachuk finished the regular season with 57 GP 30G 77A for 107 points and 80 PIMs.
Conclusion

Some people have started to like Dubois slightly more than Tkachuk. But they are without a doubt neck and neck. The team in that 4 spot probably thinks long and hard about it and it will just come down to personal preference. Both players are very talented, with similar rugged and edgy styles. While one’s a goal scorer and one’s a playmaker, who gets taken in that number 4 spot basically depends what would work better in a team’s lineup.

Oilers Angle

If the Oilers were to fall to #4 in the draft, (which will never happen because Steve Tambellini gave his lucky socks to Craig MacTavish last year and he won with them too), they’ll have a couple options assuming they keep the pick.

Craig dug those same old tattered socks out of his dresser and presented them to Chiarelli. Old crunchy socks with no heel left and a giant hole in the big toe. Peter Chiarelli wanted to make a lottery joke then realized that he actually works for the Oilers now. So he held back. But we’re 7 days away from the draft lottery, if Chiarelli fires those socks out the window onto the Whitemud on his way home and the Oilers end up drafting 4th who would they take? If I had to guess, I’d probably say Pierre Luc Dubois. The Oilers are loaded with play makers, they could really use a 30 goal guy in there lineup someday. Dubois probably fits Chiarelli’s big boy hockey style better too. Tkachuk plays that way too, but Dubois is just bigger and would help the oilers score more goals.

Update: Chiarelli is in Earls again with those two grungy socks in the back pocket. We’re totally winning this thing again.