Tyler Boucher ’21

by: Anthony San Filippo ’91

Tyler Boucher ’21’s life has already been full of major decisions. However, the biggest decision in the 18-year-old’s life was likely one that was made by his mom, Melissa.

 

After enduring a span of 14 years alongside with her husband Brian, an NHL goaltender who is now a broadcaster with ESPN that took them to eight cities (with three stops in Philadelphia), Melissa had seen enough. When she realized her son Tyler was going to play the same sport as his dad and saw that he was initially drawn to lacing up the goalie pads too, she put a stop to it.

“She said, ‘I’m not going through this again,’” says Boucher. “‘There’s only two goalies on each team, so if you want to play, you need a different position where teams need more players.’”

Moms know best, right?

That switch, which also came with dad’s blessing, saw Boucher begin to blossom early as a strong, productive winger.

It was that switch that led him down a path that most recently had him selected in the first round, No. 10 overall, in the 2021 National Hockey League draft by the Ottawa Senators and, until he’s ready to make the jump to pro hockey, playing for one of the most dominant college hockey programs in America at Boston University. 

That position change also allowed him to start to garner attention from higher levels of hockey while he was playing for the Flyers Elite AAA teams when he was barely a teenager and his family lived in Haddonfield, N.J. Then it came time for another big decision: where to go to high school?

“There were a lot of options that we talked about, and we made kind of a last-minute decision,” Boucher says. “Mr. (Brian) McCloskey (’91) is close with my family, and he kept egging my parents on to send me there. Finally, we were able to make it work out where I would go to the Prep after taking some summer classes.”

It was a great choice for Boucher, as it got him prepared for the next stages of his life. “I know that I was only there for one year, but it was a big change of setting for me,” he says. “It helped me get prepared to go to Avon Old Farms School, which is a boarding school, and eventually Boston University. It prepared me to be much more mature than I was when I got there. The teachers there really challenged me academically and pushed me to be the best I could be. I’m really grateful for my time at the Prep.”

Boucher says there wasn’t a teacher he didn’t like but pointed out that he especially liked classes taught by Jonathan Pohlig ’01, his Latin teacher who was “pretty fun in the classroom, and pretty intense, which was a great mix,” Boucher says. “I also liked Mr. (Kevin) Kearney (’06), who taught English. But my favorite was Dr. (John) Campbell who taught science. He was awesome. Great guy, and a big sports fan.”

Boucher also was a member of the Prep hockey team for one season, and enjoyed playing for coach Dave Giacomin. “He was a really good coach who always challenged us and always made us accountable to one another,” Boucher says.

Boucher’s one year at the Prep was quite successful hockey-wise, as the team won the Flyers Cup by defeating Holy Ghost Prep 4-2 and then shutting out Penguins Cup champion Seneca Valley 4-0 to win the 2017-18 State Championship. 

“I couldn’t ask for a better season,” Boucher says. “If I was only going to be there for one year, it was a great way to spend it.”

Despite liking the Prep as much as he did, Boucher needed to play at a more high-caliber hockey school to get noticed by scouts, so he transferred to Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut, where he was subsequently chosen to be part of the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP).

Boucher had a solid season with the U17 squad with nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points in 43 games, and this program was also where his physical game started to really blossom.

At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Boucher has a solid build and brings a lot of nastiness to his game. He likes to play hard, finish checks, and constantly remind you that he’s on the ice. 

His game has been compared by scouts to that of Washington Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson. He plays the type of game that makes him beloved by the home fans but brings a lot of jeers and animosity from the opposition. 

His game was perfectly suited for the USNTDP, and as a result, he was picked to represent America at the U17 World Hockey Challenge where he had a goal and three assists for four points in six games while his team earned a silver medal. 

Because of injuries, last season Boucher only got to play in 12 games for the U18 national team but scored six goals and added five assists for 11 points. 

It was a small sample, but enough for him to be an intriguing prospect to shoot up many teams’ draft lists. 

Many scouting services had Boucher as a second-round prospect, but the one posted by Canadian sports network TSN’s Bob McKenzie had Boucher with a first round grade. The Senators were the team who had him ranked the highest, and they selected him 10th overall. 

“I met with the Senators pre-draft on Zoom and I came away from it thinking that they might have interest,” Boucher says. “But they really don’t tell you much in those interviews, so I didn’t know that No. 10 was what they were thinking. Getting picked there was a great honor.”

Boucher is part of a real overhaul of the Senators organization that has them rebuilding their farm system with a lot of high-end prospects, many of whom came through the US National team or its development program. So, Boucher will be part of what Ottawa hopes will be a young, fun, and talented team within a few years, that has a bit of an American flair in the Canadian capital. 

For now, Boucher is concentrating on playing at BU. He is in touch with Senators player development honcho Pierre Maguire, who left the broadcasting field this summer after 24 years to work for the Senators. 

Boucher also gets frequent texts from fellow Senator Brady Tkachuk checking in on him, but because the pandemic extended the 2020-21 NHL season into July, teams had to push their development camp dates back into August, and many of them took place once NCAA schools were back in session, meaning drafted college players like Boucher were not allowed to attend, per NCAA rules.

“The timing just didn’t work out for guys like me this time around, but I’m on the ice every day working hard anyway, so I’ll just keep becoming a better hockey player and be able to participate in that for the Sens next season.”

And while Boucher looks to have an exciting season with the Terriers, more big decisions await him down the road: does he go to college for all four years before turning pro? Does he sign an entry-level contract with the Senators and start playing pro as soon as next spring once the NCAA season is completed?  Or, since he was also drafted by the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League, one of the three major junior leagues in Canada, would he consider switching over and playing junior hockey now that he’s been drafted by the NHL team in the same town so they can keep a real close eye on him?

These are difficult decisions that Tyler and his family will have to make in the months and years to come, but based on their track record, it’s a good bet that whatever path  they choose on the way to the NHL, it’ll be the right one.