E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120: Reid Boucher #51

Eldon MacDonald

51. Reid Boucher - “Killer Mean” - LW - USA

Vitals: 5’9” - 192 lb.; Shoots left; Born: 8-Sep-93 - Grand Ledge, MI
Team: USA NDP U18, USHL
Stats: 49-24-19-43-25 + U18 6-8-2-10-8-(+9)

Rankings:
36 - Christopher Ralph's Top 210
41 - Kirk Luedeke's Top 50
51 - E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120
52 - The Scouting Report's Top 100
60 - Future Considerations Final Rankings
73 - Cory Pronman's Top 100
149 - NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings (113th North American skater)
Draft result:
99 - New Jersey Devils

He's “Killer Mean”.
He’s just a scoring machine.

Dynamite, nitro-glycerin, kerosene.
He’ll liable to bring a goalie to scream!!!

An a killer he is - just ask the players on the other U18 teams - Switzerland - winning goal with 4:51 to play, Slovakia - one goal, Germany - two goals including the winning goal, Russia - winning goal with 21 seconds left in the game, Canada - two goals including the tying goal, Sweden - tying goal with 1:29 to play in the game. All told, eight goals, tops on the gold medal winning USA U18 squad and second in the tourney. And he is not just a one-tournament killer either, he led the US in scoring at the Five Nations tournament as well, I guess that makes him a serial killer too.

There are four things you need to know about Reid Boucher:

1. He is an alien. Gotta be, how else can you explain it when he appears out of nowhere at warp speed all the time and then unleashes a missile to the back of the net a nano-second later. Think about it, OK, not that looong!!!
2. He will be successful in the NHL if he has a feed-me type center - think, Henrik to Daniel, Backstrom to Ovie and Grimaldi to “Killer Mean” (could happen).
3. He is not small. Sure, he is only 5’9 but he weighs 192 lb. so he is more like a fire hydrant and has a relatively low center of gravity. So, do not fret the size thing when you are thinking about drafting him.
4. He is likely to be a finalist along with Matt Puempel for the 2011 Jeff Skinner Award given annually to the skater with the most ridiculous rating by NHL Central Scouting for the upcoming draft. OK, so I made that award up, however, the fact remains that this premium goal scorer is not going in the fifth round, second is much more likely, could first be possible???

Yes, I am a Reid Boucher fan!!! Yes, I love elite goal scorers!!! Yes, I acknowledge that Reid Boucher has no other elite qualities that would qualify him as an NHLer to be. I don’t care, I still think that has enough of the right stuff to make it.