The Senators missed out on the top three this year, which is a rough bounce for a team that had a rough season.
While they could go defence here, Tkachuk is a forward who can’t be passed on. He plays a similar play style to his older brother Matthew, but has more bite and a heap of skill to go along with it.
He will pair nicely with the group of forwards the Sens currently possess. While defence is also a need of sorts for Ottawa, it’s not the most pressing issue. They can go best player available and get a tenacious force up front to help out with scoring.
After the top four, which seems like a lock at the moment, the race for defencemen will begin.
While Hughes isn’t the highest-rated defenceman after Dahlin on most boards, Arizona just seems like a good fit for the American defender.
He has fantastic vision and is a creative passer in all zones. He needs to add a bit of muscle to his frame in order to help his defensive efficiency.
With some big bodies in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jakob Chychrun and Niklas Hjalmarsson, the Coyotes can add a smaller guy who packs a lot of punch and will be another power-play quarterback for the ‘Yotes to utilize.
Detroit has had a trend of draft picks over the last decade and change. While they have taken European players in the first round previously, they haven’t selected a player that spent his draft year overseas since Nicklas Kronwall in 2001.
Detroit took defender Dennis Cholowski two years ago. He and Bouchard would give the Red Wings a solid one-two punch for the future on defence.
Bouchard has been described as a quintessential two-way defender who has an ideal frame for a top defender and the ability to log big minutes for a team down the road.
He’s also a right-handed shot who posted over 80 points in the OHL this season. So he’s efficient in every zone.