Boucher: "(The injuries are) in the past and I'm not looking back. I feel good."

When the Ottawa Senators drafted forward Tyler Boucher 10th overall at the 2021 NHL Draft, every amateur scout liked him as a prospect. 

In the 2020-21 season, Boucher was a point-per-game player at various levels of Team USA's National Team Development Program (U17, U18, and Juniors), and he was the most physical player available in the first few rounds of that draft.

That said, many people thought it was a reach to take him as early as the Senators did.

Today, the only debate about Boucher is whether he can stay healthy. If he can do that for a full season, then we can get around to the discussion of whether he was the right pick. Thanks to a ridiculous run of injuries, he's played just 88 hockey games since the Senators drafted him three years ago.

On day one of Senators rookie camp on Thursday, where recognizable names were hard to come by, Boucher was the player most reporters wanted to talk to. And we were all armed with the one question Boucher is clearly tired of answering. 

"How's your health?"

In the dream scenario, as a 10th overall pick, Boucher would be a well-established prospect, ideally getting ready to jump to the NHL full-time or here in Ottawa already. However, the long list of injuries have, unfortunately, become his central storyline. So he begrudgingly answered the question again for the 100th time.

"Feeling good, excited to be back on the ice. A couple of good skates there, so ready to go."

He probably would have liked to leave it at that. But the follow-up questions began, as they should have.

"How difficult has it been to deal with all the injuries in your career?" 

If cringes made noise, Boucher's would have been as loud as the bone-crushing hits he used to throw. But he forged on.

"Yeah, I mean, it's definitely pretty hard. I'm not going to lie to you, it takes a toll on me. But I think through them, I've learned a lot about what I need to do, and I'm back and healthy. It's in the past, and I'm not looking back. I feel good."

It's often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, which is weird since that's not even close to the definition of insanity. But after repeated injuries, Boucher needed do something new to get different results. So Senators' Director of Player Health and Performance Matt Nichol hooked him up.

"I was doing a lot of Pilates, actually," Boucher said. "Matt Nichol helped me out with that. He said I should do that, and I saw some big changes in my flexibility and stuff like that. But that was one thing I added."

Boucher is still only 21, and his aggressive, physical style, mixed with some skill, fits perfectly with what Ottawa's new leadership group is trying to do. And he also fits in with a long line of Senators whose dads played pro, an intangible that Pierre Dorion loved (Christian Wolanin, Logan Brown, Jonathan Gruden, Drake Batherson, Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Mark Kastelic, Jake Sanderson, Ridly Greig, Roby Jarventie, Jakob Chychrun, and Jorian Donovan).

To give Boucher a boost – and he was as good a choice as any – the Sens handed him the captaincy at the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo.

In a way, Tyler Boucher is on the same path as Josh Norris, a fellow first-rounder. In both cases, fans have reached a point of outright skepticism about their ability to stay healthy. Just like Norris, Boucher's latest in a long run of injuries resulted in a late-winter shoulder surgery last season. But unlike Norris, Boucher walks his tightrope without the safety net of generational wealth.

If Boucher gets his career back on track, that's found money for the Senators. And their shallow prospect pool could sure use the help.