BSH 2018 Community Draft Board, No. 4: Brady Tkachuk

We’re rolling right on through these ranks here, folks! If you looked at our last poll, it’s no mystery who we’d be talking about next, so why don’t we just get right into it. I won’t hold you up.

BSH 2018 Community Draft Board, No. 4: Brady Tkachuk

Position / Team: C / Boston University, NCAA (Hockey East)
2017-18 Statistics: 8 G, 23 A in 40 GP
Size: 6’3”, 195

Pre-draft rankings

No. 2 (North American skaters) by NHL Central Scouting
No. 4 by Future Considerations
No. 4 by ISS Hockey
No. 15 by Pronman/The Athletic (Midseason)

What’s there to like?

How much weight are we giving pedigree, here? His dad Keith scored 1,065 points in 1,201 career NHL games, and his brother Matthew has been good in his first two seasons with the Flames. But maybe that’s all tangential, Brady’s his own dude, do with that what you will.

But let’s talk about Tkachuk just on his own, no lineage, no familial context. So what’s there to like? For starters, he’s a big boy—all of those scouting reports above actually list him at a different height (super helpful, you guys) but we can say he at least falls somewhere between 6’2 and 6’4. The Flyers are, right now, one of the smaller teams in the league, so he would, if nothing else, add a bit of size.

It’s not just about this surface level, though, there’s more to like about his actual hockey skillset (imagine that!). As a sort of rule of thumb, we’ll acknowledge that it’s harder to score in college than in the CHL, for example, so his scoring figures are respectable, at least. And the disparity in goals vs. assists point to a piece that serves as one of the hallmarks of his game—he’s a playmaker. He’s thinking the game well and working equally to set up plays for his teammates as for himself. His unselfishness in this area is a nice quality, but we should also note that he has the pieces seemingly needed to close out on chances of his own—for example, a quick shot and a willingness to go to the front of the net to create high danger chances in close.

Bonus: the first thing Future Considerations calls him is “gritty,” so you know the Flyers would LOVE him.

What’s not to like?

For the second ranked skater in all of North America, he’s not actually a great skater. Not bad, just decent—not a ton of initial foot speed and fluidity, but can move well once he gets going. He’s also racked up 61 PIM in 40 games which is… a lot. And maybe he cleans that up, but the idea of a guy who takes that many penalties on a team who refuses to remove the coach who constructs a bad penalty kill makes me a little nervous.

How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?

The easy assumption here would be that a 4th overall pick pans out as a top-6 winger in the NHL, and the Flyers aren’t exactly starved in this department, but can you ever have too many top-6 wingers? Wouldn’t it be great to have a top-6 winger on your third line? I’m into it.

But that crowding is still kind of an issue. A big boy with NHL power forward potential, even though he’s not an excellent skater? We got two of those (Isaac Ratcliffe and Matthew Strome, hello) just last year. Does Tkachuk have a higher ceiling, theoretically? Yeah, I would think so. The Flyers seem to like this mold of player, but they already are pretty well stocked with them.

However, he would fit very well into my system of making bad jokes.

When Tkachuk plays Katchouk pic.twitter.com/Q9HQnkqMMZ

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 29, 2017

I mean, come on. Every time the future Flyers play the future Lightning, it’s right there. I love beating jokes into the ground. This would be great.

Could the Flyers actually get him?

No.

But it’s the Senators with the 4th overall pick.

Yeah, but to jump from 14/19 into the top 5? That would be crazy.

Yes. But consider this: the Ottawa Sentators are kind of a dumpster fire.

You’re not wrong.

So Ron could conceivably do a package and/or trick Dorion into giving up the 4th overall pick.

…

…

…Brady Tkachuk, welcome to Philly.

Take one off the list, add another. Let’s drop one more North American skater on this list. Welcome, Joe Veleno.

Joseph Veleno — Drummondville Voltigeurs — 16 G, 32 A in 33 GP

There is so much to like about Joe Veleno. He’s a hard-nosed workhorse that makes the players around him better. The fleet-footed center is unselfish and will primarily look to make a play at top speed; however, when the chance arises to put it in the pot himself, he will capitalize. He sees the ice well and is rarely caught out of position. His defensive game is refined and he actively pursues puck control. Transitioning to offence is natural, smooth, and quick. All-in-all, a well-rounded two-way forward that skates well and can be the catalyst a team needs to turn a game in its favor. If he can find the consistency in refusing to let himself get taken out of plays, especially if he doesn’t start them, he will thrive and exceed expectations.

— via (Elite Prospects)

2018 BSH Community Draft Board

1. Rasmus Dahlin — D, Frolunda (SHL) (no vote)
2. Andrei Svechnikov — RW, Barrie (OHL) (60% of the vote)
3. Filip Zadina — RW, Halifax (QMJHL) (74%)
4. Brady Tkachuk — LW, Boston University (NCAA) (57%)
5. ???

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Please use your vote below to answer the following question: If all of the players listed were available when the Flyers were on the clock, who would you want them to pick?

Who should be No. 5 on the 2018 BSH Community Draft Board?