Tyler Boucher says he’s finally out of the “bad loop” that has shadowed much of his pro career, and the Ottawa Senators forward is approaching what could be a defining year with a simple mindset: “prove it.”
The 23-year-old has spent the better part of his hockey life fighting through one setback after another. A torn labrum, a separate upper-body issue, multiple knee injuries, a groin problem and a long stretch with COVID-19 have all taken turns derailing him. Since high school, he hasn’t managed to get through a full season of hockey.
Boucher, Ottawa’s 10th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, said the repeated injuries have forced him to wrestle with more than just rehab.
“I’ve looked at it from every angle. I’ve thought about everything,” Boucher told the Ottawa Citizen in a phone interview Wednesday.
“When it happens a bunch, it starts to weigh on you. And when I play, I think maybe there’s situations where I go in super hot and it’s a
high-risk scenario that happens in a game. But to be honest with you, like, a lot of them are just like freak, out-of-nowhere stuff.”
Now entering his fourth season of professional hockey, Boucher is back on a one-year, $850,000 deal he signed with the Senators in July, and he believes the worst of that stretch is behind him. He said the lessons from all those interruptions have changed the way he prepares.
“I think there’s a lot to learn from it,” Boucher said. “When you’re in those times, it feels like the world is ending. There’s been times where I’ve rehabbed for weeks and then come back and then something happens, and then it’s back (to rehab) for weeks and it’s tough to deal with.
“We’ve definitely made some tweaks, the strength coaches and I, with routine, tailoring my workouts to specific stuff I need, being aware of how my body feels, not just maybe pushing through stuff just to get it done.”
The first real glimpse of that progress came after he spent exactly two months rehabbing an upper-body injury during the 2025-26 season. Once he returned, he stayed on the ice for Belleville’s final 35 games and produced 20 points, scoring 10 goals and adding 10 assists. It was the clearest sign yet of the power forward Ottawa thought it was drafting.
“Once I’m going, like, I’m good,” Boucher said. “It’s just, I needed to stop that pattern of getting hurt, coming in and out (of the lineup). Because it doesn’t matter who you are: If you’re in and out that much, it’s going to affect you, affect your play.”
He closed the season with career bests across the board, finishing with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists in 47 games. That’s still a long way from where the Senators hoped he would be by now, but it was real progress all the same, and it marked a jump of 16 points from 2024-25 in the same number of games.
Boucher said the biggest change was mental as much as physical. Instead of entering games worried about what might happen to his body, he decided to let go of that fear.
“I think I just was going into games before kind of, like, worried about staying healthy,” said Boucher, son of former NHL goaltender Brian Boucher, who spent 13 seasons in the league. “I kind of just said ‘screw it,’ like, let’s just go here, no matter what happens. I felt I found confidence game after game and I liked where my game was going last year.”
In Other News...
Flames Blue Line Squeeze Puts Two Veterans In A Tough Spot
Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley have quietly become useful pieces on the Calgary blue line since arriving on waivers during the 2023-24 season. Both settled in as dependable defensive depth, the kind of low-drama veterans coaches like to have around when the schedule gets hectic and the lineup needs a steady hand.
This season, though, the picture is less settled. Calgary has added younger defenders, and that has tightened the squeeze on two players who still profile as NHL-caliber insurance if injuries hit. With both in the final year of their contracts, their roles could shrink unless circumstances open a door, and the possibility of interest from other clubs only adds another layer to a situation worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Ex-Flame Recalls Darryl Sutters Ruthless Approach To Contract Talks
Contract talks in the Darryl Sutter era, at least as Rhett Warrener remembers them, were a lot less about back-and-forth and a lot more about picking from a short list. The former Flames defenceman recently reflected on how Sutter, then Calgarys coach and general manager, kept negotiations simple by laying out preset options and leaving players to decide what fit best.
Warrener used that old-school approach to highlight how much the NHL has changed, where even a major offer is no longer always enough to get a deal done. He pointed to the modern reality of players and teams navigating a far more complicated market, with the recent reported rejection by Cutter Gauthier serving as the clearest sign of how different contract talks have become. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Face An Arber Xhekaj Decision As Camp Nears
With training camp less than three weeks away, the Canadiens still have a pair of restricted free agents to sort out in Zachary Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj. General manager Kent Hughes has made clear he expects both situations to get resolved before the season begins, with the new NHL collective bargaining agreement adding another layer to how these deals are being negotiated.
The good news for Montreal is that neither side sounds alarmed, at least publicly. Agents and team officials have stayed in communication, and there has been no indication of immediate concern on either front, but the clock is still ticking as camp approaches and the Canadiens try to get their roster business wrapped up without it spilling into September drama. [Read more 🡒]