It’s been fairly close to a worst case scenario as it comes to the 2023–24 regular season schedule for the Edmonton Oilers, who find themselves in an early hole. Among the Oilers who have seemed to have gotten off to less auspicious starts to the season is Evan Bouchard.
In some ways, mostly offensively, Bouchard is living up to the large expectations upon him. For the better part of two seasons, Oilers fans clamoured that Bouchard should take hold of the top power play spot, though Tyson Barrie did produce promising results during his time on PP1. Even now, during one of his most disappointing stretches as an Oilers, Bouchard is skilled enough to be producing at an elite level offensively.
It is, instead, on the other side of the puck that Bouchard is having some issues. Some fans might even go as far as to say that Bouchard has not backslid in this regard, instead that Bouchard’s defensive game has been, and will be, an issue.
Bouchard’s history
Despite being a top rated prospect in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Bouchard was not unanimously approved of. From the beginning there have been some of the very issues we see materialising in Bouchard’s slow start this season.
There have always been concerns from a physical standpoint. Bouchard’s height is but a tease for those expecting any sort of nastiness. In some ways, the optics here might work against him, as merely because of his stature, not to mention his draft pedigree, more is expected of Bouchard than other, smaller, offensive defencemen, such as the aforementioned Barrie.
The other physical limitation might be less pronounced, as there was always some worry about Bouchard’s skating, in particular his acceleration. Once more his height does work against him to an extent, as bigger bodies can appear slower thanks to slower, more powerful strides, in general. In this area Bouchard might have seen a bit more improvement since his draft year. Combined these issues can lead to the perception that Bouchard lacks the intensity to be a top defensive option. If anything, this can frustrate fans as Bouchard can be caught flat footed, especially after giveaways in his own zone. Ultimately, this combination of skills can make Bouchard a polarising player, perhaps akin to Dougie Hamilton, a defenceman with whom Bouchard shares a number of similarities.
Still, Bouchard has, largely, proved a lot of his doubters wrong in becoming the player he is today. Oilers Coach Jay Woodcroft was quick to highlight that Bouchard has played his best hockey in the playoffs, rising to the occasion in the biggest moments. The flip side of this is that Bouchard has started each season of his NHL career a bit on the slower side, or a bit less than his best. It really wasn’t until Mattias Ekholm was acquired last season that Bouchard really asserted himself as a top four defenceman for the Oilers.
Demotion for the defenceman
In fact, until that point Bouchard was on the third pair with Philip Broberg. The young duo was sheltered by Woodcroft as much as possible, but still acquitted themselves nicely, surviving without a more stable veteran to lean on. As Bouchard is now demoted to the third pair, it is Broberg who takes his place alongside Ekholm.
Ekholm is an ideal partner for Bouchard, and we shouldn’t be too surprised if we see them reunited at some point in the future. Ekholm himself has spoken highly of Bouchard in the past, notably acknowledging that Bouchard must play to his strengths as a high risk, high reward player.
The balance, for Bouchard and the Oilers, will be for him to simplify his game at the right times. While some of the issues Bouchard has had in retrieving pucks, evading the forecheck, and breaking out of his own zone might be attributed to a sharpness that Bouchard usually doesn’t find until later in the season, some of it might also come from decision making. Bouchard, as Ekholm described last postseason, will slowly gain the wisdom to pick his spots more effectively. There are times where Bouchard will need to defer to a simple, hard play, but this should not come at the expense of his ambitious attacking.
For now, Bouchard will look to reset deeper in the lineup. Brett Kulak should be a natural partner, and is equipped to help the pair perform. Bouchard will still be manning the top power play unit, and might even feature more heavily with Connor McDavid out of the lineup.
What is the endgame?
In other words, the sky is not falling as it pertains to Bouchard. The Oilers poor start to the season has harshened the focus on nearly every aspect of the Oilers game, Bouchard included. There might be some well founded doubt that Bouchard can ever become a true top defensive player, but that does not mean he is without value.
While a Norris trophy in his future isn’t entirely out of the question, unless Bouchard drastically alters the trajectory of his defensive game. While Erik Karlsson is the reigning Norris winner, Karlsson was unquestionably the driver of his team’s offence, leading the team in points by a wide margin, a feat Bouchard will never be able to replicate with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the Oilers lineup.
More than likely Bouchard’s game will always have its defensive shortcomings, though not as much as he has had early into this season. Bouchard should be able to have a positive impact in the top four, or even on a top pair, with a quality partner of a contrasting style. For example, early on it seemed as Darnell Nurse might not be well suited to be on a pairing with Bouchard, as both appreciate a more defensive partner.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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