With the dust settled from the Stanley Cup Final and the Edmonton Oilers’ front office shifting focus to the next season, one of the biggest offseason question marks is the upcoming contract of Evan Bouchard. With his desire to remain an Oiler evident in his year-end interview and the Oilers top brass’ lack of interest in changing their defensive roster, it is safe to say that both sides will be looking favourably to the contract negotiations.
Should the Edmonton Oilers re-sign Evan Bouchard and what will his contract likely look like? Let’s explore below.
Should the Oilers resign Evan Bouchard?
There is absolutely no doubt that Bouchard has been a steadfast presence on the Oilers’ blueline. Often paired with Mattias Ekholm, the combination of Bouchard-Ekholm received high praise as one of the best blueline pairs earlier this season. Sure, everyone is prone to mistakes and Bouchard has his fair share of sloppy plays during the regular season. However, despite being known as an offensively minded defenceman, his defensive game has certainly seemed to grow from playing alongside the likes of Ekholm and Duncan Keith throughout his career. Addition of a past Stanley Cup winner Paul Coffey to the coaching roster has also allowed Bouchard to hone in on improving his game even further.
Bouchard’s offensive game needs no introduction. Since becoming a regular presence on Edmonton’s blue line in 2021–22 season, he has been a top-five point scorer on the team in the three of his four full-time seasons. This includes scoring 82 points in 81 games in the 2023–24 campaign while quarterbacking one of the best power plays in the league. What has been even more impressive to watch is the clutch gene that Bouchard seems to play with. Look no further than his performance against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of this year’s playoff run, featuring a game-tying goal to prevent Edmonton from going down three games to one with less than a minute left in the game.
Bouchard may not be the best all-around defender in the NHL but at 25-years-old, his offensive contributions are among the best in the league and his ceiling remains quite high. Edmonton is most certainly better off having a player of Bouchard’s caliber on its roster, whose game and maturity will only continue to get better.
What should Bouchard’s contact look like?
As it currently stands, only three defenders in the NHL are paid an eight figure salary: Erik Karlsson with an Average Annual Value (or AAV) of $11.5M, along with Drew Doughty and Rasmus Dahlin with an AAV of $11M each. Some of the younger defensive talent in the league, including Cale Makar, Adam Fox, Charles McAvoy and Zach Werenski are all earning between the $9.0M to $10.0M mark. With a growing salary cap, a better offensive upside than Doughty and Karlsson and having a defensive teammate in Darnell Nurse whose AAV is $9.25M, Bouchard can make a very easy case for himself to negotiate a salary north of $10.0M.
The length of the term is certainly something that can be a lot more variable and subjective. The most obvious argument to be made is that the Oilers should do everything in their power to sign Bouchard to an eight-year term. This allows the Oilers to take a player who is yet to hit his peak potential through the likely prime of his career. Of course for Bouchard, this would also allow him to cash in on his biggest pay-day yet.
A case can certainly be made for a shorter term deal, a three to five-year deal which takes Bouchard to his likely prime at age 28 to 30. With a growing salary cap, a prime Bouchard would likely be able to command a long-term contract with an even greater salary which may be more favourable for Bouchard but more cap constraining for the Oilers.
Other considerations for Edmonton
With the Bouchard and (hopefully) Connor McDavid re-signings, the Oilers are looking to be in a bit of a cap pickle for years to come. Between Darnell Nurse, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard, the Oilers could be expected to pay anywhere around $50M in salaries. This means that with close to half of the salary cap going to a total of four players, the Oilers will have to be very smart and creative in how they construct the rest of their roster.
Will Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard be willing to take more cap friendly deals in order to allow the Oilers’ front office to build a stronger contender around them? Both players have certainly earned a pay raise heading into the next stages of their careers. However, knowing what winning means to both of them, don’t be surprised if their next contact terms take us all by a pleasant surprise.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
