Leon Draisaitl has a message for anyone who still is not paying attention to Evan Bouchard: Keep sleeping on him. The Edmonton Oilers are happy to have him either way.
Bouchard has been the story of Edmonton’s early season. Through four games he leads the NHL in goals as a defenceman, sitting at six, and has put up 12 points with a plus-10 rating. The numbers are historically rare for a blueliner at any point in a season, let alone through the first five games.
The last defenceman to score six goals in his team’s first four games was Harry Cameron in 1917–18, the opening year of the NHL’s existence. No defenceman in league history had posted 10 or more points and a plus-10 rating through four games before Bouchard did it this past week.
Draisaitl takes a subtle dig at Bouchard’s doubters
Draisaitl was asked after the 5–2 win over Anaheim on Wednesday what Evan Bouchard does to make the players around him better. His answer doubled as a quiet dig at the people who still have not fully bought in.
“He just makes the right play nearly every time,” Draisaitl said. “His poise with the puck is just second to none. We’ve talked about him a lot over the last little bit, and it’s pretty funny how he’s viewed around the league, in my eyes. But people can continue to see it that way, and we’ll just gladly have him on the ice.”
Head Coach Mike Babcock did not hold back either. The Oilers coach came into the season not having coached Bouchard before and said after the Ducks game that what he has seen up close has surprised even him.
“I didn’t know he was this good, this talented, saw this many plays, moved the puck as good as he does,” Babcock said.
Babcock laughs off the Lidstrom comparison
He pointed out quickly that the praise is not the full picture. Babcock said he has been pushing Bouchard to find another level and that the defenceman has the tools to get there.
“I’ve talked a lot to Bouch about it,” Babcock said. “Bouch can be way better. He’s got a growth opportunity here. There’s no question he should be in the running for the Norris every year. He’s that good. We’ve just got to get him to be a little more competitive defensively, and he’s already working towards that, and then he’ll be right at the front of that group.”
Babcock was then asked whether anything from his years coaching Nicklas Lidstrom in Detroit could apply to Bouchard. He acknowledged that Lidstrom won seven Norris Trophies and did everything at the position about as close to perfectly as anyone ever has, then stepped back from the comparison with a laugh.
“I don’t think we want to go there,” Babcock said. “I think what we want to do, though, is say Bouch has an opportunity. He’s an elite player already, way better than people think.”
Evan Bouchard has a chip on his shoulder
Last season Bouchard led all NHL defencemen in points with 95, yet was left off Team Canada’s Olympic roster and did not receive a Norris Trophy finalist nomination. There is a sense within the Edmonton room that those oversights have not gone unnoticed by the player himself, though nobody has said so directly.
Bouchard had two goals and an assist in Wednesday’s win over the Ducks, including the game-winner. The performance gave him the outright lead in goals among all NHL defencemen through the first four games of the season and extended what has become one of the most talked-about earlyseason runs by a blueliner in recent memory.
The numbers through four games suggest a man playing with something to prove.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
