The talk of the National Hockey League is almost always found on the Edmonton Oilers roster. Sometimes it’s Connor McDavid in the limelight; sometimes it’s Leon Draisaitl. Occasionally, it may even be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, or Vasily Podkolzin. In less desirable moments, there will be discourse about the team’s defence and goaltending, or lack thereof.
Right now it’s Evan Bouchard’s world, for positive reasons, that the NHL is just simply living in. Bouchard currently sits at 12 points in five games, one back of McDavid for not only the team lead, but league lead. Even more nuts is that Bouchard is in a four-way tie for the Rocket Richard Trophy currently, as a defenceman. That’s the goal-scoring crown, and yes, Bouchard’s six tallies match the pole position right now.
With this kind of a hot start, it’s no longer a question of whether or not he’ll get votes for the Norris Trophy as best defenceman. It’s where he’ll finish in balloting. So we turned it over to you, the fans, to figure out how much Bouchard slander has been exorcised. Where will this man finish on the top defencemen charts?
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Even among a fanbase that rarely agrees, Bouchard is the Norris fave
For as many Bouchard fans as there are in the Oilers fanbase, there’s long been his fair share of detractors. The outside media aren’t the only ones who groan at every rough Bouchard giveaway, such as this one. No, even we here in Edmonton will expect him to not only be prime Paul Coffey, but also prime Kevin Lowe.
So far though, not only is Bouchard scoring at will, but he’s also dominating goal shares and scoring chances. By JFresh’s updated count yesterday, the Oilers lead on the scoreboard by a landslide in Bouchard’s even-strength minutes so far. And as such, the fans who used to be skeptics are starting to become believers.
Thanks to that development, Bouchard wins a majority of Oilers fan votes in his campaign for the Norris. Over 56% think he’ll claim that hardware this year. With a fan base like this one, that’s not an easy feat to achieve. But that just goes to show you how rockstar this season is so far for Evan.
There’s not much middle ground: either he wins, or falls well short
Interestingly, Oilers fans didn’t crowd the three most favourable options in this poll. There was an option to have Bouchard be a Norris finalist, and land second or third place by not winning. Yet, just 12.5% of you think he’s gonna land there.
Twice as many voters, however, do see a fourth or fifth place finish, which would honestly be the biggest metaphorical slap in the face. That would mean that the voters legitimately saw his season as stellar, but are still handcuffed by “past Bouchard” narratives. Rehabilitation is possible, and should be acknowledged when it successfully happens to a person.
Either way, this seems to indicate that it’s truly all or nothing for the Oilers’ main d-man. Either he wins the whole (bleepin’) thing, or is doomed to be looked at sideways forever. Thank Gord the NHL.com writers aren’t the ones who ultimately determine that outcome.
At the very least, a snub seems nigh impossible now
Given the social media uproar when that top defencemen ranking was released last week, one thing seems certain. And this was acknowledged by the voters in this SC poll. Bouchard is finally not going to be snubbed.
Just 6.3% of respondents see Bouchard falling any lower than fifth place, which if it happened, would be a crime against hockey. Even if Bouchard scales back his offence by a full point per game the rest of the way, he’d comfortably post just the second 100-point defenceman season since 1992–93. And if he maintains or enhances his current defensive pace? It would be mindless to claim he’s not one of the five best defencemen in the NHL.
Bouchard finishing in sixth place, or worse, would be grounds to revamp the entire Norris award. Truthfully, he should be the unquestioned champion if he builds on his scorching start to the season. But no matter what, this man’s due for his flowers. Let’s make sure he gets them this time.
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