Speculation: Evan Bouchard asking $11M AAV on his next deal

[McDrailers]

ya Dahlin is a great player but Bouchard outscored him at every strength, was on the ice for less GA and is a proven ELITE playoff performer, unlike Dahlin
he's getting that kind of money

Love Bouch but if you swap him and Dahlin one player gets much worse and the other stays the same skill wise. (hint, its not Bouch).

On the topic of signing Bouchard for 11 mill. If he puts up 80-90 points with a deep playoff run? Sure. I just don’t think you panic sign this. Wait until the TDL IMO.

 

[Seras]

His floor is likely 10 with those numbers

 

[TGWL]

What are you talking about? How can he get it now? For starters, he’s still signed for another year. Then we can revisit his ask next off-season and, if it’s still 11 mil and we don’t see him holding that value, then we go to arbitration where he can point to Dahlin (who most would agree is better than Bouch) and we can point to Makar, Heiskanen and Hughes. Unless a bunch of other Dmen sign for 10+ mil in that time, I would have to think an arbitrator sides with the 8-9 mil range.

I think most players walk away from arbitration hearings wishing they hadn’t gone that route (regardless of the decision) because of the nasty nature of the process. I think 2yrs x 8 is a fair bridge to get to UFA status. Then he can see his worth on the open market.

Well, clearly we're talking about his contract demands coming up, no? Hence "Evan Bouchard asking for 11m aav on his next deal."

How are you going to post "I would just offer him 2 yrs x 8 per. Tell him he’s leaving a little on the table for the opportunity to have earliest available UFA status." and then ask "How can he get it now?" Ugh, the same way he can sign the 2x8... He's not signed for another year. He's signed for this year which means a contract can be signed.

"The evidence that is allowed to be presented during these hearings included a player's performance/statistics, injury history, length of service, leadership qualities and contribution to the team's results." Sorry, but Dahlin is better than me but look at what he's making is not a valid arbitration argument.

The point was players don't really need UFA anymore to get their money. Maybe arbitration favors the lower side of 9. But that wasn't really the point. Acting like you're doing a player a favor to get to UFA faster and test the market doesn't really work.

 

[theVladiator]

11Mx8 seems very reasonable. If comparable is Dahlin, who got 11M a year ago, the main variable for NHL salary - scoring - Bouchard is a bit ahead. Bouchard is also playoff tested. Could have even asked for something like 11.5M.

 

[ManofSteel55]

You will see 4th liners and bottom pairing D point to nurse contract in future when they want to re-sign with oilers

Just like they did this summer, huh.

 

[Rafafouille]

No surprise there, he's definitely worth 10m in this current cap world so him starting at 11 is reasonable.

 

[Drumman44]

He’s got the perfect GM to foolishly give away money now too

 

[izlez]

Maybe this has been addressed, but why are we treating a rumor from "nhlheadlines_" via the "2 mutts podcast" like it is worth discussing?

 

[Rubi]

Another Oiler willing to leave money on the table so the team can afford to pay for those quality depth players that every Stanley Cup team has.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I like Bouchard, he can play on my team any day of the week but I would say my ceiling for him is probably like 8M

8x8 - he's not good enough defensively to push for more than that.

 

[CupofOil]

Trade him he aint worth that.


Still way too high for a one dimensional d man. They can go get a great pp qb that cant play against the other teams best players for half that.

Seriously, I wonder if some people watch Evan Bouchard play.

You're acting like he's a PP specialist. He drives offense at an elite level at even strength too and has improved defensively to the point that he's what I would say average defensively which for lots of high end offensive dmen is the case. Whether or not one thinks a big part of that is due to Ekholm (and btw, Ekholm has played the best hockey of his career alongside Bouchard as well) is entirely subjective but the reality is that he's one half of arguably the best pairing in the NHL last season or at least one of the best and he's still developing at 24 so he's going to get paid accordingly.

For those who say he is bad defensively, I'd like to see some metrics that illustrate this because it's BS.

 

[CupofOil]

Two of them are Norris trophy D-man the other is a two way stud

I will make a list of Dman better than Bouchard

Makar
Hughes
Josi
Fox
Mcavoy
Heiskanen
Slavin
Dobson
Morrisey

I consider all of these better than Bouchard, Makar, Josi and Hughes would all put up just as much if not better numbers on that Oilers PP

Bouchard had 10 goals, 47 points at even strength.
Makar had 13 goals, 47 points at even strength
Hughes had 12 goals, 54 points at even strength

Again, Bouchard is NOT a PP specialist.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Hell get 10. Cap will be 100 in 2 years. Doesnt matter. You can still fill out a great team with 60 mill

You're dreaming if you think the cap is raising 13.0 in two years.

 

[onetweasy]

We have made it Oiler fans!

Rival fans are more locked into our players contract negotiations than we are.

Don't worry Flames fans, you wont have to worry about cap hits or the cap ceiling for some time....because your team is going to be terrible.

 

[Soundwave]

The cap is likely to rise so fast in the next few years now that the COVID deficet has been paid off (faster than expected to boot).

Salary cap to rise to 'just under $93 million' for 25-26 season

In early June, we officially learned that the salary cap will rise from $83.5 million to $88 million for the 2024-2025 season. That’s already quite an increase.

www.yardbarker.com

Friedman is saying that cap could be just under $93 million by next season, and then I would expect an even larger increase due to the new TV deal coming from Canada (so $98 million?).

The cap is artificially low, it should be near $100 million even as is if it wasn't for COVID, it will be catching up over the next 4-5 years by a lot.

We have made it Oiler fans!

Rival fans are more locked into our players contract negotiations than we are.

Don't worry Flames fans, you wont have to worry about cap hits or the cap ceiling for some time....because your team is going to be terrible.

They may as well start praying for another wundervirus from China, because really the cap rises will more than cover McDavid and Bouchard's raises naturally. You have Evander Kane's 5 million coming off the cap too. Draisaitl is already priced in (Brown overage + Neal buy out coming off the books basically pays for Draisiatl's entire raise).

 

[onetweasy]

McDavid and Draisaitl are the only important ones to lock in long term, I'd bridge Bouchard for 2-3 years in a lower cap range. He's still young and then can get himself a longer 8 year deal after that one.

Yes, you will possibly end up paying more in the long run, but the 2-3 years buys a significant window and it also moves Nurse from an ironclad NMC to a NTC list he has to submit so he becomes a possibility to move out at that point and his actual salary drops to only 7 mill a year.

Plus you will have a cap that is probably over $100 million by then thanks to the new TV deal.

I wouldn't be in any hurry to lock in to a 8 year deal now just because.

Yeah, call up Bouchard's agent and tell him your looking for a 2 year deal.........ask him if he wants league min while we are at it as well.

You're dreaming if you think the cap is raising 13.0 in two years.

The rumors of 2 expansion teams, new TV deal in 2026. It could easily be at $100M by 2026-27.

 

[Soundwave]

Yeah, call up Bouchard's agent and tell him your looking for a 2 year deal.........ask him if he wants league min while we are at it as well.



The rumors of 2 expansion teams, new TV deal in 2026. It could easily be at $100M by 2026-27.

The Oilers aren't obligated to offer an 8 year deal, they can offer a bridge, he's still a young player with plenty of time before age 28/29 where he can sign a full 8 year deal. That's the same age that players like Makar and Hughes are going to be signing their 8 year deals at, so not sure why he should be put into a different category.

That said if they can compromise at say 10-10.5 x 8, given how the cap is increasing, maybe the Oilers should just go ahead and do it. Moving Kane off the cap eventually already pays for a massive chunk of Bouchard's raise (that gets you from 3.9 up to 9 mill) even without factoring in significant cap increases.

 

[Canovin]

The last time we gave a Dman a big payday, it backfire at us. I would prefer Bouchard take 9M max

 

[centipede2233]

I think Bouchard is more valuable than dahlin because Bouchard is a RD. RD are a premium. If hronek got 7.5 mil per, Bouchard getting 10mil as a RD isn’t as outrageous as you think.

 

[Soundwave]

I think Bouchard is more valuable than dahlin because Bouchard is a RD. RD are a premium. If hronek got 7.5 mil per, Bouchard getting 10mil as a RD isn’t as outrageous as you think.

If he's willing to do 10x8, I'd probably take that deal on the Oilers side.

 

[Ulysses31]

is he better thsn seider? absurd ask

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

is he better thsn seider? absurd ask

yes

 

[ManofSteel55]

Seriously, I wonder if some people watch Evan Bouchard play.

You're acting like he's a PP specialist. He drives offense at an elite level at even strength too and has improved defensively to the point that he's what I would say average defensively which for lots of high end offensive dmen is the case. Whether or not one thinks a big part of that is due to Ekholm (and btw, Ekholm has played the best hockey of his career alongside Bouchard as well) is entirely subjective but the reality is that he's one half of arguably the best pairing in the NHL last season or at least one of the best and he's still developing at 24 so he's going to get paid accordingly.

For those who say he is bad defensively, I'd like to see some metrics that illustrate this because it's BS.

I don't believe those metrics exist. Bouchard is an offense-first player, but his defensive game has grown by leaps and bounds. Anyone suggesting he is a liability defensively has lost the plot, or is hanging on to old and outdated narratives. The Oilers had one of the best defensive teams in the league last year after their disastrous start, they couldn't have done that with a group of defensemen who had, according to HF standards, only one good defensive defenseman in Ekholm. If Bouchard sucks defensively, Nurse sucks, Ceci sucked, etc, the Oilers wouldn't have been so good defensively last year, and wouldn't have been able to go through to the finals.

 

[bert]

Seriously, I wonder if some people watch Evan Bouchard play.

You're acting like he's a PP specialist. He drives offense at an elite level at even strength too and has improved defensively to the point that he's what I would say average defensively which for lots of high end offensive dmen is the case. Whether or not one thinks a big part of that is due to Ekholm (and btw, Ekholm has played the best hockey of his career alongside Bouchard as well) is entirely subjective but the reality is that he's one half of arguably the best pairing in the NHL last season or at least one of the best and he's still developing at 24 so he's going to get paid accordingly.

For those who say he is bad defensively, I'd like to see some metrics that illustrate this because it's BS.

I watched their entire run and tons of other games they are literally always on t.v. He is not a matchup or shut down d man that excels in all situations. If he did he would be worth that money. Those are the players that get paid that much. He is a great offensive D man in any other system he doesnt score as much. He isnt a top 3 d man in hockey. Great player but thats way too much money. He isnt bad defensively but he certainly isnt good either. Can he drive the play without the two best players in the league on his team? I dont think he does. He is the perfect compliment but if you over pay him too much they will never win. I dont know why people get so offended by this either.

 

[NailsHoglander]

Reminds me of the Sedin era Canucks. Inflating mediocre players stats and ego's. Need to move on from players that can't recognize that.