Player Discussion Evan Bouchard

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Trafalgar Sadge Law

Registered User
Nov 8, 2007
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Don't see an open player discussion thread so I'll start one myself. I know he can be frustrating to watch sometimes with his defensive brainfarts but he is absolutely killing it offensively in his rookie season. This is a player worth the patience and worth investing in. He's valuable even if the defense never comes along and if he can become even league average defensively he's gonna be a force.

 
Trade him while he still has value.

They’ll lose any trade involving him. And watch him go and be John Carlson with whatever team has the patience to work through the expected issues with defending that plague almost all rookie D.

Kind of odd coming from a poster who’s a huge fan of Pulju, who is now a good player but had a very very rough start to his career (not all his fault but that doesn’t matter, it’s also not all Bouchard’s fault that he’s learning on the job).
 
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They’ll lose any trade involving him. And watch him go and be John Carlson with whatever team has the patience to work through the expected issues with defending that plague almost all rookie D.

Kind of odd coming from a poster who’s a huge fan of Pulju, who is now a good player but had a very very rough start to his career (not all his fault but that doesn’t matter, it’s also not all Bouchard’s fault that he’s learning on the job).
I really hope he's a quick learner, because he's absolutely lost on our end of the ice. If he learns how to play better I'll change my opinion, unlike Pulju bashers do.
 
This kid is actually the highest scoring rookie defenceman in Oilers history.

Risto Siltanen was sitting first with 35 points.
While technically this is correct, Paul Coffey had 250pts by the time he was Bouchards age and had 32 as an 18yr old. The huge advantage of course that todays young, and *rookie* D have is having several years to incubate before getting here, and Bouch also had a whole season last year to take a close look around the NHL and what its like.

Bouchard also played NHL games in two previous seasons to this one.
 
While technically this is correct, Paul Coffey had 250pts by the time he was Bouchards age and had 32 as an 18yr old. The huge advantage of course that todays young, and *rookie* D have is having several years to incubate before getting here, and Bouch also had a whole season last year to take a close look around the NHL and what its like.

Bouchard also played NHL games in two previous seasons to this one.
No, its technically incorrect because Bouchard didn't really have a rookie season according to NHL rules.

This is his rookie season though. No question about that if we are looking at things in a practical manner.

I don't think its fair to compare him to Coffey who is top ten all time at the position. Compared to other Oilers rookie d-men however, Bouchard's rookie year is flying high.
 
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Future looks promising with him. Obviously there's some absolute stud young D men in the league these days, but no reason to think that he won't develop into a top 4 or even top pairing D.
 
Still have a lot to work on but no way we should give up on him any time soon. Right shot defenseman with scoring ability, doesn’t grow on trees.

At worst, if he doesn’t peak he will still be a serviceable #4/5 defenseman on our roster
 
As advertised, strong offensive instinct with an elite shot and strong distributor abilities. Defensively, a work in progress to identify danger and react quickly to it in own zone play. Low panic threshold instincts works well in o-zone play but less so in defending. Transitioning to NHL is most difficult for defenseman. Like about 90% of young d-men, it's going to take game experience, reps and coaching support to grow into a full baked strong two way defenseman. Continue to work on foot speed.

Bouchard's got all the tools. Mostly this is likely moreso about managing fan expectation thinking prospect d-men can skip steps in their growth and development with this hella hard position. Raw tools don't preclude the significant mental aspect of growth and development required through game experience and reps against elite NHL competition. Bouchard's a smart person with solid hockey IQ and work ethic to improve. He'll get there but it takes time. Will be worth the wait.
 
I remember how brutal Coffey was his first season,wanted him gone so I have time for Bouchard.
 

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