Player Discussion Evan Bouchard

[LTIR]

Just saw this. Wow. So you think Kulak snipes like him or shoots like him?

Make no mistake, he is piling up points on that PP cuz he makes good decisions with the puck and his shot is too hot to handle for rebounds. You think him leading his team in points in the OHL has no effect his current success?

Sorry, but Tyson Barrie wouldn't be leading the playoffs in D points simply cuz he played on the pp

No way to know for sure. Barrie could very well be leading playoffs D in point if he was still an Oiler.

The thing is, Bouchard was already solid before Ekholm. The points came on the scoresheet around the same time. Bouchard had 12 goals and 43 points last year, more than this year. He also had 9 points in 16 playoff games. He wasnt as scrub.

Ekholm is a good D, but by no means a Pronger who turns scrubs into good players.

Maybe the solution is just build a proper D core with good D and give Bouchard a good partner?

This is also questionable. One can argue that Bouchard is still not solid defensively even with Ekholm on the team.
He isn't Desharnais bad but I wouldn't consider Bouchard good defensively. There is a lot of room for improvement on that side. Offensively we can't ask for more..

No way he is getting more than 6M per his next deal.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The rough first half of the year will keep his contract from being astronomical. But at the same time, I can’t see him signing a long term deal at any discount. He’s already producing like a monster (though it’s nearly exclusively on the PP), even there are still has warts in this game.


They’ll pay for it in a few years, but a 3 year bridge to the end of Ekholm’s contract would fit well. Dobson’s deal makes a ton of since as a comparable, though these playoffs will have Bouchard’s cap hit far closer to RNH/Hyman/Kane’s than 4mil.

 

[AM]

Just saw this. Wow. So you think Kulak snipes like him or shoots like him?

Make no mistake, he is piling up points on that PP cuz he makes good decisions with the puck and his shot is too hot to handle for rebounds. You think him leading his team in points in the OHL has no effect his current success?

Sorry, but Tyson Barrie wouldn't be leading the playoffs in D points simply cuz he played on the pp

That’s not the issue. The issue is that there is a salary cap and the team has to be under it to play. If he wants to continue playing on the team in the same capacity he has to accept a contract that allows it.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

That’s not the issue. The issue is that there is a salary cap and the team has to be under it to play. If he wants to continue playing on the team in the same capacity he has to accept a contract that allows it.

Why exactly does the defenseman with 14 points in 8 games need to be the one accepting a lowball contract? You convince Campbell to LTIRetire or get rid of Yamamoto/Foegele/Kulak to make it work and if for whatever reason that's still not enough, you get rid of someone else. You even send players like RNH/Kane packing before you trade Bouchard.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Our defence was freaking incredible last game. Not just by Oilers standards. Not by league standards either. But by must win playoff game standards. Just as impressive as the offence. If Nurse plays like that he is worth his contract. If you weren't proud to see Nurse elevate his game to an elite level the other evening... I don't know what to say. He was the best defender on either team.

Let the trolls troll about Bouchard's upcoming contract. If we can't afford him we will get an awesome return (who wouldn't mind a shitload of draft picks that could be turned into deadline acquisitions if the opportunity arises) and have the team be cap compliant enough to add another significant piece on top of the return.

I don't think Bouchard will be hardballing his way off of his NHL dream scenario, this includes signing an offer sheet which never happens with the Oilers. Everyone knows I'm referring to the pp situation and the closeness within the organization.

Only club in the league where players express their emotions with tears when they leave. Players like Smyth, Gretzky and Messier. Do you think Katz is going to pull a Pocklington and liquidate his team for cash? Or Holland will move a key player over 100k like Lowe and his notorious ego?

Bouch may not sign a max term deal but I doubt it's a bridge. I'm predicting, as I have all along, a six year deal at a reasonable rate.

 

[AM]

Why exactly does the defenseman with 14 points in 8 games need to be the one accepting a lowball contract? You convince Campbell to LTIRetire or get rid of Yamamoto/Foegele/Kulak to make it work and if for whatever reason that's still not enough, you get rid of someone else. You even send players like RNH/Kane packing before you trade Bouchard.

Does he want to play with a good team or get “paid what he’s owed”.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Does he want to play with a good team or get “paid what he’s owed”.

Why should he have to take a deal to play with a good team when you have players like yamanoshow getting 3m.

 

[harpoon]

Why should he have to take a deal to play with a good team when you have players like yamanoshow getting 3m.

Cause teams have a salary cap and GMs don’t get ‘do overs’ on contracts they’d like to take back?

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Cause teams have a salary cap and GMs don’t get ‘do overs’ on contracts they’d like to take back?

That's not Bouchards problem.

 

[harpoon]

That's not Bouchards problem.

Not his fault, but it is his problem. Oilers simply won’t have the cap to sign all the players they will want to sign at the dollar amount those players will be asking for. That’s reality. Like others have said, he either takes a shorter term deal at somewhat less than he probably ‘deserves’ (deferring his big deal until the Oilers finish straightening out their cap problems), or he explores other options. Hope he stays, but it’s a business so I wouldn’t blame him either way.

 

[OfCorsiDid]

Not his fault, but it is his problem. Oilers simply won’t have the cap to sign all the players they will want to sign at the dollar amount those players will be asking for. That’s reality. Like others have said, he either takes a shorter term deal at somewhat less than he probably ‘deserves’ (deferring his big deal until the Oilers finish straightening out their cap problems), or he explores other options. Hope he stays, but it’s a business so I wouldn’t blame him either way.

I think he likely takes a bridge deal around 5 million AAV. It walks him to UFA and guarantees him all PP1 time with McDavid and Draisaitl until their deals expire. Becoming a UFA at 26 with that amount of points would be an attractive idea for him.

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

The rough first half of the year will keep his contract from being astronomical. But at the same time, I can’t see him signing a long term deal at any discount. He’s already producing like a monster (though it’s nearly exclusively on the PP), even there are still has warts in this game.


They’ll pay for it in a few years, but a 3 year bridge to the end of Ekholm’s contract would fit well. Dobson’s deal makes a ton of since as a comparable, though these playoffs will have Bouchard’s cap hit far closer to RNH/Hyman/Kane’s than 4mil.

In a logical world I agree. This is the sane take and it probably happens


But most players in the NHL would take 2 million less to play on the Oilers PP.


There is a decent chance Bouchard takes a friendly deal through the cup window even though it doesn't make sense.

 

[McFlyingV]

I think he likely takes a bridge deal around 5 million AAV. It walks him to UFA and guarantees him all PP1 time with McDavid and Draisaitl until their deals expire. Becoming a UFA at 26 with that amount of points would be an attractive idea for him.

Don't think he'd be a UFA. He only has 3 years of pro hockey with 2 slide years. UFA status is 7 seasons or age 27.

 

[Garrison]

Bouchard knows that the only reason he scores that much is because he gets the most open lanes of any dmen on any pp.

I think a contract similar to Barrie's would be fitting.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Yup.

Oiler fans are more high on Bouchard than anyone else. He still probably doesn't have significant trade value.

I doubt the Islanders would trade Dobson for him.

Everyone in the entire league is completely wary of what his production would drop to without our PP and personnel he gets to play with (and rightfully so).

 

[AM]

Why should he have to take a deal to play with a good team when you have players like yamanoshow getting 3m.

Currently Yamamoto is on a show me contract. It’s funny you should bring him up, Yamamoto was on the best line in hockey a few years ago. So thanks for the accurate comparable. There is always the pump and dump option for the oilers.

 

[AM]

I think he likely takes a bridge deal around 5 million AAV. It walks him to UFA and guarantees him all PP1 time with McDavid and Draisaitl until their deals expire. Becoming a UFA at 26 with that amount of points would be an attractive idea for him.

Why would the oilers do that? Pp1 is a competitive position you earn it. Also, the goal isn’t to get Bouchard to ufa so he can get paid. It’s to build a strong oilers team. If he doesn’t take a long term good deal, I would deal him.

 

[CupofOil]

Yup.

Oiler fans are more high on Bouchard than anyone else. He still probably doesn't have significant trade value.

I doubt the Islanders would trade Dobson for him.

Everyone in the entire league is completely wary of what his production would drop to without our PP and personnel he gets to play with (and rightfully so).

With all due respect, you're not watching Bouchard closely enough if you think he's just a PP merchant. He drives offense at a really high level at even strength and his defense has improved significantly since the Ekholm acquisition. Yes, Ekholm has something to do with that but this is a guy that is blossoming into a really good overall Dman.

I would wager that he has very significant trade value should the Oilers be dumb enough to trade him. He has to prove that he can do this for a few more years before he establishes himself but the arrows are pointing way up.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Not his fault, but it is his problem. Oilers simply won’t have the cap to sign all the players they will want to sign at the dollar amount those players will be asking for. That’s reality. Like others have said, he either takes a shorter term deal at somewhat less than he probably ‘deserves’ (deferring his big deal until the Oilers finish straightening out their cap problems), or he explores other options. Hope he stays, but it’s a business so I wouldn’t blame him either way.

Then why don't we do some "business decisions" and replace vastly inferior, overpaid players like Yamamoto/Foegele/Kulak with league minimum players, and keep our homegrown stud offensive dynamo right handed PMD?

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

With all due respect, you're not watching Bouchard closely enough if you think he's just a PP merchant. He drives offense at a really high level at even strength and his defense has improved significantly since the Ekholm acquisition. Yes, Ekholm has something to do with that but this is a guy that is blossoming into a really good overall Dman.

I would wager that he has very significant trade value should the Oilers be dumb enough to trade him. He has to prove that he can do this for a few more years before he establishes himself but the arrows are pointing way up.

Have you seen some of the genniuses around the league, of course, despite his just great level of play, they assume his production is purely from the PP. Hell, many around it think Draisaitl is partial that, despite years of success.

The Oilers aren't going to trade him though, they'll bridge him, and then give him a massive raise after those 2 years.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Why exactly does the defenseman with 14 points in 8 games need to be the one accepting a lowball contract? You convince Campbell to LTIRetire or get rid of Yamamoto/Foegele/Kulak to make it work and if for whatever reason that's still not enough, you get rid of someone else. You even send players like RNH/Kane packing before you trade Bouchard.

How much would you pay Booch and what kind of term? Keeping in mind he's not that good defensively and nearly all his pts are coming on a greatest ever all world PP.

I like the player, and feel like he's coming on but a lot of what he's producing here comes on a PP that is basically undefendable. Teams have to cheat to McDrai, then other guys open. Theres not another plum situation in the world like this. Why do people figure Booch would want to leave.

As others have suggested he at least does the Barrie home town discount. Just to be here. Where else would a player be seeing this kind of service? Nowhere.

 

[Fourier]

Then why don't we do some "business decisions" and replace vastly inferior, overpaid players like Yamamoto/Foegele/Kulak with league minimum players, and keep our homegrown stud offensive dynamo right handed PMD?

All three of these guys should be moved before Bouchard. But it is still not clear that a bridge is not the right answer, and I am a guy who tends to always favour longer deals.

I f they give him too much now there is a danger than it will result in a significant step back next year in the quality of the depth this team now has. You can easily move one of those guys, two is probably ok, but all three and you may not have enough internal pieces to fill the void if you give Bouchard a big contract since it would probably also mean moving on from Bjugstad and Janmark. So now you are looking at UFA's and that is always a crap shoot.

A lot will depend on the cap next but if it is at say $85M I think the Oilers could give him a $5M bridge and move one of Yamamoto or Foegele and be ok. If they also move Kulak they would be able to bring back pretty much everyone else, add Holloway and maybe a guy like Lavoie.

 

[Donner]

Anybody who thinks Bouchard is just a PP specialist isn't watching him

Even strength this guy is elite at moving the puck/generating chances and defensively, he is our best D at defending the rush.

His only weakness (if you want to call it that) is around the net and not being quite strong enough currently. But he will be in short order, players get stronger as they get older

He does suffer from a fans syndrome of associating not physical play with not a good defensive player. The underlying numbers show him to be fairly decent defensively (really good at defending the rush, weaker deeper in the D zone). But he is no defensive liability

Bouchard right now is what we paid Darnell Nurse to be. Oddly enough, Nurse in his contract year was the one with the inflated stats (sky high shooting %, benefitting from 97) and having weaker underlying numbers everywhere else. Bouchard is not in this boat, he is driving play and playing at a very high level

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

How much would you pay Booch and what kind of term? Keeping in mind he's not that good defensively and nearly all his pts are coming on a greatest ever all world PP.

I like the player, and feel like he's coming on but a lot of what he's producing here comes on a PP that is basically undefendable. Teams have to cheat to McDrai, then other guys open. Theres not another plum situation in the world like this. Why do people figure Booch would want to leave.

As others have suggested he at least does the Barrie home town discount. Just to be here. Where else would a player be seeing this kind of service? Nowhere.

I would probably go up to somewhere in the 7-8 million range for Bouchard if an 8 year deal. Sure he benefits from the room guys like McDavid/Draisaitl afford him, nobody else can replicate THIS level of dominance in our system for the past few decades. He just simply has offensive tools that no Oilers dman has had since I've been old enough to watch hockey. The powerplay is the reason he's scoring at Bobby Orr levels but even last season when he had very little power play time, he still put up 9 points in 16 playoff games and was nearly half an even strength point per game both regular season and playoffs. As for the "Barrie hometown discount" it would be closer to like 6 million due to him being a vastly superior player to Barrie.

All three of these guys should be moved before Bouchard. But it is still not clear that a bridge is not the right answer, and I am a guy who tends to always favour longer deals.

I f they give him too much now there is a danger than it will result in a significant step back next year in the quality of the depth this team now has. You can easily move one of those guys, two is probably ok, but all three and you may not have enough internal pieces to fill the void if you give Bouchard a big contract since it would probably also mean moving on from Bjugstad and Janmark. So now you are looking at UFA's and that is always a crap shoot.

A lot will depend on the cap next but if it is at say $85M I think the Oilers could give him a $5M bridge and move one of Yamamoto or Foegele and be ok. If they also move Kulak they would be able to bring back pretty much everyone else, add Holloway and maybe a guy like Lavoie.

Arguing bridge vs long term is a different story. Personally I'm strongly in favour of long-term but can see some benefits with a bridge (as long as it's 3 years, none of that double bridging or bridging to UFA garbage we did with Nurse). I also don't think it necessarily has to be internal pieces to replace a Foegele/Yamamoto/Janmark. Bring up 1 or 2 of Holloway/Lavoie/Bourgault, then go bargain hunting for some reclamation projects and hope to grab ourselves another Kostin. Teams throw away high pedigree players who haven't put it together all the time and I can totally see a player like Denis Gurianov or Max Comtois shaking loose.

However the main issue I have is that I'm reading people literally suggesting to trade the defenseman who has 14 points in 8 playoff games b/c they still can't get over Tyson Barrie of all players. Mind boggling.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I would probably go up to somewhere in the 7-8 million range for Bouchard if an 8 year deal. Sure he benefits from the room guys like McDavid/Draisaitl afford him, nobody else can replicate THIS level of dominance in our system for the past few decades. He just simply has offensive tools that no Oilers dman has had since I've been old enough to watch hockey. The powerplay is the reason he's scoring at Bobby Orr levels but even last season when he had very little power play time, he still put up 9 points in 16 playoff games and was nearly half an even strength point per game both regular season and playoffs. As for the "Barrie hometown discount" it would be closer to like 6 million due to him being a vastly superior player to Barrie.

We can't do that pay and its not commensurate. Needs to be around 5-6 and even bridge to do that. Beyond McDrai window nothing really matters. At this point in our compete now window we get him at what we can afford to pay and even if limited term.