Player Discussion Evan Bouchard

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

Yes, but then its only like $100K for the next 4 years so it's better to trade him with a significant retention.

Obviously a trade would be the best option, but doesn't he have a NMC?

With the cap going up and our small window to win, maybe a buy out is not a bad idea if say Marner agreed to come here.

 

[Little Fury]

 

[Forgot About Drai]

After defending him all year, I was worn down, ready to admit that I was wrong on this guy.

Nah - he is a f***ing beast. Does he have his warts? No doubt - but he is the third most talented and important player on this team.

 

[Draiskull]

After defending him all year, I was worn down, ready to admit that I was wrong on this guy.

Nah - he is a f***ing beast. Does he have his warts? No doubt - but he is the third most talented and important player on this team.

After Draisaitl and Perry.

 

[JustNapamIt]

Nurse absolutely was no in way. He was just better than this, but that like be how Stu looks good against non playoff teams.

Nurse is a millstone, they have to move from him, but there are teams that will tank for McKenna who might take him.

Watching helps. But so does not being blind biased in your dislike of a player, given the quality of the last para.. Im not hopeful for you in either

 

[oobga]

Watching helps. But so does not being blind biased in your dislike of a player, given the quality of the last para.. Im not hopeful for you in either

Being our best regular season D this season is a pretty low bar though, this was a pretty mediocre year across the board for our D, including Ekholm even before he was injured. Nurse was also sheltered from top players more, Bouch was still mainly fed the top competition all season.

Above average regular season, performing like a good 4-5M stay home D aside, this is when we need Nurse to step up and make a difference. For the 3rd playoffs in a row, dude looks clueless. He hasn't looked competent in the playoffs since he had a busted hip that forced him to stay on the defensive. Could probably get 3 Dmen at the cost of his caphit that all put up the same quality play or better.

 

[JustNapamIt]

Being our best regular season D this season is a pretty low bar though, this was a pretty mediocre year across the board for our D, including Ekholm even before he was injured. Nurse was also sheltered from top players more, Bouch was still mainly fed the top competition all season.

Above average regular season, performing like a good 4-5M stay home D aside, this is when we need Nurse to step up and make a difference. For the 3rd playoffs in a row, dude looks clueless. He hasn't looked competent in the playoffs since he had a busted hip that forced him to stay on the defensive. Could probably get 3 Dmen at the cost of his caphit that all put up the same quality play or better.

Nurse & Bouchard is a terrible pairing. Bouchard is the worst dman in the league defensively when he's not with Ekholm.
Bouchard was directly responsible for 3 goals against yesterday, & got 2 primary GA assists in game 1. Blaming Nurse for any of that is blindly idiotic.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Monday morning reminder. The resident, self proclaimed "Bouchard expert" has been telling us he's nothing more than an AHL player.

Oh wait... did I post this pre or post good game? Apparently there are rules to posting about him. It's so confusing.

 

[Fishy McScales]

Nurse & Bouchard is a terrible pairing. Bouchard is the worst dman in the league defensively when he's not with Ekholm.
Bouchard was directly responsible for 3 goals against yesterday, & got 2 primary GA assists in game 1. Blaming Nurse for any of that is blindly idiotic.

Maybe, but as one poster demonstrated, Nurse is even worse while away from Bouchard while Bouchard is way better away from Nurse.

 

[ahmedou]

 

[Slats432]

Bouchard is exactly what he is...The dumbest of giveaways and the lack of intensity on defense with virtuoso passing, incredible offensive acumen and one of the hardest and most accurate shots in history. An enigma wrapped in a conundrum wrapped in a riddle.

 

[Slats432]

Probably $9.75M x 8.

 

[PitkanensGitch]

He's battling Orr for the highest ppg average in career playoff games. Insanity. Making a few bad errors defensively but I wonder if the offence outweighs it. If he could tighten up back there he'd be a top 2-3 guy in the league back there.

 

[McDNicks17]

That play on Byfield was so huge.

People hate that he’s so nonchalant, but it works. He made that play look effortless.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Obviously a trade would be the best option, but doesn't he have a NMC?

With the cap going up and our small window to win, maybe a buy out is not a bad idea if say Marner agreed to come here.

I mean teams like Chicago might take him with a retention, he can eat a ton of minutes for team as they try and get better.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

You can do the all the "yeah well"s you want, this is incredibly impressive. He's a hell of a playoff performer. He has flaws, but he's an elite defenseman.

 

[Pip]

What an incredibly clutch player. Just don’t play him with Nurse.

 

[McShogun99]

You can do the all the "yeah well"s you want, this is incredibly impressive. He's a hell of a playoff performer. He has flaws, but he's an elite defenseman.

Orr also played his last playoff game at 27 years old. If he played until 34+ then his PPG most likely drops due to age decline.

 

[ahmedou]

 

[Little Fury]

View attachment 1024951

Hang it in the Louvre.

 

[oobga]

Nurse & Bouchard is a terrible pairing. Bouchard is the worst dman in the league defensively when he's not with Ekholm.
Bouchard was directly responsible for 3 goals against yesterday, & got 2 primary GA assists in game 1. Blaming Nurse for any of that is blindly idiotic.

Oh, who is not watching now? How about Nurse's dumb plays to send the puck back to LA twice on the Moore goal. Nurse, with his usual airhead plays in his own end, created a 2 on 1 situation against for Bouch. Bouch had to pick up Foegele coming right at him. You are just ignoring Nurse floating off out of the way of Foegele on the second goal? Bouch really had nothing at all to do with that one, some weak play by the forwards to make that puck come to our end, but Nurse had all the time in the world to notice Foegele free in front of him and he skated out of the way. Nurse also saw his D partner get in trouble on the 3rd one and decided he didn't have to start moving his feet until it was too late.

Nurse was just awful in the playoffs yet again last night, and has zero ability to ever make up for it. The best he's been hoping for almost every night the last 3 playoffs was to finish the game even. and unnoticed. For the low cost of 9.25M.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

The mercurial nature of his game.. I mean, what more of an exemplary sample than tonight? -3 going into the 3rd, wearing the goat horns for that Foegele turnover and 3-1 goal, and then he scores 2 in the 3rd to draw them even in the last minute. They will have no choice but to sign him.. and they will need to find another Ekholm (good luck) to settle him down. The Viking covers off *alot* of the warts there. Man are we going to miss Ekholm when his contract is up.

I have a feeling Ekholm will re-sign here at a discount. His wife/kids seem to love it here and it's still one of the better places to try to win a late career Cup as long as McDavid and Draisaitl are here. Also, as much as Ekholm makes up for Bouchard's deficiencies, Bouchard also complements Ekholm's game perfectly. Ekholm never EVER looked as good as he did with the Oilers in Nashville. Good players make other good players look good. Ekholm probably decline a bit with age, but that's okay. Hopefully that will coincide with Bouchard picking up more defensive awareness from Ekholm as he gains experience.

 

[McAsuno]

Simply keep Bouch away from Nurse.
Walman Bouchard should be the top pairing.

 

[Oilers88]

Oh, who is not watching now? How about Nurse's dumb plays to send the puck back to LA twice on the Moore goal. Nurse, with his usual airhead plays in his own end, created a 2 on 1 situation against for Bouch. Bouch had to pick up Foegele coming right at him. You are just ignoring Nurse floating off out of the way of Foegele on the second goal? Bouch really had nothing at all to do with that one, some weak play by the forwards to make that puck come to our end, but Nurse had all the time in the world to notice Foegele free in front of him and he skated out of the way. Nurse also saw his D partner get in trouble on the 3rd one and decided he didn't have to start moving his feet until it was too late.

Nurse was just awful in the playoffs yet again last night, and has zero ability to ever make up for it. The best he's been hoping for almost every night the last 3 playoffs was to finish the game even. and unnoticed. For the low cost of 9.25M.

Nurse has the worst plus-minus on the team AGAIN. It feels like this is just a playoff ritual at this point. Looking at the results by pairing, everyone is playing worse with him. Walman has the best plus minus on the team, but he is a minus with Nurse. Bouch is even at 5 on 5 with everyone other than Nurse, he is heavily in the negative with Nurse.

Turning to the 3D model, we see an unmistakable cone of suckage

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

keep him away from Nurse and he's usually fine

we got the entire Bouchard experience last night...awful in the first 2 periods, brilliant in the 3rd and OT