I don't see how you get recency bias out of this. I was the one who called this coming last year when pretty much everyone else thought this guy was a team Canada lock, top 3 for the Norris, just a budding superstar etc.
He's a good offensive defensemen. He's just not an elite player, nor should he be paid like one.
Hes a defensemen. You only notice them when they make a bad play. People ignore the good ones they make.
And yes he is an offensive defender, they make the most plays and have the most turn overs.
Bouchard is 22nd in the league for giveaways. Notable awful players with higher numbers.
Svechnikov, Pietrangelo, Parayko, Kaprisov, Pasternak, Makar, Theodore, Sergachev, MacKinnon.
Then you have Josi with one less in 3 more games.
If giveaways/turnovers are why he is so bad then Makar sucks. But you would never say that would you?
You know what you people ignore? Bouchard is 15th in the league for TAKEAWAYS. AHEAD of guys like Hughes, Theodore, Fox.
He is a higher event player who is always coming out ahead.
Looking at ALL defenders in the league who have played 500 5v5 minutes this year. (There is 89). He is
11th GF
61 GA
3rd xGF
35 xGA
28th HDGA
80th PDO
So what these raw numbers tell us is when he is on the ice he is elite offensively, middle of the pack defensively and very unlucky. Lots of weak goals go in with him on the ice which he cannot control. So of the all the leagues top 3 defenders even having a rough year he is playing at worst like a #3 defender.
People notice his mistakes but ignore all the little things he does well. High event players mistakes are magnified. It’s always been that way.
But unless you are going to call guys like Josi, Pietrangeo, Hamilton, Parayko, Hanifin, Samheim, Slavin, Theodore bad defensive players, or say their goaltending is far worse than Skinner than you really don’t know what you are saying.