When will Bouchard be considered elite?

[TheUnusedCrayon]

If Edmonton was smart they'd make him run his own pairing next season away from Ekholm so that they get a better contract out of him come negotiation time.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Meanwhile in real life Florida is making a mockery out of Bouchard

He's been on for two goals against and his PDO is .895. If you understood numbers past what you can count on your fingers and toes, you'd understand that he's playing well but Edmonton is getting stoned by Bobrovsky.

 

[BB88]

He's been on for two goals against and his PDO is .895. If you understood numbers past what you can count on your fingers and toes, you'd understand that he's playing well but Edmonton is getting stoned by Bobrovsky.

He got taken to school on 2 key goals in game 3 and Barkov took him to school in game 4

If you think he’s been even good in this series defensively I’m suggesting watching Dmen who are actually good defensively more

Bouchard has been a mess but the shots!!

 

[BB88]

You mean on the 2 on 1 caused by an Ekholm pinch where no forward dropped back to cover him? That's an incredibly dumb take.

Actually, interestingly, I watched the Boston series against Florida. It's crazy to me that you guys think McAvoy is elite defensively. Dude got stomped into the dirt.


He made one bad play on the Rodrigues goal. He's made many more good ones than he has bad ones.

Bobrovksy is covering up all of Florida's warts right now. Edmonton isn't getting that luxury.

Florida players including Barkov& Lundell are just skating by him.

Your Dmen are constantly having trouble clearing the zone

Bouchard is just over his head in this series

 

[LordBacon]

Ive been saying this since the Canucks - Oilers series.

Bouchard is ridiculously gifted offensively, unfortunately his job is to defend so to answer to the answer in this thread,
no, he's not an elite defender, at least not yet.

You Oilers folks should be happy though, it's been forever since you guys have a decent 1st pair and Bouchard is clearly a part of the solution.
Guy has a lot of years ahead with your club, he might just improve enough in the next few years to become one of the elites in the game.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Florida players including Barkov& Lundell are just skating by him.

Your Dmen are constantly having trouble clearing the zone

Bouchard is just over his head in this series

again, scoring chances are 26-13 in the Oilers favour when Bouchard is on the ice. The numbers are much more accurate than your eye test.

 

[Oleksiak]

Overreacting to small sample sizes is very smart.

He's never shown he's capable of not playing like trash in his own zone at any level. This is what he is, and it's frankly not acceptable.

 

[UrbanImpact]

Looks very much disinterested in getting into any sort of battle in his own zone. His compete level is super low. His decision making and ICE-Q is also pathetic. Panics with any sort of forecheck.

When the Oilers PP dries up like this, you can really see how average of a Defenceman Bouchard really is.

Oilers are going to be in a bad position having to pay Bouchard over 9 mil a season eventually.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Oilers are going to be in a bad position having to pay Bouchard over 9 mil a season eventually.

He's getting at least 10 from Edmonton. How can they justify paying him less than fellow boat anchor Darnell Nurse?

 

[UrbanImpact]

He's getting at least 10 from Edmonton. How can they justify paying him less than fellow boat anchor Darnell Nurse?

Exactly...and when he gets 10, his contract will jsut be as bad as Nurse's especially if MCdavid and Drai re no longer on the team.

 

[super6646]

You mean on the 2 on 1 caused by an Ekholm pinch where no forward dropped back to cover him? That's an incredibly dumb take.

Actually, interestingly, I watched the Boston series against Florida. It's crazy to me that you guys think McAvoy is elite defensively. Dude got stomped into the dirt.


He made one bad play on the Rodrigues goal. He's made many more good ones than he has bad ones.

Bobrovksy is covering up all of Florida's warts right now. Edmonton isn't getting that luxury.

Dude fighting the board on this is a losing proposition. Whether you like it or not, logic and sensible reasoning are not going to drive a sports discussion. My suggestion is to let it go and move on, it’ll help your mental health.

Trust me, I’ve done it a few times. It’s a waste of time. Rn the guy is taking his lumps from fans, and ppl aren’t going to be open minded to changing opinions.

 

[BB88]

Exactly...and when he gets 10, his contract will jsut be as bad as Nurse's especially if MCdavid and Drai re no longer on the team.

With the cap going up and Dahlin getting 11M will even 10 be enough?

McDavid 14
Drai 13
Bouchard 11

 

[Nasti]

He's been on for two goals against and his PDO is .895. If you understood numbers past what you can count on your fingers and toes, you'd understand that he's playing well but Edmonton is getting stoned by Bobrovsky.

He’s been on the ice for more than that.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

He’s been on the ice for more than that.

he hasn't. That's 5v5. If you want to include empty netters, go nuts.

 

[madmike77]

With the cap going up and Dahlin getting 11M will even 10 be enough?

McDavid 14
Drai 13
Bouchard 11

I can’t see Bouchard getting 11. Despite all the talk about him being a great defenceman, the guy is still - and likely always will be - very one-dimensional. Ekholm does a great job of covering for Bouchard’s shortcomings, but there’s only so much he can do.

Someone will give Bouchard 8 or 9 a year. He’s likely worth that for the bump to the PP. But then that team is also going to need an expensive, reliable defender to pair with him.

 

[Video Nasty]

His confusion about what team he’s on this series has become stale.

 

[RogerRoger]

Meanwhile in real life Florida is making a mockery out of Bouchard

I haven't seen him play against other teams, but maybe he just can't play 27 to 30 minutes per game in the hundredth game of the season.

 

[Nico13]

When his team wins a SC Finals game.

 

[BB88]

I can’t see Bouchard getting 11. Despite all the talk about him being a great defenceman, the guy is still - and likely always will be - very one-dimensional. Ekholm does a great job of covering for Bouchard’s shortcomings, but there’s only so much he can do.

Someone will give Bouchard 8 or 9 a year. He’s likely worth that for the bump to the PP. But then that team is also going to need an expensive, reliable defender to pair with him.

The new bar is 11M. As sadly people talk offense gets you paid

9.5 was years ago and the cap will keep going up

 

[Nasti]

he hasn't. That's 5v5. If you want to include empty netters, go nuts.

Including 4 on 4, he’s been on the ice for 3. 3 more if you include empty netters and PP goals. That’s 6 of Florida’s 11 goals in the series.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Including 4 on 4, he’s been on the ice for 3. 3 more if you include empty netters and PP goals. That’s 6 of Florida’s 11 goals in the series.

He's playing 30 minutes a night because Nurse has been unplayable, so yeah, if he's on half of every game, that checks out.

including empty net goals is dumb. He hasn't been on for any PP goals against. He's been on for 1 4v4 goal for, 1 4v4 goal against. and getting the benefits of a sub 800 on ice SV%.

 

[UrbanImpact]

He's a more expensive Tyson Barrie.

 

[Nasti]

He's playing 30 minutes a night because Nurse has been unplayable, so yeah, if he's on half of every game, that checks out.

including empty net goals is dumb. He hasn't been on for any PP goals against. He's been on for 1 4v4 goal for, 1 4v4 goal against. and getting the benefits of a sub 800 on ice SV%.

Go back and watch the Game 2 highlights. He got walked on the PP goal by Rodrigues. I’m not even including empty net goals as part of my criticism but I broke it all down for you because you’re being factually incorrect.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Go back and watch the Game 2 highlights. He got walked on the PP goal by Rodrigues. I’m not even including empty net goals as part of my criticism but I broke it all down for you because you’re being factually incorrect.

Ah the site i was checking didn't load properly.

Yes, he f***ed up on that goal, he doesn't usually PK but had to because Nurse is both crippled and stupid.

He's also been on the ice for 26 scoring chances for and 13 against at 5v5. The good massively outweighs the bad, and if you don't think so, you should be painting instead of watching hockey, because you don't understand what you're watching.

 

[Oleksiak]

Ah the site i was checking didn't load properly.

Yes, he f***ed up on that goal, he doesn't usually PK but had to because Nurse is both crippled and stupid.

He's also been on the ice for 26 scoring chances for and 13 against at 5v5. The good massively outweighs the bad, and if you don't think so, you should be painting instead of watching hockey, because you don't understand what you're watching.

If you're as much of a defensive liability as Bouchard, it doesn't matter what you do offensively; you're hurting the team. It also makes it harder to hold the other defencemen accountable when you let this pylon play so poorly in his own zone that a decent ECHL coach would put him in the press box where he belongs. You don't want a culture where playing like trash in your own zone is acceptable.