The Edmonton Oilers star right-handed defenceman Evan Bouchard can be a lightning rod for criticism from media and fans across the National Hockey League. His enormous $10.5 million cap hit does not do him any favours either.
This is par for the course when it comes to offensively-minded defencemen, especially Bouchard who is prone to some mental lapses here and there as everyone is. Unfortunately, when you are not scoring and that is what you are paid to do, people will pile on and that is the case with the 26 year old blueliner.
Through eight games this season, he has registered two points, both assists coming on the powerplay. His issues producing are a symptom of the entire Oilers roster at large struggling to produce. Their depth scoring and their rookies have been underwhelming to start the year.
Bouchard is the Oilers' star on defence
The criticisms of Bouchard are sometimes valid. The defensive lapses and costly mistakes can hurt the team, there is not denying that but it is not isolated to just him on the team. He carries a large burden logging the minutes he does.
The defender leads the Oilers in time on ice, averaging over 24 minutes per game this season logging significant time at even strength and on the powerplay and penalty kill. He leads in both special teams categories amongst defenders and has been heavily leaned on by head coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff and for a reason. The Oilers PP and PK rank in the upper-half of the league at sixth and tied-13th, respectively.
This is a big step in the evolution of Bouchard as a star on the team. Production wise he has been one of the league's best defencemen, racking up 82 points in 81 games in 2023-24 and 67 in 82 in 2024-25. He has proven himself as one of the premier offensive defencemen in an era where players like Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Adam Fox, and others are dominating that niche.
Evan Bouchard will turn it around
Despite his early season struggles, by all accounts, Bouchard can and will turn it around as the season moves along. Not only are we just eight games into the season but aside from the poor puck luck, his performance has been solid.
So far, he has only two points, both coming on the man advantage. However, his advanced stats at 5-on-5 (according to evolving-hockey.com) paint him as one of the top defenders in the entire league.
Using his on-ice stats, he looks poised to breakout anytime and turn his season around. Out of 146 NHL defencemen, he ranks 35th in corsi for per 60 minutes (CF/60). Even more impressive, he ranks 15th in expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60). As well, his xG and Corsi percentages are both above 50 percent, meaning that when he is on the ice the Oilers are outshooting and outchancing the opposition.
When players put up numbers like these, where they rank so high amongst their peers and are consistently outpacing the other team, more often then not, that leads directly to production. Of course, there are dips and periods of time where that is not the case but rest assured, Bouchard will more than likely see a bounce back and it should come anytime.