Oilers' Bouchard is Worth At Least $6 Million A Year

Caleb Kerney

Jun 20, 2023, 13:54

Caleb Kerney

Jun 20, 2023, 13:54

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard is an important piece of the team and it's lethal power play.

The Edmonton Oilers are at a very important junction with their best offensive defenceman Evan Bouchard. Bouchard is worth a lot of money and money is exactly what the Oilers' do not have a lot of. There is talk that the salary cap is going up in the next few years, but the Oilers' can't count on that to bail them out.

Bouchard is coming off of back-to-back 40 point seasons in his first two full years in the NHL. Other defenders who had 40+ point seasons in 2022-23 include (but are not limited to) Gustav Forsling, Kristopher Letang, Thomas Chabot, Shea Theodore, Morgan Reilly, Moritz Seider, Victor Hedman, Cam Fowler and Darnell Nurse.

The salary of those aforementioned players ranges widely from $863,333 (Seider) to $6.1M (Letang) to $7.5M (Rielly) and $9.25 (Nurse). With strong back-to-back seasons, a breakout playoffs and a full year with Mattias Ekholm as his defence partner, Bouchard is easily worth $6M a year and the Oilers' should be discussing a long term extension instead of a short term deal.

Back-To-Back 40 Point Seasons

In the 2022-23 season Bouchard played all 82 games averaging 18:31 of time on ice (TOI) per game. He scored eight goals and chipped in 32 assists for 40 points. On the power play he averaged 2:16 TOI and recorded 13 power play points. Bouchard still split time with Tyson Barrie on the power play before his departure at the trade deadline.

The year previous in 2021-22 he played in 81 games. One less than 2022-23 and averaged 19:48 TOI. Bouchard recorded 13 goals and 31 assists for 43 points. Only seven of those points came from the power play where he averaged 1:20 TOI per game.

Playoff Explosion

Bouchard was the points leader among all defencemen in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs despite only playing 12 games. He scored four goals and added 13 assists which was good for 17 points. Of those 17 points, 15 of them came from the power play. He played 23:00 TOI, an enormous jump from the 18:31 of the regular season.

If Bouchard has a full year on the Oilers' power play with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, we could see at least a 60+ point season from him in 2023-24. The gamble that the Oilers' are faced with now is this: lock him down long term at a low salary or give him a bridge deal and almost certainly be forced to sign him for $8M+ once that deal is done. Or trade him at that point because he priced himself off of the team.

A Year of Ekholm

A full season with Ekholm will work wonders for Bouchard. Of his 26 points at even strength 10 of them came when he was paired with Ekholm. They had great analytical numbers with a 53.9 shots for percentage and a 59.1 Corsi for percentage. They control the play when they are on the ice, and they should only get better as they become more familiar with each other.

Bouchard is worth a lot to the Oilers team. Unfortunately their salary cap situation makes it difficult to pay this player what he is worth long term. They should be paying him $6M for the next six to eight years, but he looks to be headed for a much cheaper short term contract.