It's no secret that the Edmonton Oilers have struggled with injuries lately.

Any team would have trouble without their top two players, not to mention that the Oilers' best are two of the best in the world. The absence of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl has forced the rest of the roster to sink or swim--while some have stepped up, others have disappointed.

Which brings us to Evan Bouchard.

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Any sane appraisal of the Oilers' roster would have Bouchard as the team's third-best player after McDavid and Draisaitl. Even in a relatively down year, his +15.3 net rating is tied with Adam Fox for the sixth-best among defensemen, and his 64 points are tied with Lane Hutson for fourth.

But he's struggled mightily without McDavid and Draisaitl. In the six games the Oilers have played without the two (including March 20th against Winnipeg, when McDavid left early), Bouchard's only positive game score came against Los Angeles on April 5th.

This stretch has included two of his worst games of the season (March 27th vs. Seattle and April 7th vs. Anaheim), not to mention another poor performance against Calgary with Draisaitl in the lineup. True to form, Bouchard bounced back with a big game in McDavid's return on Wednesday, playing 28:15 in a huge win over St. Louis.

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As an offensive defenseman who thrives in possession, Bouchard's fortunes are closely attached to those of his superstar teammates. Just as he makes McDavid and Draisaitl better, they make him better. But his struggles without the two stars are concerning. He should be an elite difference-maker with or without them.

These are still relatively minor concerns. Both McDavid and Draisaitl will be back for the playoffs, and we just saw Bouchard put together one of the best playoff runs by a defenseman in NHL history last season. The three-headed monster of Bouchard, McDavid, and Draisaitl is nigh-unstoppable in the playoffs.

But with Bouchard set for a huge raise in the offseason, it's fair to wonder what the pending RFA is worth. Are the Oilers comfortable paying $10 million per year to a player so reliant on the elite players around him? While the complaints about his defensive lapses are generally overblown, they can't be ignored completely.

Bouchard is still elite, and the Oilers are a much worse team without him in the lineup. But he's not perfect, and he's shown it over the past two weeks. The question is: Can that change?

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