Player Discussion Evan Bouchard

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Don't see an open player discussion thread so I'll start one myself. I know he can be frustrating to watch sometimes with his defensive brainfarts but he is absolutely killing it offensively in his rookie season. This is a player worth the patience and worth investing in. He's valuable even if the defense never comes along and if he can become even league average defensively he's gonna be a force.

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[ujju2]

If Manson can continue his work with Bouch defensively, and if he can improve his speed over the offseason, we'll have a legitimate beast on our hands.

 

[Kaptah2]

Trade him while he still has value.

 

[Beerfish]

The guy should have played a LOT more last year instead of sitting on his ass in the press box most of the year.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

Yeah he was terrible the other night. Easy to forget he’s in his first year and has a lot of tools that are highly coveted. It might be the fact that he and Keith look the same age that we forget to give the Bouch a break when he’s off his best.

 

[Oilhawks]

Trade him while he still has value.

They’ll lose any trade involving him. And watch him go and be John Carlson with whatever team has the patience to work through the expected issues with defending that plague almost all rookie D.

Kind of odd coming from a poster who’s a huge fan of Pulju, who is now a good player but had a very very rough start to his career (not all his fault but that doesn’t matter, it’s also not all Bouchard’s fault that he’s learning on the job).

 

[Senor Catface]

Trade him while he still has value.

Is that you Mac T?

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Trade him while he still has value.

Nah, he's really good. And will get better. Keith is showing him somethings, but Keith is too old to be effective and it's hurting Bouchard's performance.

 

[soothsayer]

Bouchard has the potential of becoming a slightly worse-skating John Carlson, which would be great.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

An adventure at both ends of the ice.

 

[Kaptah2]

They’ll lose any trade involving him. And watch him go and be John Carlson with whatever team has the patience to work through the expected issues with defending that plague almost all rookie D.

Kind of odd coming from a poster who’s a huge fan of Pulju, who is now a good player but had a very very rough start to his career (not all his fault but that doesn’t matter, it’s also not all Bouchard’s fault that he’s learning on the job).

I really hope he's a quick learner, because he's absolutely lost on our end of the ice. If he learns how to play better I'll change my opinion, unlike Pulju bashers do.

 

[Bank Shot]

This kid is actually the highest scoring rookie defenceman in Oilers history.

Risto Siltanen was sitting first with 35 points.

 

[Drivesaitl]

This kid is actually the highest scoring rookie defenceman in Oilers history.

Risto Siltanen was sitting first with 35 points.

While technically this is correct, Paul Coffey had 250pts by the time he was Bouchards age and had 32 as an 18yr old. The huge advantage of course that todays young, and *rookie* D have is having several years to incubate before getting here, and Bouch also had a whole season last year to take a close look around the NHL and what its like.

Bouchard also played NHL games in two previous seasons to this one.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

This kid is actually the highest scoring rookie defenceman in Oilers history.

Risto Siltanen was sitting first with 35 points.

Coffey wasn't? Then again I wouldn't know since I was born in the 90s.

 

[Bank Shot]

While technically this is correct, Paul Coffey had 250pts by the time he was Bouchards age and had 32 as an 18yr old. The huge advantage of course that todays young, and *rookie* D have is having several years to incubate before getting here, and Bouch also had a whole season last year to take a close look around the NHL and what its like.

Bouchard also played NHL games in two previous seasons to this one.

No, its technically incorrect because Bouchard didn't really have a rookie season according to NHL rules.

This is his rookie season though. No question about that if we are looking at things in a practical manner.

I don't think its fair to compare him to Coffey who is top ten all time at the position. Compared to other Oilers rookie d-men however, Bouchard's rookie year is flying high.

 

[GOilers88]

Send him to Gary Roberts for the summer. Kid will be a stud.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Coffey wasn't? Then again I wouldn't know since I was born in the 90s.

See my proviso. Which was mentioned because its the first thing anybody would think. Really its an odd stat to begin with because the Oilers have never really had a stud D of any kind drafted and playing as a rookie Since Coffey.

 

[Bank Shot]

Send him to Gary Roberts for the summer. Kid will be a stud.

Pretty sure he was training with Nurse and McDavid and Roberts last summer already.

 

[Barrsy]

Send him to Gary Roberts for the summer. Kid will be a stud.

Thats hardly his issue.

 

[Satire]

Future looks promising with him. Obviously there's some absolute stud young D men in the league these days, but no reason to think that he won't develop into a top 4 or even top pairing D.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

He's the only defenseman on our team that I feel like he has a chance to score every time that he winds up for a clapper.

 

[Magnum23]

Still have a lot to work on but no way we should give up on him any time soon. Right shot defenseman with scoring ability, doesn’t grow on trees.

At worst, if he doesn’t peak he will still be a serviceable #4/5 defenseman on our roster

 

[bobbythebrain]

Putting together more good than bad lately.

Give it 250 games before passing judgement.

He's also showed commitment in the offseason getting better. Curious to see how much more improved he comes to camp

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

As advertised, strong offensive instinct with an elite shot and strong distributor abilities. Defensively, a work in progress to identify danger and react quickly to it in own zone play. Low panic threshold instincts works well in o-zone play but less so in defending. Transitioning to NHL is most difficult for defenseman. Like about 90% of young d-men, it's going to take game experience, reps and coaching support to grow into a full baked strong two way defenseman. Continue to work on foot speed.

Bouchard's got all the tools. Mostly this is likely moreso about managing fan expectation thinking prospect d-men can skip steps in their growth and development with this hella hard position. Raw tools don't preclude the significant mental aspect of growth and development required through game experience and reps against elite NHL competition. Bouchard's a smart person with solid hockey IQ and work ethic to improve. He'll get there but it takes time. Will be worth the wait.

 

[Oil53]

I remember how brutal Coffey was his first season,wanted him gone so I have time for Bouchard.