Player Discussion Evan Bouchard: One for the Money, Two for the Bouch

[CornKicker]

40 points and 33 of them are at ES (good for 18th in the NHL). If/when he finally takes over the point spot on the top PP we could be looking at a 60+ point defenseman.

D men in the NHL with more goals than Evan Bouchard this season (with minimal PP time)

Makar
Josi
ekblad
hedman

 

[CornKicker]

i know the board loves to crap all over Keith but i think #2 brings a calming presence to the D and will be a factor in the playoffs.

 

[Aerchon]

i know the board loves to crap all over Keith but i think #2 brings a calming presence to the D and will be a factor in the playoffs.

It's less the player and more the price. Although the player leaves much to be desired as well.

The good news is he is typically our #6 under Woodcroft? I think him and Bouchard are our bottom pairing under him. Less minutes less responsibility equals a more optimized Keith. When we use 7 D 4 are lefties so I think that typically reduces his ice time even more.

Could be wrong I haven't looked at ice times closely.

 

[CornKicker]

It's less the player and more the price. Although the player leaves much to be desired as well.

The good news is he is typically our #6 under Woodcroft? I think him and Bouchard are our bottom pairing under him. Less minutes less responsibility equals a more optimized Keith. When we use 7 D 4 are lefties so I think that typically reduces his ice time even more.

Could be wrong I haven't looked at ice times closely.

he isnt the player that he was in the past no doubt, but that vet presence and confidence will rub off on the Bouchards and Nurses and make them better in the future. I see it as $3M for the player and $2.5M for the coaching side. Similar to how the oilers had adam oates for a year and horcoff AND stoll went from mid to elite faceoff guys

 

[Drivesaitl]

Good for Bouch to get the pts but how much is a McDrai related factor. Even Cody Ceci, not really considered that offensive has 27pts this season in a career high due to McD factor. We have 3 D with 35-40pts. D are going to get more pts playing with generational players. Oilers seem to have more deflection goals as well this season. Off of multiple of our D.

 

[CornKicker]

Good for Bouch to get the pts but how much is a McDrai related factor. Even Cody Ceci, not really considered that offensive has 27pts this season in a career high due to McD factor. We have 3 D with 35-40pts. D are going to get more pts playing with generational players. Oilers seem to have more deflection goals as well this season. Off of multiple of our D.

that is the trade off with having 6-7 puck moving D. when you have elite Fwds you have to have D that can move the puck quickly. Bouchard is the best at it. but ceci/keith/nurse/barrie/kulak/russell are all good at getting the puck to the fwds. the biggest adjustment that woodcroft has made is the C coming lower and picking up that pass before the top of the circle. Last night the Stars were playing a high winger there to cut that pass off. Thats why multiple times you would see the far side winger at the other teams blue line. he isnt really cherry picking he is forcing the far side D off the blueline and telling rick bowness you better pick off that pass or we will roast you. and we did for 50 shots.

also tells me that woodcroft is analyzing the losses because dallas roasted us with that last game.

 

[Drivesaitl]

that is the trade off with having 6-7 puck moving D. when you have elite Fwds you have to have D that can move the puck quickly. Bouchard is the best at it. but ceci/keith/nurse/barrie/kulak/russell are all good at getting the puck to the fwds. the biggest adjustment that woodcroft has made is the C coming lower and picking up that pass before the top of the circle. Last night the Stars were playing a high winger there to cut that pass off. Thats why multiple times you would see the far side winger at the other teams blue line. he isnt really cherry picking he is forcing the far side D off the blueline and telling rick bowness you better pick off that pass or we will roast you. and we did for 50 shots.

also tells me that woodcroft is analyzing the losses because dallas roasted us with that last game.

Great analysis. Of course it also helped to have Smith back in his zone, and in his puck playing zone which was giving the Stars forecheck fits. As with how this has worked against several other clubs the Smith transition plays are beating the opponent forecheck. I mean 20X a night. Its transformative in maintaining possession and puck up ice. Hintz, Gurianov, are fast on forecheck too, but not fast enough with this kind of transition going. Stars lack the kind of team skill to consistently skate the puck in. More of a dump team when they play any club that is holding the blueline.

Oilers had the puck a lot. Reflected in the shots. I still think the Oil gave up too much though. Need to tighten things up. Dallas is a team that has trouble scoring this season but they had a ton of chances as well. Smith is really on.

 

[CornKicker]

Great analysis. Of course it also helped to have Smith back in his zone, and in his puck playing zone which was giving the Stars forecheck fits. As with how this has worked against several other clubs the Smith transition plays are beating the opponent forecheck. I mean 20X a night. Its transformative in maintaining possession and puck up ice. Hintz, Gurianov, are fast on forecheck too, but not fast enough with this kind of transition going. Stars lack the kind of team skill to consistently skate the puck in. More of a dump team when they play any club that is holding the blueline.

Oilers had the puck a lot. Reflected in the shots. I still think the Oil gave up too much though. Need to tighten things up. Dallas is a team that has trouble scoring this season but they had a ton of chances as well. Smith is really on.

100% agree, if there was one D man on the team that struggles with a forecheck its Barrie, he is not built to play physical.....coincidently his game has been really good since smith came back and started playing like he can. Smith allows the D to spreadout. almost like a semi breakout before the breakout. as a coach i would LOVE a goalie that can do what he does. Its also why i try not to shit on him when he does cough it up because for every 1 he coughs there are 15-20 hits our D didnt have to take.

im actually hoping for a Flames/Oilers matchup. Woodcroft got out coached bad last game by Sutter. but he also got outcoached by bowness the first time vs dallas. im excited to see what adjustments he makes.

 

[Bank Shot]

It's less the player and more the price. Although the player leaves much to be desired as well.

The good news is he is typically our #6 under Woodcroft? I think him and Bouchard are our bottom pairing under him. Less minutes less responsibility equals a more optimized Keith. When we use 7 D 4 are lefties so I think that typically reduces his ice time even more.

Could be wrong I haven't looked at ice times closely.

You are incorrect sir.

Here's the matchups from the last couple of games:

Nurse pairing is hard matched to the first line of other teams.

Keith-Bouchard generally see most of the second lines out of Oilers defencemen.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

It's less the player and more the price. Although the player leaves much to be desired as well.

The good news is he is typically our #6 under Woodcroft? I think him and Bouchard are our bottom pairing under him. Less minutes less responsibility equals a more optimized Keith. When we use 7 D 4 are lefties so I think that typically reduces his ice time even more.

Could be wrong I haven't looked at ice times closely.

They are quite clearly the second pairing in ice time at 5on5.

In the last 20 games.


Nurse - 18:44
Ceci - 18:08
Bouchard - 16:09
Keith - 15:52
Kulak - 14:33
Barrie - 14:21

I think having Kulak and Barrie being able to play legit minutes at 5on5 is the biggest thing so the top 2 pairs dont get overplayed.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Good for Bouch to get the pts but how much is a McDrai related factor. Even Cody Ceci, not really considered that offensive has 27pts this season in a career high due to McD factor. We have 3 D with 35-40pts. D are going to get more pts playing with generational players. Oilers seem to have more deflection goals as well this season. Off of multiple of our D.

Bouch has the best offensive toolkit of any of our defensemen. As for Ceci he has been nothing but solid for us.

 

[Rengorlex]

Bouchard will one of the best offensive defencemen in the league for a long time. His point totals will explode once he gets the #1 PP role for good. Hopefully we can sign him for a reasonable contract. I'm assuming Barrie gets traded in the off season.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Keith -Bouch has been on fire aside from a couple games. Gettin hot for playoffs. Hate to say it, love to see it

 

[bobbythebrain]

Bouchard will one of the best offensive defencemen in the league for a long time. His point totals will explode once he gets the #1 PP role for good. Hopefully we can sign him for a reasonable contract. I'm assuming Barrie gets traded in the off season.

"not a top 4 dman" @KeithIsJustOkay

 

[badi]

There is only one reason he is not gonna get 60pts minimum next year
Barrie on PP 1 …….

 

[McJadeddog]

There is only one reason he is not gonna get 60pts minimum next year
Barrie on PP 1 …….

I have a tough time imagining a scenario where we don't trade Barrie in the offseason though

 

[Stoneman89]

Bouch just needs to even out his game. He's been pretty steady lately, but when he's bad, he's really bad and sticks out like a sore thumb. Just needs some more experience and hopefully the playoffs really instill what he needs to do to be successful.

 

[Mr Positive]

His decision making is improved a ton. It will be exciting to see how good he will end up

 

[SaltNPeca]

He's 22 and played only 21 NHL games before this season.

I think a lot of fans forget this because of how calm he is, he looks old, and how established he's become on the team.

 

[CornKicker]

He's 22 and played only 21 NHL games before this season.

I think a lot of fans forget this because of how calm he is, he looks old, and how established he's become on the team.

the same fans will tell you we gave up on bear too early most dmen dont come into their own unitl after 200 games.

meanwhile bouchard is top 5 in league goals for a dman and hasnt player 100 games yet lol

 

[Rengorlex]

What Bouchard is doing without PP time is absolutely phenomenal. He has defensive warts, sure, likely always will. But he's legitimately one of the best offensive defencemen in the league already.

 

[TheNumber4]

Kieth and Bouch were really working that blue line tonight. Kieth with bullet passes to Bouch’s side all night. Bouch with the Bombs. And their defense has stabilized to GOOD lately. This is ending up to be a good pairing for us, and I think Kieth will be a great mentor for Bouch. Bouch will never be physical type defenceman, I don’t think it’s in his DNA, but neither was Kieth and he got the job done at Norris level. I think Bouch learns a lot from Kieth this and next year.

 

[Soundwave]

Kieth and Bouch were really working that blue line tonight. Kieth with bullet passes to Bouch’s side all night. Bouch with the Bombs. And their defense has stabilized to GOOD lately. This is ending up to be a good pairing for us, and I think Kieth will be a great mentor for Bouch. Bouch will never be physical type defenceman, I don’t think it’s in his DNA, but neither was Kieth and he got the job done at Norris level. I think Bouch learns a lot from Kieth this and next year.

Keith had one or two really ugly turn overs, was getting roasted on the ESPN broadcast for that, lol.

 

[Kolja]

Why isn't he in the convo for Calder?

 

[brentashton]

Why isn't he in the convo for Calder?

I beleive this is the correct reason below. It was posted much earlier in this thread. He‘ll just have to win one of them Norris’s thingys sometime soon.

He can suit up for a total of five games this season.

The relevant rule for Bouchard's case is once a player plays six or more games in two different seasons he is ineligible for the Calder.