Player Discussion Evan Bouchard: Scoring like mad

[The Panther]

I think right now is a good enough time to bring in Ethan Bear again. I like him!

But certainly wait until next season for Bouchard, or even the season after that. I agree they need to stop rushing prospects in.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I think right now is a good enough time to bring in Ethan Bear again. I like him!

But certainly wait until next season for Bouchard, or even the season after that. I agree they need to stop rushing prospects in.

They have to wait until next season, Bouchard can only be an emergency recall.

 

[The Panther]

They have to wait until next season, Bouchard can only be an emergency recall.

Good!

Know how old Nick Lidstrom was when he first laced 'em up in the NHL? 21-and-a-half.

Teams and fans need to stop thinking about draft choices as helping the team now. We should expect those choices to help us about three years into the future, esp. with D-men.

 

[Mr Positive]

I like the plan of keeping him down next season, but he will get a real shot at camp. We need an offensive weapon on the point and the best one we can. It might not be Bear or Jones. Even bottom pairing with PP time is a good development for Bouchard imo. He will be eligible to be sent down at any point, assuming I know that rule right

 

[dustrock]

The thing about Bouchard is I don't see a ton of upside. Overall game is week. but.......... I think people sell a pp specialist short. We could use a pp guy. I think he is everything we really need right now.

He will be an oiler next year, be fun to watch.

Not too many d-men are scoring at a PPG pace. Not sure why other d-men have upside and he doesn't.

Plus beyond the scoring is his transition game. So important in the NHL now.

 

[McShogun99]

No harm in keeping Bouchard in the AHL next season. Woodcroft is doing a great job down there with the young guys.

 

[Homesick]

I sure hope we draft his teammate Connor McMichael though

 

[madmutter]

I sure hope we draft his teammate Connor McMichael though

And even though former Oil Kings don't usually work out here, we need Connor McDonald too.

 

[Oilers in NS]

Agreed. Stick with Gretzky's new plan of letting prospects overripen in the minors so when they do get to the NHL, they're ready.

I agree with ya but try to explain that to Oilernation . The only 2 prospects we drafted that were ready were McJesus ( duh) and Hall

 

[Stoneman89]

I think right now is a good enough time to bring in Ethan Bear again. I like him!

But certainly wait until next season for Bouchard, or even the season after that. I agree they need to stop rushing prospects in.

I like Bear too. But I like him to finish out this year down in Bako.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

He will make no difference in the Oiler's prospects of making the playoffs next year, they won't without superior goaltending, so he should spend the year in Bakersfield.

Anybody who thinks he should be in the NHL next year is just wrong & is just ignoring our development issues that the hockey world has railed about for years. We have to stop these mistakes & now is the time to stop rushing prospects to the NHL.

 

[Faelko]

Bouch will be in tough to get some NHL time next season, competing with Bear and Persson for the same role. Persson probably gets the first crack.

Persson? I wouldn’t be shocked to see him start in the ECHL. He could easily be overwhelmed in a move to NA.

I think the Oilers move Benning for a forward and graduate one of Bear or Jones to play with Sekera.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

I agree with ya but try to explain that to Oilernation . The only 2 prospects we drafted that were ready were McJesus ( duh) and Hall

I think even Hall was debatable but none of the others from RNH to Draisaitl to Yamamoto should have even been considered for NHL duty the year they were drafted. Nurse should have been given another year or even 2 in the AHL too.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I think even Hall was debatable but none of the others from RNH to Draisaitl to Yamamoto should have even been considered for NHL duty the year they were drafted. Nurse should have been given another year or even 2 in the AHL too.

Hall started slowly and then was a beast as a rookie. Clearly you forget how well Nuge played in his rookie season until he got hurt.

 

[McDNicks17]

Persson? I wouldn’t be shocked to see him start in the ECHL. He could easily be overwhelmed in a move to NA.

I think the Oilers move Benning for a forward and graduate one of Bear or Jones to play with Sekera.

ECHL? He's arguably the best defenseman in the SHL.

 

[Faelko]

ECHL? He's arguably the best defenseman in the SHL.

Maybe ECHL is under selling him but he shouldn't be anywhere near the Oilers next year.

 

[McDNicks17]

Maybe ECHL is under selling him but he shouldn't be anywhere near the Oilers next year.

He'll be 25 years old and, like I said, is arguably the best defenseman in one of the top men's leagues.

He'll get a good chance to make the team in camp.

 

[La Bamba]

ECHL? He's arguably the best defenseman in the SHL.

Damn are you serious? That’s good to hear. The Oilers have a very underrated group of D prospects. Bouchard, Bear, Jones are looking like surefire NHLers

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

Hall started slowly and then was a beast as a rookie. Clearly you forget how well Nuge played in his rookie season until he got hurt.

I've forgotten nothing. I've been consistent in my view that erring on the side of caution is always better than rushing players. Other than a few highlights, none of these players made any tangible difference to the Oiler's in the standings so why rush them?

 

[CanmoreMike]

Just saying he doesn't qualify.

Starting in Bako unless he blows the doors off camp would be a good idea, I think.

Agreed.

I read something in preseason this year by Jason Gregor who I thought (might be wrong) said if Yamo stayed in Bakersfield all year his contract slides one more year. Thought Bouchard would qualify for this as well. But I guess I am wrong.

Albeit I too think he should stay in Bakersfield unless there is no question he belongs in NHL.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I think even Hall was debatable but none of the others from RNH to Draisaitl to Yamamoto should have even been considered for NHL duty the year they were drafted. Nurse should have been given another year or even 2 in the AHL too.

RNH 52 points in 62 games not ready?

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

I think even Hall was debatable but none of the others from RNH to Draisaitl to Yamamoto should have even been considered for NHL duty the year they were drafted. Nurse should have been given another year or even 2 in the AHL too.

There is not a single team in the history of the league that would of not used Hall as a rookie, outside of those extraordinarily rare generational talents it's hard to find someone who was more dominant than Hall in junior he was the reigning two time Memorial Cup MVP and after the initial 10-13 game adjustment period to start his career he was clearly pushing the needle in a positive direction. Hall had the skills, smarts, and frame to compete in the NHL, he thoroughly dominated the junior scene, there was literally no reason for him to stay down there, the only argument I could see for him staying there would be polishing his defensive game, but I believe that it would more likely build a level of complacency from the lack of challenge that league provides.

I seen a lot of teams in the pre-draft coverage say RNH was hands down the best guy in that draft, but he was physically under-developed and should spend an extra year in junior for that reason alone. Though the season Nuge had was Calder worthy and I have little doubt that if he didn't get injured he surely would of won the Calder that year, while there were reasons for him to stay in junior, it's hard to say that someone having a calder level season wasn't NHL ready.

 

[The Panther]

Nuge actually had 32 points in his first 29 NHL games, and it looked like he was a bona-fide 1st line All Star type. Then, reality set in...

Hall had a much slower start with only 1 point in his first 7 games, and 16 in his first 30.

They were both physically capable of NHL play at 18-19, but I tend to agree with @HockeyGuy1964 that there was equally no need to put either in the NHL then. Okay, they ended up with respectable numbers on terrible teams that missed the playoffs, but their confidence and leadership would have been more developed with another year in training, I think.

In the history of the NHL, there have been about 12 players who really needed to be in the NHL when they were 18. Gretzky and Crosby come to mind. Unless you're at that level, it's not necessary, the more so for defencemen (and even more so for goalies).

 

[oobga]

Nuge actually had 32 points in his first 29 NHL games, and it looked like he was a bona-fide 1st line All Star type. Then, reality set in...

Hall had a much slower start with only 1 point in his first 7 games, and 16 in his first 30.

They were both physically capable of NHL play at 18-19, but I tend to agree with @HockeyGuy1964 that there was equally no need to put either in the NHL then. Okay, they ended up with respectable numbers on terrible teams that missed the playoffs, but their confidence and leadership would have been more developed with another year in training, I think.

In the history of the NHL, there have been about 12 players who really needed to be in the NHL when they were 18. Gretzky and Crosby come to mind. Unless you're at that level, it's not necessary, the more so for defencemen (and even more so for goalies).

Think that's just life with 1st overall picks. They always play, and if you mess with them and try to extend out their ELC, can bite you in the butt if they decide to get you back by going RFA and looking at offer sheets, and act like the org owes them some payback negotiating by selfishly delaying the players money making potential. There's no precedent for a 1st overall to not get a crack in the NHL ASAP, and likely won't be for a very long time.

 

[Fourier]

Nuge actually had 32 points in his first 29 NHL games, and it looked like he was a bona-fide 1st line All Star type. Then, reality set in...

Hall had a much slower start with only 1 point in his first 7 games, and 16 in his first 30.

They were both physically capable of NHL play at 18-19, but I tend to agree with @HockeyGuy1964 that there was equally no need to put either in the NHL then. Okay, they ended up with respectable numbers on terrible teams that missed the playoffs, but their confidence and leadership would have been more developed with another year in training, I think.

In the history of the NHL, there have been about 12 players who really needed to be in the NHL when they were 18. Gretzky and Crosby come to mind. Unless you're at that level, it's not necessary, the more so for defencemen (and even more so for goalies).

I am not sure if you intended this but the reality set in part seems to suggest that the rest of Nuge's first year went downhill. He had a bit of a slump after game 35 (he was at 35 in 35 at that point) but he had 17 points in his last 21 games even with his injury issues and the only time he went more than two games in a row without a point was the two games before and after his injury. It was actually a remarkably consistent season. And he went on to have 6 points in 8 games in the Men's world championship.

I think Nuge's WJHC in 2012 tells you how much he had to gain from staying in junior. Bad shoulder and all he had 15 points in 6 games. His issue was not that he should have stayed in junior it was that his creativity was effectively coached out of his game. That would have happened anyway I expect.

I have never bought the idea that holding everyone back is good as a general principle. So many of these top kids are use to playing with older kids much of their lives. The best thrive in that environment. The vast majority cannot handle it. Why not simply assess a player based on their merits.

There can be negative impacts of having someone play below their skill level as well. Yakupov is a good example of a player that probably would have reinforced bad habits by staying in junior. The only way he would have seen what it would take to adjust to the NHL was by playing in the NHL. It didn't happen but had he stayed in Sarnia I don't see any reason to expect the outcome would have been different.