When will Bouchard be considered elite?

[Tillain]

All I've seen on here is people saying Bouchard is a PP merchant, product of Ekholm etc.

He's got 37 pts in the past 24 playoff games, he's +10 in plus minus this playoffs, 3 game winning goals. He was 4th highest scoring dman in the regular season with over a PPG and +34 in plus/minus.

I've watched a ton of Oilers games and he passes the eye test too imo. He's often the key to Oilers getting out of their own zone. And his play in the offensive zone is unmatched.

I'm just wondering what he has to do in order for people to consider him elite? He's basically setting playoff records for dmen and nobody gives him notice.

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[Cloned]

All I've seen on here is people saying Bouchard is a PP merchant, product of Ekholm etc.

He's got 37 pts in the past 24 playoff games, he's +10 in plus minus this playoffs, 3 game winning goals. He was 4th highest scoring dman in the regular season with over a PPG and +34 in plus/minus.

I've watched a ton of Oilers games and he passes the eye test too imo. He's often the key to Oilers getting out of their own zone. And his play in the offensive zone is unmatched.

He’s a better John Carlson, and Carlson was pretty damn good.

 

[Soundwave]

He makes some mistakes and is sometimes too casual, but IMO he was the MVP of a playoff series that had McDavid, Draisaitl, Hughes, Petterson, Hyman, Miller, Boeser, etc. in it. He was the best player on either team in that series. He outplayed the probable Norris trophy winner (Hughes probably) by a pretty sizable margin in that series. He deserves some props.

 

[Nasti]

When his defense improves.

 

[Bank Shot]

All I've seen on here is people saying Bouchard is a PP merchant, product of Ekholm etc.

He's got 37 pts in the past 24 playoff games, he's +10 in plus minus this playoffs, 3 game winning goals. He was 4th highest scoring dman in the regular season with over a PPG and +34 in plus/minus.

I've watched a ton of Oilers games and he passes the eye test too imo. He's often the key to Oilers getting out of their own zone. And his play in the offensive zone is unmatched.

I'm just wondering what he has to do in order for people to consider him elite? He's basically setting playoff records for dmen and nobody gives him notice.

Took like 5 years for Draisaitl to get any credit for not being a product of McDavid, so probably around that much time.

 

[ijuka]

When people start looking at advanced stats. Best D in the league by them this season.

 

[Skolman]

When his defense improves.

Casual

 

[Boxscore]

Right now, Bouchard is an offensive weapon on D like Makar, Hughes, Josi, and Hedman, which makes him elite right off the bat. I believe I heard that he scored his 5th goal of the series tonight. Are you kidding me? 5 goals in 7 games in a huge series? That's prime Al MacInnis-type stuff.

 

[Soundwave]

Right now, Bouchard is an offensive weapon on D like Makar, Hughes, Josi, and Hedman, which makes him elite right off the bat. I believe I heard that he scored his 5th goal of the series tonight. Are you kidding me? 5 goals in 7 games in a huge series? That's Al MacInnis-type stuff.

He was the best player in the series. Period.

 

[Captain Controversy]

He is also only 24 years old. Holyyyy

 

[LTIR]

Hopefully AFTER he signs a cheap extension with Oilers.

5x5 him Holland!!

 

[ijuka]

When his defense improves.

Top 2 defensive defenseman in the league along with Ekholm by advanced stats.

Narrative vs reality.

 

[Cup or Bust]

He is elite offensively, I don't think anyone can deny that.

 

[Dempsey]

Do you realize how hard it is for people to say an Oiler is elite? Give them one thing, anything, and they will cling to it and use it as a reason why he's three levels below where he actually is.

 

[Boxscore]

He was the best player in the series. Period.

I think that's fair to say.

 

[Iggys Dome]

Leigt question : Is he gonna get paid more than Nurse?

 

[Lawzy]

Realistically, anyone who didn't consider Bouchard elite before these playoffs was clearly not paying attention. No reason to yell into the void.

 

[Nasti]

Top 2 defensive defenseman in the league along with Ekholm by advanced stats.

Narrative vs reality.

Defense is about a lot more than advanced stats. If he was that great, he’d be considered elite already.

 

[647Hockey]

I dont watch Oilers enough to know how good he is defensively, but scoring wise he's awesome. Great shots from the blue line (slapshots and wristers on net), and he seems cool under pressure as he straddles the blue line strafing at 2 mph look to get a shot on net.

 

[Soundwave]

Defense is about a lot more than advanced stats. If he was that great, he’d be considered elite already.

Does outplaying the Norris trophy winner (probable) by a large margin head to head in a playoff series count?

 

[ijuka]

Defense is about a lot more than advanced stats. If he was that great, he’d be considered elite already.

Circular logic.

I've been watching these for every game this season and Bouchard has been well into positives defensively almost every game:

 

[WarriorofTime]

I made a thread during the season about his high level of play and everyone said I was dumb and he wasn't good and leeched points off McDavid/Drai.

December 10, 2023 Bouchard Thread

 

[CycloneSweep]

I just saw that apparently he is the first defender in Stanley cup history to have 20+ points over 2 rounds.

 

[Nasti]

Does outplaying the Norris trophy winner (probable) by a large margin head to head in a playoff series count?

Small sample size. I remember a thread just like this one two years ago. Let’s see how his defense holds up against Dallas first.

 

[ijuka]

Small sample size. I remember a thread just like this one two years ago. Let’s see how his defense holds up against Dallas first.

He's also +10 leading the playoffs.