While we all heard the howls of discontent about Ethan Bouchard’s giveth-away defensive game at times last regular season, if Bouchard doesn’t have that taketh away from Quinton Byfield with 44 seconds left in Game 4 of the first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings, they’re likely not in the Stanley Cup final two months later.
It was “The Play” of the Edmonton Oilers’ post-season.
Back in the early ’80s, Glen Sather loved Paul Coffey’s offence, but was always thrilled by Paul Coffey’s defence. Coffey silenced a nation with the play of the 1984 Canada Cup with Sather coaching when he broke up that 2-on-1 Russian attack by Vladimir Kovin and Mikhael Varnakov halfway through OT at the Saddledome.
Coffey poked Kovin’s pass away from his knees, then set up the winner with a shot that Mike Bossy tipped home.
And Bouchard was the playoff A to the Kings’ Q right then and there, the answer to the question about whether he could make a defensive play on Byfield to save his team with a 3-1 series hole staring the Edmonton Oilers in the face. Twenty-nine seconds later, he was hammering a puck past Darcy Kuemper to tie it, and Leon Draisaitl won it in overtime, not that Bouchard was sowing any gloats then or now.
Bouchard, who was at the Canadian Olympic orientation camp last month in Calgary with Byfield, didn’t mention the play to the young Kings’ forward, who could have dumped the puck down the ice but tried to get around Bouchard first.
“No, I figured why bring that one up… he’s a great guy,” said Bouchard.
Desperate times, desperate measures.
“At that time, you’re just gambling,” admitted Bouchard.
“It was the turning point, for sure… I guess in the right way and made a few good plays after that.”
No kidding.
“He turned the L.A. series around. I’m not saying we didn’t have a team effort, but he made some key, key plays. He’s that kind of player, a game changer,” said Bouchard’s partner Mattias Ekholm, who has been Bouchard’s mentor and safety net, but now maybe Bouchard is turning into more of the lead dog.
“I think the world of him as an offensive player, and he’s turning into a really good two-way defenceman. He’s on the penalty-kill now and he’s doing a lot of good things defensively. It’s a pleasure playing with him,” said Ekholm.
But Bouchard’s always going to have his detractors, when he doesn’t have the puck. After signing his four-year contract for an AAV of $10.5 million this summer, making Bouchard the NHL’s fourth-highest defenceman cap hit after Erik Karlsson’s $11.5 million and Rasmus Dahlin and Drew Doughty’s $11 million, Bouchard will have even more weight on him now.
“You get paid that much, you have to up your game a bit,” he said.
“But I want to do that year after year, no matter what the contract is.”
Oiler coach Kris Knoblauch thinks Bouchard is wired not to let much bug him. He’s never going to blow his own horn — he’s a man of not just few words but fewer words. But he’s got the rich contract after making $3.9 million before this, the Olympic hopes after not making Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off team, and trying to help the Oilers win their first Cup in the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl era.
“I don’t think much bothers Evan. There’s been a lot of noise, a lot of unnecessary noise of him not playing well, making mistakes and costing the team… but not much rattles him. He’s comfortable in his own skin,” said Knoblauch.
“He’s comfortable with who he is, and he doesn’t listen to the outside noise. The new contract, the Olympics coming up,” he said.
“Last year, there was the pressure of making the 4 Nations team, and when he didn’t, I think there was a lot of uncertainty with how good he is. Obviously, they (selectors) saw him in the playoffs in 2024 when he was outstanding, and he followed that up in 2025 with another one.”
“I think it’s going to be very difficult to keep him off (Olympic team). I see him every night, and I’m biased, but if there’s a lot of things going on, I don’t think Evan gets too high or too low. He’s got a good head on his shoulders,” he said.
It’s all about making plays for Bouchard. He hopes the folks picking the 2026 Olympic squad look at his body of work in the last few playoffs, when he’s upped his game (72 points in 61 games the last three years), when the heat’s been turned up full.
“You want your players playing their best when it matters the most. You look at our best players, McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard and how well they do it. That’s what you want. I think Evan’s silenced a lot of critics. He’s been tremendous in the playoffs and pretty darned good in regular season, and yes, there’s mistakes. But everybody makes them. He’s one of the elite defencemen in the NHL,” said Knoblauch.
Fact is, there are only about 10 or 12 true No.1 defencemen in the league. Bouchard is one of them. He doesn’t have the all-around game of, say, Roman Josi or Hedman. But, defencemen who have the puck all the time give it away. Or sometimes they lose focus, as Bouchard does, when it comes to checking.
The 4 Nations team selectors weren’t impressed the first four months last season with his lukewarm league play, especially without the puck, and didn’t take him. They also thought they had Cale Makar to run the first PP, and didn’t need the offensive wizardry of Bouchard. They probably do now, if they’re looking at his playoff work when the stakes are sky-high. Makar can’t play the full 120 seconds of an Olympic PP. At 5-on-5, fellow righty Alex Pietrangelo won’t be there, on long-term injury in Vegas and, Bouchard is better than another right-shot Noah Dobson.
“It’s definitely a goal of mine (Olympics) but my main focus is the start of the year. We’re focused on the Oilers,” he said.
No “damn, right I’m going to make it,” but declarations aren’t his style.
He’s not firing away unless it’s on the ice. Bouchard has the best point shot of any NHL defenceman, but should find the back of the net more. He had 235 shots last season but just 14 goals. That’s a six percent success rate. On the PP, he often defers to 97 and 29, not a bad thing, but not always the right thing.
“He’s got his sweet spot between 90 and 100 (miles an hour,) and he barely shoots lower or higher. It’s hard for goalies to save it when he hits the net,” said Bouchard.
Rounding out his game is what Bouchard badly wants, though.
Bouchard, who got a taste of penalty-killing in the playoffs with his 5-on-5 partner Ekholm out with a torn adductor muscle, and Ty Emberson not dressing, did enough for coach Kris Knoblauch to do it again in the regular season. But they can’t overdo it even if most of the true No. 1 D (Makar, Hedman, Josi) also kill penalties.
Bouchard already played the most minutes of any Oiler last season (1923:35), 140 minutes more than Darnell Nurse, and with scant PK work. He played 1636:06 even-strength (No. 1) and 269:01 on the PP (No. 1). He only got 18:28 shorthanded.
Makar was 171:17 shorthanded last season. Hedman 126:31, Josi 76 minutes in 53 games. Bouchard far less.
“Bouch will take more responsibility on the penalty-kill,” said Knoblauch, “but we don’t want his ice-time to be outstanding, so we’re not pushing him so much it takes away from the rest of the game.
Indeed, if his PK goes up to 150 minutes for a season, he’ll be averaging 25:30 a night. That’s probably overkill.
“But Evan has a good stick, reads the play well (as an offensive-minded D who plays on the PP). He makes plays and can get the puck down the ice for fresh bodies. Most PP goals are off poor clears where they take advantage of tired players,” said Knoblauch.
Bouchard is all in on the PK. Extra minutes? So what?
“Penalty-killing keeps you involved in the game…it’s a step I want to take,” said Bouchard.
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