{"id":569869,"date":"2026-05-08T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/569869\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T11:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:00:26","slug":"oilers-d-man-evan-bouchard-upset-over-norris-trophy-snub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/569869\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers D-man Evan Bouchard \u2018upset\u2019 over Norris Trophy snub"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u2018 Evan Bouchard<\/a> did not hide his frustration after being left off the NHL<\/a>\u2019s 2025\u201326 Norris Trophy finalist list, despite producing one of the best offensive seasons by a defenseman in recent league history.<\/p>\n

The NHL announced Rasmus Dahlin<\/a>, Cale Makar<\/a>, and Zach Werenski<\/a> as the three finalists for the James Norris Memorial Trophy on May 7. So, Bouchard\u2019s exclusion has emerged as a surprise.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on TSN\u2019s OverDrive, Bouchard admitted the omission stings after leading all NHL defensemen with 95 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw that come out, I was definitely upset a little bit,\u201d Bouchard said. \u201cBut you can\u2019t really let that bother you. You don\u2019t really think about it too much during the season. You got a bigger picture team thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I didn\u2019t think about it too much until it came out today. Stings a little bit, but you know what? You get back at it, and you forget about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Leon Draisaitl shares honest truth on Oilers future with Connor McDavid<\/a><\/p>\n

Bouchard\u2019s numbers alone made the case difficult to ignore. He finished with 21 goals and 74 assists across 82 games, becoming one of the select few defenseman in NHL history to surpass 90 points in a season. Evan in the playoffs he had 7 points in 6 games.<\/p>\n

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Evan Bouchard\u2019s offensive dominance was not enough\"Edmonton<\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard (2) skates in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center<\/p>\n

Historically, a 95-point season from a defenseman almost guarantees a Norris nomination. In most years, it likely wins the award outright.<\/p>\n

This year was different because voters looked beyond raw production.<\/p>\n

Makar (79 points) anchored the league\u2019s top penalty kill and drove a Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning team. Dahlin (74 points) transformed the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> into a division champion. Werenski (81 points) carried massive minutes for the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> while leading their offense from the back end.<\/p>\n

Bouchard admitted the competition, saying, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of great defensemen in the league, so it\u2019s kinda hard to pick between three of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bouchard\u2019s challenges have also played a role, since the Oilers regressed badly defensively all season. Edmonton finished 25th in goals against, struggled on the penalty kill, and often looked disconnected structurally in its own zone.<\/p>\n

MORE: Oilers need Penguins-style support system for Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl<\/a><\/p>\n

Fair or not, Norris voting still rewards two-way impact. Bouchard\u2019s offensive generation was elite, but his defensive game remained polarizing around the league, paired with the Oilers\u2019 struggles.<\/p>\n

Edmonton\u2019s bigger issues hurt his candidacy<\/p>\n

The Oilers\u2019 first-round 4-2 exit against the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> likely reinforced existing concerns among voters.<\/p>\n

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Bouchard posted seven playoff points, but he also finished with a minus-7 rating during a series where Edmonton repeatedly lost defensive coverage battles. The Oilers surrendered eight power-play goals in six games and blew multiple leads after scoring first.<\/p>\n

That matters because perception often shapes award races. When a team collapses defensively, its top-pair defenseman usually absorbs part of the blame.<\/p>\n

MORE: NHL analyst warns Connor McDavid could leave Oilers to chase Stanley Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, Bouchard\u2019s frustration is understandable. At 26, he remains one of hockey\u2019s premier puck-moving defensemen and arguably the league\u2019s most dangerous power-play quarterback outside Makar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers\u2018 Evan Bouchard did not hide his frustration after being left off the NHL\u2019s 2025\u201326 Norris Trophy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5125],"tags":[233,229,1116,230,155,2881,198,146,5300,425,5,370,4,2567,24,4011,4991,2566],"class_list":{"0":"post-569869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-buffalo-sabres","10":"tag-cale-makar","11":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","12":"tag-connor-mcdavid","13":"tag-defenseman","14":"tag-edmonton","15":"tag-edmonton-oilers","16":"tag-edmontonoilers","17":"tag-evan-bouchard","18":"tag-hockey","19":"tag-leon-draisaitl","20":"tag-nhl","21":"tag-norris-trophy","22":"tag-oilers","23":"tag-rasmus-dahlin","24":"tag-the-oilers","25":"tag-zach-werenski"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116538614548283287","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}