Why the Edmonton Oilers had to pay up for Evan Bouchard's new contract

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Itd be easy to look at Evan Bouchards new contract with a gaping mouth.

Itd be simpler still, now that hes set to become the NHLs fourth-highest-paid defenseman, to fret about what that means for the Edmonton Oilers chances of competing for the Stanley Cup not only next season but for years to come.

Advertisement The sticker shock might need some time to wear off.

Itll take some time for the feeling to dissipate about how things leading up to this point could have gone differently.

But the only thing worth truly caring about is that the Oilers have retained an elite defenseman, one theyd have been searching for if they ever lost him.

The deal is a whopper, to be sure.

Bouchard signing a four-year, $10.5 million AAV contract puts him behind just Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty and Rasmus Dahlin among the best-compensated blueliners.

The 25-year-old had arbitration rights and would have crushed the Oilers there by virtue of being one of the top point-producing defensemen in the game.

The Oilers got him locked up now avoiding any threat of another offer sheet even if its for just half of the maximum eight-year term and buys only two seasons of unrestricted free agency.

Theyre committing $1 million more per season than the Montreal Canadiens are paying the newly acquired Noah Dobson, a 2018 draft classmate and right-handed comparable, for 50 percent of the term.

Not only that, but Bouchard becomes the third Oiler to reach eight figures on an annual salary, joining Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, a potential impediment to team building in a hard-cap system.

Throw in any pricier McDavid extension for 2026-27 and Darnell Nurse almost being at that threshold hes not even halfway through his eight-year, $9.25 million AAV deal and Oilers management will have its hands full when it comes to backfilling what they hope is a championship-caliber lineup.

Itd be fair to look at Bouchards contract and critique the Oilers for letting the situation reach this point.

On the surface, letting Bouchard reach a $10.5 million cap hit before he starts his age-26 campaign shouldnt have happened.

It feels like another Nurse situation.

Advertisement Its not.

The Oilers were partially a victim of circumstances as Nurse got to his massive payday.

Oscar Klefbom had to miss the entire truncated 2021 season with a shoulder injury that wound up ending his career.

Nurse excelled in the increased role with the best campaign of his career at least before 2024-25 and was a year out from hitting the open market.

The Oilers simply couldnt afford to let him walk.

That summer, now-Oilers GM Stan Bowman acquired and signed Seth Jones to a massive long-term deal in Chicago.

Zach Werenski got the same treatment in Columbus.

Both got at least $9.5 million per season.

The die was cast for the Oilers when it came to keeping Nurse.

But theyd made their bed.

Former GM Peter Chiarelli bridged him once when the Oilers werent any good.

Ken Holland did the same when the Oilers were better.

He prioritized a four-year, $3.2 million AAV contract for Zack Kassian months ahead of him being able to test free agency out of concern for his depth at right wing.

Kassian rode shotgun next to McDavid and Draisaitl to secure the bag, and then seldom played with them again.

The Oilers should have signed Nurse earlier.

Much earlier and twice.

The Bouchard situation was different.

His new contract is the last remnants of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bouchard broke into the NHL as a part-time player during Nurses breakout 2021 campaign.

He was mostly on the taxi squad before becoming a regular the following season, eventually settling in with future Hall of Famer Duncan Keith.

By the end of the next season, 2022-23, Bouchard was an established player and trending toward becoming the offensive force he is now.

He recorded 40 points in 82 games and assumed the quarterback spot on the top power-play unit when Tyson Barrie was dealt before the trade deadline, guiding it the rest of the way toward an NHL-record 32.4 percent success rate.

Advertisement The Oilers got Mattias Ekholm in that Barrie trade, and he and Bouchard combined to become one of the leagues best pairings.

Bouchard led all defensemen in scoring with 17 points in the playoffs despite the Oilers getting knocked out in the second round.

Bouchards entry-level contract was up then.

Ideally, that would have been the time to bet big on him.

The Oilers couldnt do that.

It had taken five years for the salary cap to increase $2 million to $83.5 million for that 2023-24 season.

The Oilers were now firmly in the sphere of Stanley Cup contenders, unlike in those Nurse years, and were struggling to add anything they could to the roster just to try to make the team marginally better.

Mistakes along the way didnt help see, Jack Campbell but the only player they signed that offseason was Connor Brown to a league-minimum cap hit, plus performance bonuses because he was coming off an injury-plagued campaign in Washington.

The Oilers gave Bouchard, without arbitration rights, a two-year, $3.9 million AAV deal.

Things could have been so much different today if the Oilers had the ability to sign Bouchard to a long-term deal two years ago.

It was so obvious it would get close to or at this point now.

Though there are errors and sometimes massive ones when it comes to his defensive efforts, Bouchards offensive abilities have long been apparent.

Few of his peers can pass the puck from the goal line to an in-flight forward the way he can.

His vision at the offensive blue line is almost unparalleled.

His accurate and heavy shot has no equals.

Its not known as the Bouch Bomb for nothing.

It would have been wonderful for the Oilers had they dropped that average salary down a couple of years ago and signed Bouchard to a contract with more team control.

They couldnt and didnt.

Theyre paying for it now.

Advertisement At least they know theyre getting a special player even with a few warts someone whose skill set meshes so magically with the teams best players, McDavid and Draisaitl.

They know theyre getting someone whos third among defensemen in points over the last two seasons with 149.

They know theyre getting someone who led all blueliners in postseason scoring three years in a row.

Every time theres a big game or a big moment, he shows up.

Thats a skill that not everybody has, McDavid said during his season-ending availability.

Does he make some boo-boos every now and then in November? Sure.

We all do.

But his game has been just improving year after year.

It seems like month by month, he just gets better and better.

Hes incredibly important to the group.

Definitely a deal that needs to get done and one that is really important for us.

Thats just it.

Bouchards contract shouldnt make anyones eyes bulge.

Theres little to worry about here, even if the outcome could have been better for the Oilers not so long ago.

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images).

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