Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman pushes back against what he sees as unfair criticism aimed at star defender Evan Bouchard. Talk about the 100% Hockey podcastBowman praised Bouchard’s balance and impact after the Blueliner had signed a four-year-old, $ 10.5 million AAV extension this season.
“I think he probably has too much criticism,” said Bowman. “He makes no more mistakes than others – for some reason he is simply enlarged.”
That’s true. In Edmonton every mistake Bouchard makes it dissected and made news on the front page. It is one of the reasons why he is a polarizing player and his new contract has received a lot of attention. His opponents will say that he is lazy, flappy, careless and emotionless. Bowman does not believe that one of those descriptors is accurate.
Bowman says he has experienced this before. Although the deployment was not that high, players like Corey Crawford received some of the same criticism in Chicago. For whatever reason, he inexplicably attracted more heat than his colleagues who were no one perfect. And yes, Bouchard is not perfect. Bowman noticed: “Bouch is a bit the same way … He is a great player … Yes, he has sales, but everyone too … It’s just strange. For some reason he seemed to be enlarged. But he does so many great things with our group.”
Will opinions about Bouchard ever change?
With a new contract in hand and based on the fact that he concluded a shorter term deal than an eight -year obligation, Bouchard probably registered for even more pushback from fans who were already hard on him. He seems to have the kind of personality where that will not disturb him. Making mistakes, “doesn’t phase a little,” said Bowman. Fan -probably not either.
“He just goes back and makes good plays,” said Bowman. “He is a great athlete, super sustainable, and played a lot of pain during the play -offs.”
The oilers see him as one of the three essential players in the team alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. That is why the team gave him the money they did. Whether he can prove that he is worth it and will change the minds of people about him will be one of the big storylines of the 2025-26 season.
With Bouchard who continues to prove himself as the top defender of Edmonton in both the regular season and the play -offs, Bowman believes that the new deal is well spent – and the criticism is exaggerated. This can be a big season for the defender. He may not worry about changing people’s thoughts, but he has a good opportunity to do this.
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