6:33 p.m.: The Oilers have announced Bouchard’s new extension.
3:32 p.m.: As first reported by Cam Robinson of EliteProspects and later confirmed by TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Edmonton Oilers are putting the finishing touches on an extension for pending restricted free agent defenseman Evan Bouchard. Once completed, the deal is reportedly a four-year, $42MM extension, with a $10.5MM AAV.
The deal will eat up nearly all of Edmonton’s remaining cap space. Still, it was their most important piece of business to complete this summer, and they’ll now have clarity on their salary cap situation heading into the start of free agency.
According to Frank Seravalli, there were conversations regarding an eight-year agreement, but the price was too high for the Oilers to stomach for the time being. It makes sense given that Edmonton was already fairly tight to the upper limit of the salary cap, and this deal will make Bouchard the fourth-highest defenseman in the league (in terms of AAV) behind Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Rasmus Dahlin.
Aside from the generational talents playing in front of him, Bouchard has been a focal point of the Oilers reaching back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, largely due to his offensive capabilities. From 2021 to 2023, Bouchard was a quality top-four blue liner for Edmonton, scoring 20 goals and 83 points in 163 games with a +16 rating while averaging 19:09 of ice time per night. He was even better in the postseason, scoring seven goals and 26 points in 28 games while averaging over 20 minutes a game.
His output over the last two years has completely dwarfed those numbers. Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Bouchard has scored an exceptional 32 goals and 149 points in 163 regular-season contests, with 61 of those points coming on Edmonton’s powerplay. Furthermore, in the postseason, he continues to improve, scoring 13 goals and 55 points in 47 games with a +20 rating. 
Unfortunately, there are warranted concerns over Bouchard’s play in the defensive zone. Throughout his entire career with the Oilers, Bouchard has received extremely favorable deployment, starting 58.6% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Assuming he’s playing with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl the majority of the time, the expectation is that Edmonton can control the play enough where they won’t have to rely on Bouchard to be in a shutdown role.
For the most part, he’s never needed to play in that role, but his defensive metrics continue to suffer. This past season, his on-ice save percentage at even strength fell to a career-low of 88.8%, marking a continual decline since the 2021-22 season.
Still, Bouchard has consistently maintained a positive impact on the game, as he has never experienced a season where the Oilers have failed to outscore their opponents at even strength while he is on the ice. This trend continues despite his defensive weaknesses.
At any rate, it’s important to note that Bouchard has averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time over the past two years for the reigning Western Conference champions. Regardless of his shortcomings in the defensive zone, he’s been the top defenseman on a Stanley Cup-caliber team for some time.
Now, with a brand new four-year contract in place, Edmonton will have additional clarity as extension negotiations begin with McDavid in a few weeks. They’ll likely want to keep McDavid on a longer-term deal than they’ve got with Bouchard, but they know the available capital they’ll have in a few years. Unfortunately for Edmonton and potentially McDavid, Bouchard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2028-29 NHL season.
Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.
Should be fun watching him collapse in the late rounds of the playoffs for years to come. Can’t wait!
Not surprised by Edmonton signing Evan Bouchard. Some may argue his $10.5M AAV is a bit high but I must say the term is shorter then I expected but Bouchard probably wanted to capitalize on making even more in 4 years with a new deal with an even a bigger cap by then. Overall, it’s a good signing for Edmonton but Bouchard still has some areas to improve in his game.
I was thinking 10mil would get them at least 6 years. Wow! Good for Bouchard
Not sure why LA can’t to same and sign a cornerstone player like Gavy.
Gavrikov is not a 10 million dollar player.
Because Ken Holland isn’t an idiot.
Lol, Holland is an idiot! He put the Oilers in cap hell every year. Kings will find out quickly
But is Bouchard a 10MM player? He got it, but I don’t think he is.
No he isnt a 10 million dollar player but what choice did Edm have?
Paying him more than Makar, werenski, josi, hedman and Hughes is hilarious 😂
Makar, Werenski and Hughes signed their deals 4 years ago, Josi 5 years ago, and Hedman was 33 years old when he signed his. Apples to oranges comparisons.
Cool story. Who would you rather have tho? If you say Bouchard you’re lying
I’d rather have Makar. Your contract comparisons still make no sense.
I don’t see how McDavid stays in Edmonton unless he agrees to a discount. Even if he gets $14mil thats the same as Draisaitl and that would require a ton of contracts to disappear.
So where does McDavid go?
The Nurse deal at 9.25mil until 2030 will be the nail in the coffin for the Oilers and there future with McDavid
Bouchard is an awesome fantasy hockey player.
Didn’t watch the actual player enough until this year’s playoffs…terrible. Guy plays LOSING hockey almost every night. Turnovers, soft play, no stick, no jam. I get that he’s great on PP but…
Between him, Nurse, the wrong mix on the bottom six and no goalie…it’s amazing how much weight McDavid and Draisital can carry.
This is correct. I have him on my dynasty team and he’s incredibly valuable; however, if you watch the highlights of virtually any Oilers game from the last few seasons, he will make an egregious turnover that leads to a goal.
By this logic, McDavid is a $20 million dollar player. Serious overpay.
Looks like overpayment season has started early this year
The term on this deal is fitting, The money is obscene when you consider Bouchards playoff resume.
Much rather have Ekblad even at the same pay