Evan Bouchard Out For Remainder Of World Championship

While Canada will continue on at the World Championship following a quarterfinal victory over the United States today, they’ll be doing so without a key blueliner.  In an appearance on Oilers Now (audio link), Oilers GM Stan Bowman confirmed that defenseman Evan Bouchard is out for the rest of the tournament due to injury.

That injury was sustained in today’s contest.  In the first period, he received a hit to the head from blueliner Ryan Lindgren and appeared to briefly lose consciousness.  He was eventually helped off the ice and did not return while Lindgren received a match penalty for the infraction.

Bouchard was believed to be playing through concussion-like symptoms during their opening-round series against Anaheim and if that’s the case, it’s safe to say that Edmonton’s preference, regardless of the severity of the hit, would be to shut him down.  Bowman indicated that while Bouchard is injured, it’s not as bad as it initially looked and he should be fine for the start of training camp.

Bouchard found a new gear offensively this season in Edmonton, blasting past his previously career highs by tallying 21 goals and 74 assists in 82 games.  Despite playing at less than full strength in the postseason, he still chipped in with a goal and six helpers in their six-game loss.  Meanwhile, points were a little harder to come by in this tournament although Bouchard is tied for the team lead in points (with Oilers teammate Darnell Nurse) with six points in eight outings although he won’t be adding to that number now.

If Canada can find a replacement player, they are eligible to remove Bouchard from their active roster and put the new player on it.  Given that they kept an open spot until just today (when Sam Dickinson was added to the roster), it seems unlikely that they’ll be able to do so.  Instead, Dickinson will likely make his tournament debut in the semifinal on Saturday against Finland.