Bouchard Almost Bolted for Eastern Contender via Offer Sheet

The Edmonton Oilers locked up star defenceman Evan Bouchard to a four-year, $42 million contract this offseason—but not without paying a premium to fend off a potential offer sheet from the Carolina Hurricanes.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the original expectation was for Bouchard to sign for around $9.5 million per season. However, the threat of Carolina swooping in with an offer sheet forced Edmonton’s hand, pushing the final deal to $10.5 million annually—an extra $1 million per year to ensure Bouchard remained an Oiler.

Friedman noted that Edmonton found out Carolina was going to make the offer, and it wasn’t until the Oilers got Bouchard signed that the Hurricanes pivoted to the New York Rangers and defenceman K’Andre Miller. Edmonton quickly closed the deal with their defenseman to get the Hurricanes to go away. GM Stan Bowman wasn’t about to lose his guy for $1 million per season.

Did This Mean Bouchard Was Going to Accept the Offer Sheet?

These comments from Friedman are intriguing because if there was a real threat to the Oilers, it meant Bouchard was considering taking the offer sheet. Remember, a player has to be willing to sign the offer sheet for the team that owns his rights to lose him. Carolina could have offered $15 million per season, but if Bouchard were never going to leave, there would have been no threat.

The Oilers wouldn’t be worried about Bouchard accepting the offer sheet if they had an indication that wasn’t on his radar. We can use Matthew Knies’ situation as an example. There could have been concerns of an offer sheet there too, however, he signed for six seasons at a very reasonable rate of $7.75 million per season. It will ultimately prove to be a great deal for both parties in the long term. The reason, Knies made it clear an offer sheet was not on his radar.