Bowman Breaks Silence on Bouchard Heat and Massive Extension

Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman is pushing back against what he sees as unfair criticism directed at star defenseman Evan Bouchard. Speaking on the 100% Hockey podcast, Bowman praised Bouchard’s poise and impact after the blueliner signed a four-year, $10.5 million AAV extension this offseason.

“I think probably he takes too much criticism,” Bowman said. “He doesn’t make more mistakes than others—his just get magnified for some reason.”

That is true. In Edmonton, every mistake Bouchard makes it dissected and made front-page news. It’s one of the reasons he’s a polarizing player and his new contract garnered a ton of attention. His detractors will say he’s lazy, flippant, careless, and emotionless. Bowman doesn’t believe any of those descriptors are accurate.

Bowman says he’s been through this before. While the stakes weren’t as high, players like Corey Crawford in Chicago got some of the same criticism. For whatever reason, he inexplicably drew more heat than his peers, none of whom were perfect. And yes, Bouchard is not perfect. Bowman noted, “Bouch is kind of the same way… He’s an amazing player… Yeah, he has turnovers, but so does everybody… It’s just weird. For some reason, his seemed to get magnified. But he does so many amazing things with our group.”

Will Opinions on Bouchard Ever Change?

With a new contract in hand and based on the fact he took a shorter-term deal than an eight-year commitment, Bouchard has likely signed himself up for even more pushback from fans who were already hard on him. He seems to have the kind of personality where that won’t bother him. Making mistakes, “Doesn’t phase him one bit,” said Bowman. Fan opinions likely don’t either.