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Evan Bouchard's Shocking Next Contract With the Oilers Hinted at By Elliotte Friedman
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman just gave us a promising update on Stan Bowman's attempt to re-sign star defenseman Evan Bouchard this summer.

Evan Bouchard has become one of the NHL's top young defenseman ever since he took over on the Oilers top powerplay unit.

Over the last two seasons he has become a true offensive powerhouse, scoring 32 goals and 149 points in 163 games.

At just 25 years old he is already one of the best defenders in the league, and he only seems to be getting better as he takes on a bigger and bigger role for the team.

Naturally, re-signing the restricted free agent has become a top priority for Stan Bowman and the entire Oilers organization.

While there was never really that much concern coming from the Oilers fanbase about his status, it now appears as though any existing anxieties should be resolved soon.

This is because NHL insider Elliotte Friedman all but confirmed that the two sides were in an agreement for a deal around four years in length, with an average annual value around 9.5 million dollars.

'Evan Bouchard-there seemed to be a lot of confidence over the weekend that they're gonna get this sorted out. I wonder if it's gonna be around four times 9.5. Like, that's just numbers that were being thrown around here. We'll see. But there seems to be a lot of confidence that it's gonna get worked out.'

Such a deal would give the oilers just under 3 million dollars in cap space to work with for the remainder of the season.

However, with twelve forwards and six defensemen already under contract, that shouldn't be a problem, unless the team wants to make an upgrade in goal.

As things stand right now though, the Oilers appears to be heading into next season slightly worse off in terms of depth after trading Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks.

Furthermore, Connor Brown appears to be heading to free agency as well.

But with Mcdavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard still on the team, the Oilers will continue to be prime contenders for a Stanley Cup next season.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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