Edmonton Oilers Evan Bouchard Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

How Evan Bouchard’s new four-year deal could become a bargain for the Oilers

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 2:00 PM ET

Evan Bouchard is set to become the fourth defenceman in the NHL to earn over $10 million per year next season, having signed a four-year, $10.5 million AAV deal with the Edmonton Oilers earlier this week.

He’ll join a class that has been limited to Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Rasmus Dahlin next season in thanks to his new deal that will walk him to unrestricted free agency in July 2029. Reading between the lines of the public information surrounding negotiations and looking at his contract, it’s easy to surmise that Bouchard was asking for significantly more money on a deal that carried an eight-year term.

It makes sense for the player, as the salary cap is set to rise roughly 18 percent over the next three years — and potentially even further in the following years — making his deal look like a bargain in the near future.

According to PuckPedia, Bouchard’s deal will pay him $1million in base salary in all four seasons, carrying signing bonuses of $11 million in each of the first two years, and $8 million in each of the final two years. While he has no trade protection in the first two years, he will have a no-movement clause in the final two.

Bouchard #LetsGoOilers 4 year $10.5M Cap Hit Deal:

Yr 1 1M Base & 11M Signing Bonus
Yr 2 1M & 11M SB
Yr 3 1M & 8M SB, No Move Clause
Yr 4 1M & 8M SB, No Move Clause

Deal covers 2 UFA years

Rep'd by Dave Gagner @wassermanhockey https://t.co/dY7KBLpg9f

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 2, 2025

There’s no denying how good Bouchard has been offensively. Over the last four seasons, he’s racked up 52 goals and 232 points in the regular season, adding 20 goals and 81 points in 75 playoff games over those years. He’s set records in the playoffs, like the single playoff assist record by a defenceman in 2024, and is now one of four defencemen in the NHL with over a point-per-game in the playoffs in at least 75 games played.

Bouchard hasn’t hit his peak as an NHL’er yet, either, with just 347 regular season games under his belt, but he’s now entering the ages which are considered his prime years, between 25 and 39 years old, when his contract will expire. He spoke Tuesday about his desire to find more consistency in his game and continue to grow as a defensive player, and if he’s able to do that, his next contract is going to be even bigger.

What else will play to his benefit is that two superstar defencemen are due for new deals before Bouchard enters the third year of his contract. The Colorado Avalanches’ Cale Makar will see his six year, $9million AAV deal expire, as will the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, with his six-year, $7.85 million deal expiring after the 2026-27 season.

They will set the new benchmark for defencemen in the league, and if Bouchard’s game rounds out — and if he can find a way to win a Norris over that time — there’s a chance he raises the bar even higher. Nonetheless, even looking at the contracts handed out to defencemen as extensions or as free agents, and all of a sudden that $10.5 million price tag starts to look good.

This article first appeared on Oilersnation and was syndicated with permission.

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