Oilers star Evan Bouchard disrespected again by latest rankings

Edmonton Oilers top blueliner, Evan Bouchard, is no stranger to not getting his flowers. Look no further than last season when Bouchard dominated and had a career year, leading all NHL defencemen in scoring with 95 points (21 goals, 74 assists) in 81 games yet was not even a James Norris Trophy finalist for best defenceman. 

There are many reasons for him possibly being overlooked for the award from an “east coast bias” by the voters and fans to the wider perception of Bouchard as a player — which I will touch on later.

Now, despite a career year and him leading the entire NHL in scoring by his position, he has fallen in the Top 50 Players power ranking by the NHL Network. Heading into last season Bouchard was the 37th ranked player and this season, he has dipped down to 40th, a head scratching move to put it lightly.

This follows rankings released last month of the NHL's top defenceman, which placed Bouchard 10th behind other notable names such as; Cale Makar, Moritz Seider, Zach Werenski, and Lane Hutson amongst others.

Bouchard is constantly disrespected by the NHL

Bouchard was drafted 10th overall at the 2018 NHL Draft by the Oilers. Following his draft year, he continued developing at the Junior level with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Between the OHL and his time with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League, and Sodertalje SK of the Hockey Allsvenskan, he took a few years to solidify an NHL role, playing his first full season in 2021-22.

Since then, Bouchard has consistently played over 80 games a season, adding no less than 40 points, doing so in his sophomore season in 2022-23. Even more impressive are his point totals the past three seasons which are 82, 67, and 95 points respectively. In total, Bouchard has scored 333 points (76 goals, 257 assists) in 429 games. As is evident, Bouchard has solidified himself as one of the league's best point producers from the back end in the entire league and has been a fairly consistent performer.

Despite him establishing himself as one of the best defencemen in the NHL, Bouchard has his fair share of detractors who do not hesitate to diminish his achievements. He seems to carry around the label of a one-dimensional player who is bad at defence, largely due to lapses in his own zone with bad turnovers and what some would point to as poor defensive efforts. Furthermore, he carries a label as a player who benefits from fellow star teammates in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Although you can point to individual defensive breakdowns and poor puck management, the fact of the matter is that Bouchard is not unique in his lapse, many players and stars are. For whatever reason, these problems are consistently amplified amongst fans and media. As well, a cursory look at his numbers dispells this notion with his goal share, dangerous chances, and shot attempts numbers holding up just fine without Draisaitl or McDavid.

At 5-on-5, Bouchard played 314:12 without McDavid or Draisaitl on the ice last season. In that time he had a 51.2% corsi for percentage, a 50.8% expected goals for percentage, and 46.4% goals for percentage without them. This compares to a 49.9% CF%, 51.4% xGF%, and 51.6% GF% for McDavid without Draisaitl or Bouchard on the ice and a 47.8% CF%, 49.4% xGF% and a 50% GF% for Draisaitl without the other two.

The numbers are very comparable for all three, with a slight drop in goals for, for Bouchard without the other two. However, it should be kept in mind that the goals for percentage without all three players on the ice is 37.2%. This proves that Bouchard is more than capable of driving offence without the other two Oilers superstars, subverting the narrative that is used to diminish his success.

The problem with these narratives, is that they are allowed to fester, largely due to an 'east-coast bias' that persists around the NHL. The bulk of the major markets across North America in the NHL are Eastern based, meaning that most fans may only consistently see highlights from teams in the West and the media largely ignores the West. Given there are less eyes on a nightly basis, this causes players like Bouchard who get negative labels to stick around in the mainstream for longer.

This perception of him, which largely stem from overblown flaws in his game or completely fabricated narratives, has caused him to drop three spots in a top 50 rankings, even after a career year where he nearly hit 100 points. This disrespect is an unfortunate reality for the Oilers number one defenceman, and it does not seem like it is going to go away for a long time.