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Edmonton Oilers Evan Bouchard Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

Oilers Thoughts: Evan Bouchard and the threat of an offer sheet

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Liam Horrobin | Last updated Jun 28, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Stan Bowman has an important few days ahead of him with the NHL Draft this weekend and the league’s free agency period opening up on Tuesday.

With only four selections in the latter rounds, the draft isn’t as important as it was in previous years. But, nevertheless, you need to find value in the few picks you have. Free agency is where he’ll need to find the missing pieces to get Edmonton over the hump to become six-time Stanley Cup champions. Will he go big-fish hunting? We’ll see, but don’t be surprised to see a few middling forwards signed instead.

His primary focus looks to be signing his star players. Connor McDavid still has one year remaining, so there’s time to get that deal sorted out. McDavid made several key points clear in his end-of-year press conference, but the standout point was emphasizing the importance of signing Evan Bouchard to a new deal.

Reports suggest that conversations are going well with Bouchard, and a deal could be signed within the next week. We can assume the dollar figure is around $10 million; it’s the years that are becoming a more significant question mark. Will it be eight? Is it four? Are they going to arbitration for a one-year deal? Whatever the length is, let’s just hope it’s with the Edmonton Oilers.

The words “offer sheet” still evoke strong emotions among fans. Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg are brought up so often you’d think they were still on the team, if you didn’t already know. Bouchard’s contract is going to be larger, which would make you believe an offer sheet isn’t on the table. Unfortunately, there’s one team the Oilers’ management needs to keep at bay: the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have gone down the offer sheet route before acquiring Jesper Kotkaniemi in 2021 from Montreal. They also received an offer sheet for Sebastian Aho from the Habs, but Aho remained with the organization.

When the Oilers were interested in Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline earlier this year, the reports afterwards were that the Hurricanes wanted Bouchard in return. Stan Bowman turned down the offer, and rightfully so, resulting in Rantanen going to the Dallas Stars instead.

Carolina has a boatload of money to play with. They have almost $27 million in cap space with 13 forwards, six defencemen, and two goaltenders already signed. The only pending unrestricted free agents are Jack Roslovic, Tyson Jost, Brent Burns, and Dmitry Orlov. Up front, they have Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis locked in for at least the next four seasons. Jaccob Slavin is locked in on the blue line until 2033.

While Slavin is the focal point defensively, he needs more help. Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Walker and Jalen Chatfield are all reliable NHL players, but they’re complementary pieces. Alexander Nikishin is a promising player; he’s only 23 years old, so he’ll need time to grow.

Eric Tulsky showed his aggression last season, acquiring Rantanen, so what’s to say he won’t do it again? There are a few other teams that have the cap space to force Bouchard out of Edmonton as well, potentially. However, those teams are expected to compete for the Stanley Cup, so would they be willing to lose their first-round pick in a year they could draft Gavin McKenna? It seems unlikely.

As was mentioned earlier, Bouchard is going to come in at around $10 million. Any team that sends an offer sheet will likely offer more than that. An offer sent and accepted by the Bouchard camp, between $9,360,154 and $11,700,192, is going to cost the offering team two first-round picks (in the next three drafts), a 2026 second-round pick, and a 2026 third-round pick. Anything more than $11,700,193 is four first-round picks in compensation.

While the compensation assets are intriguing, the Oilers should have no interest in not matching and losing Bouchard. They’re in win-now mode, and losing one of the best offensive defencemen in the NHL is the best way to lose Connor McDavid to free agency.

They simply need to get everything done before July 1 to avoid all of this. An offer sheet is a threat, and Carolina is a team that shouldn’t be taken lightly. This summer could define Edmonton’s championship window. If they get it wrong, it won’t just be Bouchard they risk losing—it could be McDavid next.

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

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