PlusOne wrote on Mon, 18 November 2024 09:42

Kr55 wrote on Sun, 17 November 2024 19:44 Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 17 November 2024 18:43 Dragon_Matt wrote on Sun, 17 November 2024 16:24 Anyone thin Bouch is doing us a favor by reducing his next contract? I'd play hardball.. he had a great second half last year and playoffs.. this will be a 8 year contract.. its a long time.. and he doesn't have a long track record.. a big contract would be a big bet on 50/50 odds.. .. McDavid needs to be paid.. and still need to get some more talent up front for him.. Nuge is declining.. J. Skinner not helping.. also need a #1 or #2 RHD .. better Goalie ..etc.. etc.. Hardball likely leads to an offer sheet. And we can wait another decade or so for another top end offensive RHD. Yep. Outside of the obvious, McDavid and Draisaitl, there is no player on the Oilers who is more important in the sense he would be hardest the replace. This team spent 2 generations trying to find a Bouchard, offensive RHD. If Bouchard leaves for any reason they will be ok the same boat until the end of Drai and McDavids career. His defensive game has improved to acceptable most of the time. He wil never be a shut down D but for the most part his defense is passable and his offence is elite. Playing any form of hardball would be a tactical mistake. As others mentioned, any window for a low deal closed 2 years ago. Sign him to a fair market deal. Sell him on the idea of keeping the band together and try and shave off a bit. Annoying him into testing the RFA market would do nothing positive for the Oilers.

There's just no chance that a hardball strategy is going to be a good one unless we're intent on walking him to UFA and then watching him walk.

Bouchard made a couple mistakes against Toronto and he's had a slower start to this year and Edmonton fans love to have extremely little patience with defencemen. However, there's a few things to consider:

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Sid @NHL_Sid Two things can be true. A) Bouchard made awful, awful errors tonight. Absolutely no excuse. B) He has been on-ice for the 3rd fewest HD chances among all d-men (min. 300 TOI). I think the narrative around Bouchard would be much different if his on-ice SV% was higher than 0.887. ... Feel like I'm going crazy here. This is the *third* straight November where Bouchard has a PDO slump and the fanbase has "is Evan Bouchard a liability?" debates. Totally fair to be frustrated with his defensive lapses! But, we gotta calm down with the emotional overreactions.

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kailermemeamoto @KailerMemeamoto · Nov 17 The Edmonton Oilers are giving up BY FAR the least high danger chances against in the entire NHL. Stuart Skinner has a .877 sv%. If anyone tells you this is a defense issue, admit them to the psych ward.

Bouchard's offensive numbers are going to go up. The PP is going to get better this year. Goalies are going to stop being as lucky against the Oilers as we've seen early in the season. And that's a massive contract no matter how you cut it. As PlusOne says, the best way to negotiate it is by making clear that he understands that if he signs on at a team discount, then he gets to be here and part of the success. If he completely prices himself out, then he maybe eventually goes somewhere else and he might have great personal stats, but won't be part of the multiple Cups we're about to win.

Making a bad pass and having a weak backcheck in a game in Ontario is not the stuff hardball negotiations are made of.

"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
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