Oilers & Evan Bouchard Make It Official With New Contract

There have been reports for the past couple of days that the Edmonton Oilers and Evan Bouchard have all but finalized a contract. It has now been finalized and the young defenseman will have a cap hit of $3.9 million AAV for two seasons and will still be a restricted free agent after the deal.

🗣️ BOOOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHHHH

The #Oilers have signed defenceman Evan Bouchard to a two-year contract with an AAV of $3.9 million. #LetsGoOilers
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) August 24, 2023

This two-year contract gives the Oilers a great opportunity to win the Stanley Cup before Bouchard and others will see significant raises. He has the opportunity to put up a massive number of points this season for the Oilers after 19 points in his final 21 regular season games in 2022-23 once Mattias Ekholm arrived, and 17 points (15 on the power play) in 12 games in the playoffs.

Bouchard led all defensemen in playoff points by four despite exiting in the second round. According to Jack Michaels, Bouchard and Nurse give the Oilers two of the top-30 defensemen in even strength points over the past two seasons. Bouchard is now securely running point on the top power play in the league and has a stabilizing force in Ekholm by his side. This deal works well for the Oilers in the short term, but will likely have to dish out a big payday in two years time to Bouchard, and make it a long-term deal.