Bouchard’s Aware of the Problem. Will the Oilers Force a Solution?

Evan Bouchard is not a bad hockey player. He is playing like a terrible one right now, however. Keenly aware that his turnovers are ghastly and causing the Edmonton Oilers to lose hockey games, a dejected Bouchard spoke with the media after another bad outing on Thursday and said, “That’s definitely gotta get cleaned up, but playing harder will have to be something that I do.” He added that he knows it’s not OK to be making such glaring mistakes at the Game 11 mark. “You just have to find a way to battle through it.”

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The problem for the Oilers is that they’ve tried to let him battle through it, and that doesn’t seem to be working.

He’s not been benched, healthy scratched, pulled off the power play, or punished in any kind of way for the same turnovers and errors he’s coughing up on an almost nightly basis. That has to change. “If you’re going to be a leader, you’re not going to please everybody. You have to hold people accountable, even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.” – Kobe Bryant

This is something head coach Kris Knoblauch will need to embrace with Bouchard. It’s time to hold the defenseman accountable, because he appears unable to get out of this funk on his own.

The Options Available When It Comes To Bouchard

Bouchard has to learn to manage the puck better. He can’t force plays, even if he’s got the skill to make them. He needs to read and react better to his surroundings and find a way to play the same style of hockey in October as he does in June.

And, if he can’t find that level of play on his own, the Oilers need to force it out of him.

That leaves a few options. First, bench him. The challenge is that the time to send that message has passed. There have been at least two games where Bouchard has been the worst player on the ice for both teams, and he’s not been sat. In fact, his minutes have often gone up. Benching him requires letting him make another terrible mistake and then holding him accountable. What sense does that make when the message needs to be sent right now?

Second, make him a healthy scratch. The Oilers likely won’t do that either. Pulling Bouchard from a game completely hurts the team. It’s one thing to miss a few shifts or even a period. It’s another to pull your best defenseman (and yes, he is their best defenseman) off the ice for an entire game.

Finally, revoke his power-play privileges. This might be the best and most logical move of the three. Players absolutely hate when their gravy minutes are suddenly gone. The thing that makes Bouchard so dangerous is capitalizing on the man advantage, where shifts should be earned and not given. If he’s suddenly told he can’t play again on the power play until his play at 5-v-5 warrants getting back there, Bouchard will do everything he can to earn back that golden ticket.

For the Oilers, slotting Jake Walman there in the meantime doesn’t hurt Edmonton as much as the other two options might. Walman has a bullet shot, is willing to use it, and has the skill set to be effective with Edmonton’s top guns. Forcing Bouchard to watch Walman’s point totals rise while his come from playing much harder minutes is the wake-up call he might need.

Knoblauch said, “We have to hold all of our players accountable. There’s a fine line on mistakes that periodically happen… if there’s an accumulation of mistakes that are costing us regularly, then yes, we need to hold everyone accountable.” Time to back up those words, coach. If you don’t, Bouchard’s season could slip even further.

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