Evan Bouchard Demoted by Oilers, While Young D-Man Gets His Shot

The Edmonton Oilers look to be sending Evan Bouchard a message. In practice on Thursday, the Oilers were rolling similar forward lines, but the defense had a different look. Specifically, Bouchard was no longer paired with Mattias Ekholm, and was instead skating with Brett Kulak in the bottom pair. Phil Broberg was being given second-pairing ice time with Ekholm.

The @EdmontonOilers morning skate:

Kane-Draisaitl-Janmark
Foegele-RNH-Hyman
Holloway-McLeod-Brown
Erne-Ryan

Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Broberg
Kulak-Bouchard
Desharnais

Skinner
Campbell

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) October 26, 2023

If the Oilers go into their game with the New York Rangers with these lines, the assumption would still be that Bouchard will get the first-unit power play minutes, but his 5-vs-5 ice time will be limited as part of the changes.

This all comes after a game against the Minnesota Wild where Bouchard had three points, but was also on the ice for multiple goals against. In fact, he was largely responsible for the Wild coming back in the third period and scoring five goals in that frame to give the Wild the win and put the Oilers a 1-4-1 on the season. Bouchard has been productive offensively, but his defensive awareness has been lacking. The Oilers appear to be tired of allowing his gaffes to hurt the team in the win/loss column.

At the very least, playing Bouchard in sheltered minutes seems like the right way to start correcting whatever is going on in his game. This is not the same player who was incredible down the stretch last season as the Oilers made a run into the postseason and went a couple of rounds in the playoffs. Bouchard was among the team’s most productive players during that stretch and he can play both sides of the ice.

Part of the issue seems to be a new defensive structure the Oilers have put in place. It’s taking some time to adjust. It may not excuse Bouchard’s lack of defense, but it might help explain some of his early issues.

The Oilers Need to Turn Things Around

Without Connor McDavid in the lineup, the Oilers are expected to struggle a bit. Already off to an incredibly poor start, there’s no time for errors like the ones Bouchard — and to be fair, others, — are making.

Sportsnet color analyst Louie DeBrusk said of the way the team has played so far this season: “The players seem to think they know what to do, but they haven’t been in sync. It doesn’t matter what system you play, you have to protect the front of the net and they are not doing it. They are thinking too much and not reacting.”

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