Team Canada Snub Looks Awkward After Bouchard’s 6-Point Night

Evan Bouchard let his play speak for itself Saturday night. Stoic by nature, the Oilers defenceman plays a high-risk game that produces elite highs and frustrating lows — a contrast that may have factored into his omission from Team Canada’s 2026 Olympic roster.

The Edmonton Oilers defenceman delivered one of the most dominant performances by a blueliner in NHL history, recording his first career hat trick and adding three assists in a 6–5 overtime win over the Washington Capitals. The six-point night came in Bouchard’s 400th regular-season game and placed him in rare company, joining Bobby Orr, Tom Bladon, and Doug Crossman as the only defencemen to ever post three goals and three assists in a single game.

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It was the kind of performance that inevitably reignites conversation — and in this case, scrutiny — surrounding Bouchard’s absence from Canada’s Olympic roster.

Did Team Canada Make a Big Mistake Not Taking Bouchard?

While Hockey Canada opted for experience and familiarity (taking the entire 4 Nations crew) on the blue line, Bouchard continues to build a compelling case that leaving him off the team may have been a miscalculation. For example, Drew Doughty has zero points and is a -12 in 11 games played since being named to Team Canada’s 2026 Olympic roster. Bouchard has 18 points.

At 26 years old, he’s not only producing at an elite level offensively, but increasingly impacting games in all situations. Against Washington, he logged heavy minutes, delivered a notable hit on Alex Ovechkin, made key defensive plays, and was directly involved in the overtime winner by springing Connor McDavid on a breakaway.

“As good a game as I’ve seen from a D-man,” the Oilers captain said. “His best is among the best in the world. Not just D-men. Players.”

Bouchard Should Have Been Picked For Team Canada

Bouchard now sits at 14 goals and 41 assists on the season, firmly establishing himself among the league’s top offensive defencemen. He’s also proven he’s more than an offensive threat. When he’s needed to come up with big performances, he does. In the playoffs, his game gets elevated to a level that few can match. Nothing is arguably bigger than the Olympics, yet when the Olympic selections were finalized, his name was missing.

The Oilers needed every bit of Bouchard’s brilliance to escape with two points in a chaotic game that exposed defensive flaws elsewhere in the lineup. But amid the noise, one takeaway stood out clearly.

If there were still doubts about whether Bouchard belongs on the sport’s biggest international stage, nights like this only make that omission harder to justify.

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