Kris Knoblauch Pushes Back on Criticism of Evan Bouchard’s Defense

Evan Bouchard is almost always a major topic of discussion around the hockey world for one reason or another. His offensive abilities stack up with the best defensemen in the world, and while he’s capable of playing sound defense, every once in a while, there’s a major gaffe or mistake that fans love to harp on.

One of those came on Saturday night, when Brock Faber blew by Bouchard before roofing it past Connor Ingram to make it 7–3 late in the third period of Edmonton’s loss to Minnesota. It wouldn’t have been a fun clip to look back on in the film room; however, according to his head coach, the criticism has been blown out of proportion, and it wasn’t really Bouchard’s fault.

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Kris Knoblauch came to the defense of his star defenseman when asked about the play during an appearance on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer on Monday.

Knoblauch said:

“Bouch probably got a lot of criticism because it looked like he was beating himself up after that goal, but maybe the only thing he could have done on that play is communicate who’s on the ice. But the responsibility for that play — it’s not Bouch. Bouch is in the position that he was supposed to be in. Yeah, there’s no positional fault from him,”

The 26-year-old Bouchard is in the midst of a fantastic season, having racked up 60 points (15 goals, 45 assists) across 56 games played thus far. He’s in year one of the four-year, $42 million extension signed with the Oilers this past summer.

Evan Bouchard is Making a Case for the Norris Trophy

Bouchard is having a spectacular season and deserves to be right in the middle of Norris Trophy conversations, whether people want to admit it or not.

After a slow start to the year — like everyone on the Oilers — Bouchard has been red hot ever since, becoming almost impossible to keep off the scoresheet as he paces toward career-best point production.

His 60 points are tied with Zach Werenski for the most among defensemen in the NHL, now ahead of the likes of Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. And these aren’t all just cookies on the power-play benefiting from playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, either. Bouchard is also third in the league at his position in even-strength points (39) and sports a +12 rating, one of only two Oilers blueliners with a rating better than +5.

The fact that he didn’t make the Canadian Olympic team remains head-scratching, especially given the fact that he’s coming off a month of January in which he racked up as many points as six of the defensemen who were selected for Team Canada combined.

So while Bouchard isn’t a perfect player — nobody is — the positives he brings to the table not only outweigh the negatives, they show up far more often than the occasional miscues he makes from time to time.

Next: Insider Hints at the Idea of a Patrik Laine-for-Andrew Mangiapane Swap