Oilers Get Bad, and Good News After Bouchard Suffers Scary Hit at Worlds

The good news is that Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard avoided serious injury after a frightening hit at the IIHF Men’s World Championship. The bad news is that, despite it not being serious, his tournament is officially over.

Bouchard was knocked out of Canada’s quarter-final matchup against Team USA after taking an illegal check to the head from American defenceman Ryan Lindgren. The hit occurred midway through the first period as Bouchard carried the puck into the offensive zone. He was slow to get up and required assistance leaving the ice, and did not return. Lindgren was ejected on the play.

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman later said that Bouchard is “OK”, noting he had been in direct contact with the d-man following the incident.

“He’s injured, but he’s doing well… thankfully it’s not worse than it was,” Bowman said, adding that the organization is staying in close touch.

While no official recovery timeline has been set, there is optimism given the long offseason ahead. Training camp remains months away, giving Bouchard time to recover. The hope is that this won’t affect his offseason training much, or delay his ability to come back and produce as he did during the 2025-26 season.

The 26-year-old had been enjoying a strong tournament, recording six points in eight games. That performance followed a career NHL season in which he posted 95 points. This injury will certainly stir up the debate about star players going over to non-NHL tournaments and what happens to their NHL teams when a serious injury occurs. In Bouchard’s case, there were reports (although denied by the Oilers) that he was already dealing with concussion issues.

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