When Do the Oilers Reach a Breaking Point With Evan Bouchard?

Evan Bouchard isn’t going anywhere, nor should he. Still, at some point, the excuses have to stop. The idea that the Edmonton Oilers should accept the good with the bad is fair — but only to a point. Thursday night felt like the moment Evan Bouchard reached the end of the rope he’d been given by fans, teammates, and coaches — and then snapped it.

“That’s about as bad a two periods as I’ve seen an NHL player play,” ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro said on the broadcast when talking about Bouchard’s night. Ferraro wasn’t seeing things. This was bad and the kind of bad that should make the Oilers stand up and say to him, ‘Not again…. This was the last time.’

The unfortunate part about Thursday was that Bouchard’s game against the New York Islanders wasn’t an outlier — it was part of a growing pattern. Bouchard can be one of the top defensemen in the NHL. He’s shown how elite he can be. Yet, he has a habit, particularly early in the regular season every year, to pull this kind of stuff. It’s Déjà vu, and it’s not OK.

Bouchard has been in the league long enough to have worked these warts out of his game. What’s worse is that he’s now being paid not to make them.

The $10.5 million defenseman, paid like one of the top defensemen in the NHL and compensated to be the Edmonton Oilers’ cornerstone blueliners, once again had a night where his mistakes were impossible to ignore. Risk has always been part of his game, but the balance has tilted too far toward reckless.

This Was As Bad as Bouchard Has Ever Looked for the Oilers

Bouchard wasn’t just having an off night. He was inexcusably terrible. Several turnovers, bad decisions, lack of offense, lapses in judgment, and overconfidence were just some of the errors he made. Perhaps he’s not made them to the degree he made them Thursday night, so in that regard, this was an outlier. It felt like the kind of night where he knew he was off, and things compounded because he tried to make up for it. He should have been benched if everyone knew he didn’t have it. Honestly, it would have been a mercy pull.

From a neutral-zone giveaway that led directly to a Mathew Barzal breakaway goal, to a shorthanded blunder on the power play that sprung Bo Horvat for another, Bouchard’s errors defined the 4–2 loss. These weren’t unlucky bounces. They were mental lapses — the kind that championship teams can’t afford from their most expensive defenseman.

Coach Kris Knoblauch said simply, “I’ve seen Evan play better.” We asked if he’s willing to accept the good with the bad, Knoblauch responded, “We cannot just accept that. Mistakes happen, but you have to address what types of mistakes are happening.”

Regarding the mistakes that occurred, Bouchard took the heat after the game and tried to explain what was going through his mind when he essentially gave the game to the Islanders. The Barzal goal against him was just a bad play. On the Horvat short-handed tally, Bouchard explained: “I thought I’d be able to keep it in if he [Pageau] chipped it up the wall. Obviously, he didn’t do that.”

Bouchard’s high-end skill and offensive vision make him special, but the Oilers can’t keep living with the defensive chaos that too often follows him. His defense partner, Mattias Ekholm, said after the game, “I’d be careful criticizing him because that’s who he is, and obviously, he knows that he would want it back. But there’s going to be (off) nights. There’s going to be mistakes where that happens. One of Evan’s superpowers is he forgets quick, and he just goes out there and plays his game.” Perhaps the Oilers don’t let him forget this one. Something needs to motivate Bouchard to cut this kind of brutal hockey out of his repertoire.

At this stage, it’s not about growing pains. It’s about accountability. Bouchard has shown he can dominate in the playoffs, but consistency is what separates elite defenders and Olympic blueliners from expensive liabilities.

If the Oilers truly want to take the next step, Bouchard has to eliminate the nights where he beats them more than the opposition does. On Thursday, the Oilers weren’t just playing against the Islanders; they were playing against the Islanders and one of their own teammates.

Next: More Forward Changes Testing Oilers, But Team Finding Points