Top Oilers' defender on cusp of having huge season

Of course, it doesn't help matters that the right-D is earning $10.5M annually, and we're used to seeing him record huge numbers, as in the last two seasons, when he scored 32G and 149 points over 163 games played.

There is no denying that Evan's defensive lapses and turnovers have hurt Edmonton. Yet, there has also been a lack of team production up and down the lineup.

And when you log the kind of minutes he does (24:19 TOI avg), the mistakes can be amplified over the course of a game. Bouchard leads the team in TOI at 5v5, on the powerplay. and the penalty kill.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch has relied heavily of his star 1st-pairing defender. For context, Edmonton's PP and PK rank in the top-half of the NHL, at sixth and13th, respectively.

According to Evolving Hockey, at 5v5, Evan is among the top defenders in the entire league, right there with Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, and Adam Fox, no less.

Of the 146 NHL defencemen, Evan Bouchard is 35th in corsi per 60 minutes, and ranks 15th in xGF/60. In addition, his xG and Corsi percentages are both above 50, which means that when Evan is on the ice the Oilers are outshooting and out-chancing the opposing teams.

Even when there is the appearance of playing poorly - Bouchard makes his share of mistakes and failed assignments, of course - his stats show that he is positively contributing to his team's overall play, and that it's only a question of when, and not if, his production will catch-up to his quality of play.

A bounce here, a tip there, and his points will begin to add-up to what we're accustomed to seeing every year.