Edmonton Oilers Talk: What if Bouchard Struggles? Are the Oilers Equipped to Handle that Scenario?

Quotes taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs, BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including Lowetide, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

Give us a follow on the socials!

The Athletic (Mitchell)

Lowetide: How much playing time will Evan Bouchard get with the Oilers this season?

The question now pertains to Bouchard’s deployment. Bouchard is an expert passer and can change angles from the point to get the puck through the high defender and on net. He would have been the de facto power-play quarterback if Barrie had signed elsewhere, but the current setup will obscure his main strengths.
If Bouchard struggles early at even strength in 2021-22, it will be important for Tippett to be patient and keep playing him through the inevitable mistakes young defencemen always make.
If Bouchard averages 13:30 at five-on-five, 30 seconds four-on-four, 90 seconds on the power play and another 30 seconds on the penalty kill, what should fans expect?
If we take Bouchard’s numbers from last season and apply his minutes to a full 82-game schedule, his totals would be 36 points all-in. That’s with just 90 seconds a game on the power play and 14 even-strength minutes over those 82 games.
Bouchard is unlikely to play major minutes with Darnell Nurse at five-on-five this season; Tippett is a conservative coach in this area.
Bouchard’s weakest area is goals against. His goal-differential ratio (5-8) combines some bad luck and some rookie mistakes during his time with the club last season.
Bouchard’s challenges are a lack of experience, a coach who will be under even more pressure after a quick playoff exit, and the nuts and bolts of defensive play.
Patience is required, but if the organization plays Bouchard all season, he’ll be more capable come playoff time. Forty points is a reasonable expectation if he plays all season.

BLH’s Thoughts: From what I’ve gathered online, it sounds like the coach is very eager to get working with Evan Bouchard and there’s a lot of belief in this player’s potential from the organization.

He’s going to get thrown into some tough spots this upcoming season to see how he fares because he’s the best playmaking defender on the team. Yes, better than Tyson Barrie.

There are going to be some who get really pissed off at Dave Tippett because Bouchard might make a mistake similar to one that Caleb Jones or Ethan Bear made in the past that had them sitting, but Tipp will throw EB right back out there.

Here’s the thing though, Bouchard has top-pairing potential whereas no other defensive prospect in Edmonton’s system aside from MAYBE Philip Broberg has. The team is going to nurture this guy and make sure he reaches that potential.

I think he’s good for 40pts or more next season and that’s with minimal PP time.

Oilersnation (Laing)

Edmonton Oilers player review and 2021-22 preview: Warren Foegele

His final year in Carolina was no different. In 53 games mainly spent as a third-liner, he scored 10 goals and as many assists all of which came at 5×5. With him on the ice at 5×5, the Canes controlled 54.12 percent of the shot attempts, 54.35 percent of the goal, 55.59 percent of the expected goals, and an even 100.5 PDO.
His most common linemate was Jordan Staal and all of Foegele’s underlying numbers were better away from him than with him suggesting that Foegele was a strong driver of play on that line.
Foegele provided offence at a 12 percent rate above league average and defence at a one percent rate above league average.
Foegele was one of the best penalty killers this year, too. There, according to hockeyviz.com, he provided value at a three percent rate above league average.

BLH’s Thoughts: Sounds like the Oilers got themselves an elite PK man, but then again, he was playing for Carolina and it’s pretty tough not too look great by the fancies there… You watch, Tony DeAngelo is going to be a bloody all-star according to the advanced metrics next season if he doesn’t alienate his teammates first.

The Daily Goal Horn

Lately, news out of Calgary has the Flames looking to keep Gaudreau around and extend him before next summer. As for Monahan, he could still be a trade chip to fill in other holes.

“Sean Monahan would be the longest-tenured member of the “official” leadership group, having been an alternate since 2015-16. But as pointed out, his time in Calgary could be limited, as he is frequently mentioned in trade speculation. Even if he stays, he only has two years remaining on his deal, and I’d be surprised if he was re-upped in Calgary.” – The Athletic

BLH’s Thoughts: Reckon there’s a team out there that will trade for Monahan while he’s recovering from off-season surgery?… I don’t see a trade going down this year, next year though when he’s only got one year remaining on his contract, there will be a few teams lining up to deal for him. Who knows, maybe Edmonton would be one of them…