The hurt of losing the Stanley Cup to the Florida Panthers is still raw for Evan Bouchard and the Edmonton Oilers.
After signing a new, four-year deal, though, Bouchard is looking ahead to getting yet another chance at hockey’s biggest prize.
“We’re going to have a lot of the same guys back. Everyone’s going to be that much hungrier. Everyone knows that we have what it takes, we just need to give a little bit more,” the star defenceman said Tuesday. “So I’m excited.
“The Oilers and myself have a good chance in years to come.”
The Oilers announced Bouchard’s new US$42-million deal on Monday, just a day before the 25-year-old blueliner from Oakville, Ont., was set to become a restricted free agent.
Carrying an average annual value of $10.5 million, the contract is a substantial raise on his previous $3.9-million cap hit.
Getting the new deal done was “an exciting process,” Bouchard said.
“Nothing too painful. … And we’re happy where we are,” he said.
“We kind of just decided four years was a good term for myself, good term for the Oilers.”
Bouchard, drafted 10th overall by the Oilers in 2018, broke out with 18 goals and 64 assists across 81 games in 2023-24 before adding 32 points in 25 games during the playoffs.
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Last season, he tallied 23 points in 22 playoff games after a 67-point regular season.
Only Bobby Orr (1.243) has a higher points-per-game average among defencemen than Bouchard’s 1.08 in the post-season.
The six-foot-three, 192-pound athlete has been working on the defensive side of his game in recent years, and said his goal moving forward is to play with more consistency.
“I think over the last season or two, I’ve really focused on the defensive side of things,” Bouchard said. “Especially later in the season, come playoff time, that’s the most important thing is to keep the puck out of the net. So I think my game’s just going to keep getting better, keep growing on both sides.”
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