Oilers sign defenseman Bouchard to two year contract

*Photo from Oilers Nation*

   One of Edmonton's important players is back in the fold. The Edmonton Oilers and defenseman Evan Bouchard have agreed to a two year, $7.8 million contract, according to an announcement by the Oilers on Thursday.

   At the end of the season, Bouchard became an RFA as his entry level contract expired. He now gets a multi year agreement and a significant pay raise. His new contract has a $3.9 million AAV. Bouchard will be an RFA with arbitration rights at the end of his contract.

   Last season was another strong year for Bouchard, his second full NHL season since breaking into the league. He had 8 goals and a career high 32 assists for 40 points, posting a +6 rating while averaging 18:31 of ice time in 82 regular season games. He added 4 goals and 13 assists in 12 playoff games.

   Bouchard said of signing his new deal that "I'm excited, we were close for a while there, so I think there wasn't too much pressure after that. Once we got pretty close, I was really excited and I'm happy it's done now. Two years, I think it's a good steppingstone, a good bridge. I feel like in the next two years, the Oilers are going to be a force out there and it's good to be a part of that."

   In the middle of last season, the Oilers made a move for Mattias Ekholm of the Nashville Predators, sending Tyson Barrie as part of the return. That put Bouchard on the top power play unit, and he took off, racking up 33 points in 33 games after the trade, combined between the regular season and playoffs.

   Now, Bouchard projects to be paired with Ekholm on defense again and still man the top power play unit for the Oilers, who are perennially one of the best power play teams in the NHL. They had the best power play in NHL history last year, with a 32.4 percent conversion rate in the regular season.

   Bouchard has been with the Oilers for two full seasons and parts of two more since being a first round draft pick in 2018. He has racked up 23 goals and 66 assists for 89 points, averaging 18:34 of ice time with a +9 rating in 184 regular season games. Bouchard also has 7 goals and 19 assists in 28 playoff games.

   With Bouchard now signed, the Oilers have every RFA from this offseason under contract for next year. They are over the salary cap with the signing, but they have until opening night to become compliant with the cap.