Oilers notes: Evan Bouchard driven to seek new deal with Edmonton
While Evan Bouchard was focusing on Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and whatever Florida Panthers player was bearing down on him in the Stanley Cup Final, trying to take the puck off him, it should be a friendlier negotiation on a new contract.
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At least, with the term for the restricted free agent.
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The Oilers likely want him for another eight years.
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As for the dollars, you can probably start with the number 10 after a two-year bridge deal where he was making $3.9 million a season, well under market value for his production.
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And while he had issues defensively for stretches during this past season — when he makes a mistake it's often glaring — what an arbitrator might look at if it gets that far is a much bigger picture in terms of numbers: his age, 25, his points, 72, making the playoffs the past three years, where he led all defencemen, how much he plays, 26:12 in average ice-time this past playoff run, and being to two straight Stanley Cup Finals.
'I would definitely trade that for the Cup. The end goal is to win and we didn't get there,' said Bouchard about his personal stats. Bouchard used to be current Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson's client when Jackson was a superagent, but money talks today are now being handled by Jackson's former partner Dave Gagner, Sam's dad.
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'I love being here. You want to bring a Cup to Edmonton. You've put so much into the organization and you want to be rewarded, you want to reward the fans for all the times they're coming out to support us. We're so close,' said Bouchard, who admits the mission uncompleted with this group is driving him to stay on.
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Seth Jones at $9.6 million AAV and Zach Werenski at $9.6 million AAV got that much a few years ago, and Norris trophy winner Cale Makar is underpaid at $9 million but waiting to likely be in the $12-million range when his deal ends in Colorado. The Capitals just re-upped Jakob Chyrchrun at $9 million and he's not in Bouchard's league.
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So conservatively, Bouchard will be in the $10-million range with the cap ceiling going up to $95 million.
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While everybody's waiting to see how long Connor McDavid signs for in his new deal, which could start July 1 — eight years or maybe four or five, if he wants to see the direction the team is going in to win — Bouchard's negotiations are more front and centre.
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Bouchard had trouble in the early going in Game 6 against Florida, but McDavid certainly wants him here for the long haul.
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'He's incredibly important to the group. It's a deal that needs to get done,' said McDavid.
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'In the big moments he shows up. That's a skill that not everybody has,' said McDavid. 'Does he make some booboos in November? Yeah, we all have them. But, his game has been improving year after year and it seems like month after month he gets better and better. I thought he took big strides this season, taking on a penalty-killing role.'
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