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Two things helped make this season a special one for Edmonton Oilers d-man Evan Bouchard: the Bouch Bomb and the Bouch Boost.
We all know what the Bouch Bomb is, Bouchard’s awesome ability to fire blistering outside shots on the opposition net, sometimes with a full Sheldon Souray of a slapshot, other times with a wicked wrister.
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When defences pack the slot area against the Oilers, parking the bus of their entire five-man unit in front of the net making it nearly impenetrable against attacking forays, Bouchard’s is just the thing to open things up. It’s like taking a laser to a block of ice.
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The Bouch Boost isn’t so well known.
It was an off-ice move orchestrated by Edmonton GM Ken Holland at the NHL trading deadline, a move that greatly benefitted Bouchard and the Oilers.
As you will recall, in the month leading up to the deadline, there had been much talk on social media and talk radio about the Oilers acquiring superstar d-man Erik Karlsson in a trade, possibly with Evan Bouchard going the other way.
Many Oilers fans were all-in on such a move. After all Bouchard wasn’t exactly killing it at that moment. From late November 2022 to early March 2023, three full months, he failed to score one goal.
That’s right, 42 games in a row without one goal.
Bouchard and Philip Broberg had teamed to provide solid two-way play but only in a third pairing role against weaker competition. And on the power play, d-man Tyson Barrie was going strong, quarterbacking a unit that was the best in NHL history.
Was the 23-year-old Bouchard ever going to turn the corner and be a Top 4 d-man in the NHL? Many fans and some pundits had their doubts. Many would have applauded moving out Bouchard for Karlsson.
At the time, Allan Mitchell of Lowetide wrote in The Athletic: “If the Oilers offer Bouchard, Puljujarvi, the 2023 and 2024 first-round selections for Karlsson with $5 million retained, there is no guarantee San Jose makes the deal… Karlsson is worth everything it will cost, worth all of the secondary and tertiary moves, worth running the rest of the season with a 21-man roster.”
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On Oilers Now, broadcaster Bob Stauffer mused about what it would take for the Oilers to get Karlsson and also have San Jose retain party of his salary. Acquiring Karlsson would block the path of fellow right-shot, puck-moving Bouchard on the Oilers defence, Stauffer noted “You would have to think Barrie and Bouchard would be part of the deal, just from a money perspective. And I think (AHL forward and former first round pick Xavier) Bourgault would be part of the deal. And I think a ’23 #1 pick.”
I preferred the Oilers move for a defensive d-man in trade, but was also open to the Karlsson trade as well, writing: “Evan Bouchard has a lot of value. I’m not at all keen to see the player move. But I’d rather see him moved out than Philip Broberg. I would be seriously vexed if either of them were included in a deal for Chychrun. But if Bouchard is the main piece in a Karlsson deal with major salary retention, that is a bold and risky move but not a crazy one.”
That’s when Holland performed the Bouch Boost. Instead of trading away Bouchard, he boosted him. Instead of moving out Bouchard, he moved out Barrie, trading him to Nashville with a first round pick and prospect Reid Schaefer for Mattias Ekholm.
Suddenly Bouchard was thrust into a far more prominent role with the Oilers, paired near the top of the line-up with Ekholm at even strength, and promoted to becoming the power play quarterback in place of Barrie.
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As it turned out, the power play kept firing on all cylinders without Barrie, even as it took a few weeks for Bouchard to look at home orchestrating the hire-wire act. But after the Ekholm trade, in 21 games Karlsson had 24 points and was -22 goals plus-minus, while Bouchard had 19 points and was +12.
In 12 playoff games, Bouchard had 17 points.
Can we all agree it’s a fine thing the Oilers did not trade trade Bouchard-plus-plus for Karlsson?
There’s certainly no one talking about trading away Bouchard now. Instead Oilers fans, including me, are worried about some hyper-aggressive NHL GM trying to pick off Bouchard with an offer sheet.
Bouchard-Ekholm looks like it’s going to be a solid pairing for a few years to come, and Bouchard looks like he’s going to be a stone-cold killer on the Edmonton power play.
Would it surprise anyone if he put up a point a game next year? Not me.
This sudden change in Bouchard’s fortunes came because he’d put in his time in the Oilers organization, shown flashes of strong play, especially in the 2022 playoffs alongside Duncan Keith, and Holland decided to open up some cap space to bring in the veteran Ekholm and place his trust in the younger, less expensive Bouchard over Tyson Barrie.
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The boost turned out to be some of a steal.
Enter Broberg
Which brings me to Philip Broberg.
He’ll be 22 this week. He was drafted in the first round one year after the Oilers took Bouchard, and like Bouchard he’s put in the years since then improving his game, working his way from Sweden to the AHL to the Oilers, where he’s played 69 regular season and 10 playoff games the past two years.
NHL insiders will say that they don’t know yet what the Oilers have in Broberg, but I’m more bullish than that. I’ve seen many indications that Edmonton has a player who looks like he can be a solid defender against tough NHL competition, maybe even an outstanding defender along the lines of a Vladislav Gavrikov or a Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Broberg is big, fast and agile on his skates. He doesn’t punish attackers, but he seems to envelope them with his reach and speed. They rarely get around him. He’s a better defender at the same age than Oscar Klefbom was. He can also pass the puck and skate with it. He’s demonstrated the ability to play both the right and the left side.
He’s ready to play full-time on the bottom-pairing of an NHL team. He did well in this role with Bouchard last year. I have little doubt he would ace it this year, and he might even do OK if he’s given a more difficult assignment against tougher competition.
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The only thing blocking his way? Veteran players. Solid and tested veteran players in Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak and Cody Ceci, but also more expensive players.
Is this another situation where both the Oilers and a promising young defender would benefit from Holland again pulling off a boost manouver?
Neither Nurse nor Ekholm are getting traded. But could one of Kulak or Ceci be moved, opening up a slot for Broberg?
If it’s Ceci, who played the toughest minutes of any Oilers d-man, it would mean Kulak or Broberg would have to team up with Nurse against tough competition. Kulak earns $2.75 million per year for the next three years and he killed it during the playoffs. He could command a decent player or draft pick in trade, but is it such a terrible bet to slot him in next to Nurse in a shut-down role?
Ceci also has value at $3.2 million per year for the next two years. He’s a useful Top 4 d-man who was injured last year and struggled after a solid 2021-22 season. He could be moved for a pick or Edmonton could move out Kulak, opening up a spot for Broberg.
Holland recently told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Athletic that Oilers coaches Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson see Broberg as a potential Top 4 d-man but the rub is that the young Swede is behind Nurse, Ekholm and Kulak. He got limited ice-time last season and in the playoffs: 12:36 in 46 regular season games and 6:53 per game in nine playoff games.
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“I don’t really have an answer for you right now,” Holland said in regards to his view on the player’s future. “That’s what I’ve got to sort out in the next couple of weeks. But being in the seven hole, playing five minutes, I don’t know that that’s doing much for his development and growth as a player. He needs to play 15 to 20 minutes… He needs to get in the lineup every night. He needs to play every night and feel important. That’s how young people grow.
“I feel really good about our left-side D. He can play right. I think he’s most comfortable on left. Broberg’s development and growth weighs on my mind on a regular basis.”
Holland faces a difficult choice here. Given the need to acquire cap space, however, I can see him opting him for another Bouch Boost, this time with Broberg as the beneficiary.
It might not happen this summer, of course, but might occur as next season unfolds. Perhaps injuries will flare up on the blueline, thrusting Broberg into the line-up and taking away the need for and possibility of a trade.
But in his mental sorting out of Broberg’s future, I hope the Boost maneuver is top of mind for Holland.
It worked once. It can work again.
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