Edmonton Oilers defensemen Evan Bouchard celebrates after scoring a goal against the Vancouver Canucks the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on May 14.Perry Nelson/Reuters
When Kris Knoblauch coached the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League, one of their biggest rivals was the London Knights.
He remembers Evan Bouchard as a lanky teenager.
“He looked a little sleepy out there, maybe a little lost,” Knoblauch recalled late Monday night. “I said, ‘Let’s take advantage of him.’
“Well, we never did. He was just such a good player right from when he was 16 years old. He is doing now what I saw him do at the junior level in the NHL.”
Bouchard is in his third full season with the Oilers and what a season it has been. He had 82 points during the regular campaign, which was the fourth-most among the league’s defencemen.
The playoffs have amounted to something of a coming-out party for the 24-year-old. Bouchard’s 20 points through 12 games are the most in history for a defenceman through the first two rounds.
On Monday he had two assists in Edmonton’s 3-2 Game 7 victory over Vancouver. He had four goals and 11 points in a dominant performance in the second round.
Quinn Hughes of the Canucks, whose 92 points led all D-men during the regular season, failed to score and had five assists.
“He has grown a lot,” said Knoblauch, who replaced Jay Woodcroft behind the Oilers bench in November. “He is just a really smart hockey player. He makes good passes, good reads, and his defensive responsibilities have increased over the year. I have a lot of faith in him.”
Six of the seven games in the second round were decided by one goal. Edmonton led 3-0 in the third period but had to fend off a late Vancouver rally.
The Oilers limited the Canucks to 17 shots on net and blocked 21. They also killed off a four-minute power play with the game tied at 0-0.
The Oilers will face the Stars in the Western Conference final, which starts with games in Dallas on Thursday and Saturday. Games 3 and 4 will be at Rogers Place on Monday and Wednesday. The Oilers went 1-2 against the top club in the Central Division during the regular season.
Edmonton won only three of its first 13 games, after which Woodcroft was fired. From then on it went 46-18-5 and finished five points behind the Canucks in the Pacific Division.
“I don’t think there was ever self-doubt in our group,” Bouchard said. “We had a rocky start but we handled that adversity and that was the start of something great for us. We knew we had a special team.”
Edmonton bested the Canucks because Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were great and others, like Zach Hyman, Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, made major contributions. The latter, the longest-tenured member of the team, scored three times and had three assists in the last three games.
“Evan raised it to another level,” Nugent-Hopkins said in the visiting team’s dressing room at Rogers Arena. He buried the winner in the net in Game 7. “He is a pretty even-keeled guy but on the ice it is nice to see his intensity. He is maturing. I really figure now he is a bit of an animal.”
Bouchard, who grew up in Oakville, Ont., has recorded 46 points in 40 postseason games in his career. He has a blistering slap shot and in the series against Vancouver played hard around the net.
“He had an unbelievable series,” McDavid said. “He is just getting better and better as he goes. He is one of the smartest guys I have ever played with. He constantly is learning on the go and we are starting to see him come into his own.”
Draisaitl echoed McDavid’s remarks. Bouchard is quiet and doesn’t draw much attention to himself.
“Come playoff time you have to step up and the team did that,” Bouchard said. He had two winning goals during the series. “It played very well. I think when you have team success individual success follows.”