NHL Network put Evan Bouchard at No. 40 on its Top 50 Players Right Now list and expected Edmonton to clap politely. I watched that reveal drop on a Sunday in September and immediately knew the quote-tweet economy was about to print money.
This is the same Evan Bouchard who just finished a career year with 21 goals, 74 assists, and 95 points in 82 games. He led every defenseman in the league in assists and points. The margin over second place was fourteen points. He was the third blueliner since 2000 to clear 95, and he posted the most points by an Oilers defenseman since Paul Coffey’s 138 in 1985-86. Then NHL Network slid him three spots from last year’s No. 37 and used him to open the 40s like he was a warm-up act.
I know what you’re already typing. Defensive mistakes. Giveaways. The playoff sample. Fine. Bring it. Just don’t pretend the production never happened.
Fourteen Points Is Not a Rounding Error
NHL.com’s own ranking bio laid it out clean: “Bouchard led NHL defensemen in assists (74) and points (95), and was fifth in goals (21) in 82 games last season. The 26-year-old was the third defenseman since 2000 with at least 95 points in a season (Erik Karlsson, 101, 2022-23; Roman Josi, 96, 2021-22), and it was the most points in a season by an Edmonton defenseman since Paul Coffey had 138 in 1985-86. However, he didn’t ignore the defensive side of the game; Bouchard’s plus-25 even-strength goal differential was the second best of his seven NHL seasons (plus-34 in 2023-24). He finished fourth in voting for the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman.”
That is the network’s own copy. They wrote the resume, then buried the guy who owns it.
He still sits at No. 10 on their separate Top 20 Defensemen list for the second straight year. So the same shop that calls him a top-ten blueliner in August decides in September that forty overall is honest. That math only works if you believe a franchise-altering power-play quarterback who logs 24:41 a night somehow ranks behind a pile of forwards and goalies who didn’t just rewrite the Oilers’ single-season defenseman record book.
Liam Horrobin at Oilers Nation had the only sane reaction when the defensemen list dropped earlier: “It’s like, well, he’s got close to 100 points. That has to mean something more.” Horrobin would have had him at least sixth on the blueline. I had him higher than tenth then and I have him higher than fortieth now. Production at that volume from the back end is rare air. Treating it like a nice little accessory is how these lists keep failing the smell test.
The Defensive Tape Does Not Erase the Box Score
Ken Daneyko, a three-time Cup winner who actually played the position, tried to thread the needle on the Top 20 ranking. “But there’s so many at times glaring errors or giveaways or standing next to a player when he’s looking right at him and he should lift the stick and it’s an easy tap in for the opposition … I’m one of those guys that say I think 10 might be a little low for him, but I get why he’s there.”
I respect the honesty. The tape is not spotless. The six-game playoff run this spring (1-6-7, minus-7) gave the skeptics fresh ammo. Nobody serious is calling Bouchard a shutdown robot. The problem is the overcorrection. NHL Network keeps using those warts as a ceiling instead of a footnote. Fourth in Norris voting behind Werenski, Makar, and Dahlin already priced in the defensive questions. Dropping him overall while the scoring gap is the size of a small city is pure reputation management.
He is 26. He is playing on a four-year, $42 million extension at $10.5 million AAV because Edmonton understands what the network keeps soft-pedaling: this is a foundational piece on a team built to win now. Career totals through last season sit at 333 points in 429 games. The trajectory is still climbing. Ranking him like a finished product who peaked as a nice No. 2 is how you end up looking ancient by Christmas.
NHL Media even posted the reveal with the energy of a celebration: “Evan Bouchard kicks off the Top 40!” That framing is the tell. They treated a career year as the start of the also-rans. Oilers fans smelled it instantly because they watch the actual minutes. The rest of the league still wants Bouchard filed under “talented but flawed” so the traditional hierarchy stays neat.
I am done with neat. A defenseman who outscores the entire position by fourteen points and still gets parked at forty is the exact reason these preseason lists keep losing the plot. The outrage is not Oilers delusion. It is pattern recognition. Bouchard already did the hard part on the scoresheet. The network is the one still playing catch-up with a calculator that only works in one direction.
When the 2026-27 season starts counting, the only ranking that will matter is the one written in points and ice time. Forty is a press-release number. Ninety-five was the real one.
