Oilers star player could be pricing himself off the team

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Noel Drolet
February 28, 2024 (3:04 PM)

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Evan Bouchard has obviously been amazing for the Oilers this season, and has wholly helped them bounce back from their terrible start to the season. He has had an amazing progression, and is on an absolute steal of a contract. The only issue is that with his contract expires in 2024-25, which could be a huge issue for the already cap strapped team.

If Bouchard keeps improving at the rate he's at right now, he will continue to be a very solid defender into next year. Every Oilers fan is going to want to keep Bouchard, but the value and term of his next contract is going to heavily be up for debate. Jim Matheson discusses his next contract on X, and how it could affect the Oilers' chances of keeping Bouchard.

Bouchard is going to be due for a massive raise, as he currently sits at an insane 15 goals and 56 points in 56 games. Bouchard looks like he is going to reach the 20 goal mark in the season, which is an unbelievable asset for any contender. He is going to want a lot of money and most likely a lot of term too, so the Oilers have to be ready to throw some big money at him.

The issue for the Oilers is that in the same offseason, they have to resign both Leon Draisaitl and Bouchard. These are going to be two massive contracts to have to sign in the same offseason, especially since the cap goes up this year and presumably next year as well. This inflates player salaries since there is more money going around, so it's very possible even if the Oilers can't offer him 10M another team might have the cap to steal Bouchard from the Oilers.

Bouchard may take a semi pay cut to stay with the Oilers, but I wouldn't assume it would be anything massive. Obviously keeping him would be amazing, but it may be something that just isn't in the cards for the team. Let's just hope if they do sign him, it goes better than the last time they gave out 9M+ on a long term contract.