'If you want to win that is not the guy': ex-NHL vet rips Oilers signing power play ace

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This in from former NHL d-man James Wisniewski, his take that the Edmonton Oilers made a mistake signing star defenceman Evan Bouchard to a four year contract at $10.5 million per year.

Speaking on the Empty Netters podcast, Wisniewski — who played 11 years and 552 regular season games in the NHL from 2005 to 2016 and is now 41-years-old and  associate head coach of the women’s hockey team at Ohio State — praised Bouchard, not his new deal.

“I don’t think that Bouchard at $10.5 million is the right play. If you want to f*cking win, that is not the guy that you’re going to sign to go to the next level… And I’m not taking credit away from him by being like a really good offensive defenseman, but he’s eating up $10.5 million of your salary.”

Wisniewski said Bouchard was good on the power play. “But he’s not that good other than that. Sign a $5 million power play guy, and then you have $5.5 million for a shut-down guy. Now you got two ‘D’ for the price of one.”

Bouchard is a way better player than he ever was, said Wisniewski, who was a 30-point per year player at his peak, topping out at 51 points in 75 games for Columbus in 2013-4.

That said, Wisniewski added, “I guarantee you right now, if you gave me two months of actually getting my fat ass in shape, I could run the f*cking power play… Literally you had to be f*cking Ray Charles in order not to run that f*cking power play in Edmonton.”

All a d-man has to do is get the puck to Connor McDavid or rip a one-timer shot, Wisniewski said, and that’s not 10 and a half million dollars per year. “And it’s just my opinion. Like I said, I’m not dogging on him. I’m talking about the contract for the team. He’s an unbelievable player. I’m just talking about for the team, it’s not good. I’m just saying for the team for money to win, I don’t know if that’s the best.”

Co-host Dan Powers said that the smartest thing Edmonton could have done after the Stanley Cup Final against Florida was to trade Bouchard when his value was high.

Wisniewski agreed with that assessment, saying the Oilers could have brought in somebody else who could do his power play job at half the price. “You sign Evan Bouchard, but you can’t sign Corey Perry for two million? What the f*ck was that? Corey Perry might have been their best forward in the playoffs. I’m like, I just don’t understand.”

My take

1. Just to even the score a bit, it’s worth noting that numerous NHL observers think Bouchard is one of the best d-men in hockey, and that number includes an unlikely fan, former Leafs player and Toronto homer Jeff O’Neill, who shouted from the rooftops his praise of Bouchard on a TSN broadcast early in the Stanley Cup Final this year: “I got a bit of a crazy statement after watching last night (Game 1) and watching throughout the playoffs. And before the playoffs, you would have punched me as hard as you could. I think the pecking order on ‘D’ in the National Hockey League is one, Cale Makar, and two, Bouchard. Maybe it’s recency bias, because all those other guys aren’t playing, but I think he’s that good man. I think he is unbelievable… I’ve fallen in love with the guy, man.”

O’Neill continued: “If there was a little hut, an elite defenseman hut, and Quinn Hughes was in it, and Cale Makar and they opened up the door and said, ‘Evan, come on in,’ they would open the door and say, ‘You’re a member. Now, come and have a coffee.’”

2. I’d be lying if I said I never considered whether the Oilers would not be better off bringing in a cheaper power play specialist, moving out Bouchard and using the cap space elsewhere. I’ll suggest that if Oilers GM Stan Bowman didn’t consider such a move he wouldn’t be doing his job. It’s Bowman’s job description to properly value his players, dig into all options, and consider if he’s getting good bang for Edmonton’s limited salary cap buck.

That said, I’m thrilled Bouchard is back in Edmonton for four more years. In his last two playoff seasons, Bouchard had put up 55 points in 47 games. That’s Hall-of-Fame level production.

With all due respect to Wisniewski, he’s under-valuing Bouchard’s offensive skill, his clutch playoff excellence two years running, his role as Edmonton’s even strength quarterback on break-out plays for McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and his defensive play as well.

The Oilers didn’t get a huge bargain in paying Bouchard $10.5 million per year, but other teams would have paid him more with an offer sheet, and the d-man is likely to give good if not great value to the Oilers in the next four playoff seasons.

3. If you rate Edmonton’s d-men by how many even strength Grade A shots they help create compared to how many mistakes they make on Grade A shots against, Bouchard has been Edmonton top d-man for the past two regular and playoff seasons — and it’s not close.

Best of all — and unlike some Oil d-men — Bouchard raises his level of play in the playoffs, performing at his best ever level at even strength in the 2025 playoffs. Not only that he stepped up as a solid penalty killer in the 2025 playoffs.

4. It would be difficult to replace by committee all that Bouchard brings at even strength, the power play and the penalty kill. And in a clutch moment, when the team really needs a playoff goal, you can’t have a committee on the ice. You need a handful of star players who can execute under immense pressure.

In the past two playoff seasons, Bouchard has been that player for the Oilers and he’s still only 25 year old.

This is why The Athletic’s stats analyst Dom Luszczyszyn said of the new contract: “Oilers get a fantastic deal on Evan Bouchard, one of the game’s best offensive defensemen.”

And Spittin’ Chiclets commentator Ryan Whitney: “If your an Oilers fan and don’t like the Bouchard deal hand in your sweater.”

5. If James Wisniewski got into shape, he couldn’t even run the Bakersfield Condors power play. It’s fun to imagine reliving past glories, but age and time are undefeated.

At the Cult of Hockey

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