The Oilers could see Bouchard’s potential when they selected him in the first round (No. 10) of the 2018 NHL Draft. The key goal for the Oilers brain trust then became finding a veteran mentor who could navigate him through the rocky times of inexperience and bring him to the next level.
General manager Ken Holland thought he’d found the perfect player to fill that role when he acquired former Chicago Blackhawks great Duncan Keith in a trade July 12, 2021.
When Keith decided to retire in the summer of 2022, however, it was time to find Bouchard another mentor.
Enter Mattias Ekholm.
According to Holland, the acquisition of the veteran defenseman as part of a trade that sent defenseman Tyson Barrie to the Nashville Predators on Feb. 28, 2023, helped Bouchard in two ways.
First off, it allowed Bouchard to take over the quarterback role on the team’s top power-play unit, replacing Barrie. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Ekholm, now 34, has served perfectly as Bouchard’s on-ice big brother, offering stability and support as his defense partner to enable him to elevate his game.
Now, more than 15 months later, Ekholm feels Bouchard has done exactly that.
“In my opinion, he’s one of the top five defensemen in the League,” Ekholm said.
“The offensive side, I mean, that speaks for itself. You guys can look at the numbers and stats, and there are a lot of guys that like that side of things. But the way he breaks out pucks, I’m amazed by it. He finds the middle so often — he finds Connor almost every time — I rarely have to go back there when we’re out there together.
“The other thing: He loves those big moments. You can’t teach those things. You have to come by that calmness naturally because you can’t teach those things.”
Add it all up, and Coffey feels Bouchard has only scratched the surface of his potential.
“His bar is limitless,” Coffey said.
Even if that means Bouchard might break some of his records?
“I hope he does,” Coffey said with a chuckle. “Because if he does, there’s a very good chance we’ll be celebrating something much bigger in the next few weeks.”
And in the end, that, Coffey said, is all that really matters.
