Connor McDavid went to bat for Evan Bouchard before tonight's game, telling Amazon Prime the Oilers defenceman should have won the Norris Trophy.
Forget the nomination. McDavid wants the trophy itself in his defenceman's hands, and he said so on national TV right before puck drop.
He's right. And coming from a captain sitting on 34 points, the endorsement carries more weight than a panel ballot ever will.
The early numbers back him up. Bouchard has 7 goals and 21 points in 12 games.
His +17 rating leads the roster. Even McDavid, at +16, trails him.
Two of those goals were game-winners. Voters tend to shrug at that kind of detail in October, then cite it in April like they discovered it.
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Evan Bouchard carries an Oilers blue line missing Mattias Ekholm
The comments land with the blue line already thin. Mattias Ekholm is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, expected out until at least October 31.
Losing Ekholm pulls a +15 defenceman out of the lineup, and the depth behind him has struggled.
Jake Walman sits at -7 through nine games. Connor Murphy went minus-6 over his last five.
On a $7,000,000 cap hit, Walman's rating is hard to defend.
Bouchard, at $10,500,000, owns the fifth-highest cap hit among NHL defencemen. Right now, he's earning every dollar of it.
So why does a nomination feel like a snub in Edmonton?
Because the Oilers sell tickets on two forwards. Bouchard is the stage manager at a sold-out concert, the guy nobody notices until the lights fail.
Edmonton needs that stage manager now. The Oilers are 8-2-2, but they've dropped two straight, including a 7-2 loss to Toronto.
Home ice hasn't been kind. Edmonton is 3-2-2 at home and a perfect 5-0-0 on the road.
Calgary walks in tonight riding a four-game win streak, despite a -13 goal differential. It's the first Battle of Alberta of the season.
The crease adds stress. Tristan Jarry carries a .860 save percentage, and Devon Levi sits on injured reserve until at least November 9.
That puts more on the defence in front of them, with no cushion behind it.
McDavid just raised the bar in public. With a road trip through Long Island, Manhattan and New Jersey up next, every Bouchard turnover will now get measured against a trophy he didn't win.
Was Connor McDavid right that Evan Bouchard deserved the Norris Trophy?
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