Evan Bouchard isn’t talking about a makeover heading into 2026-27. After a 95-point season, the Edmonton Oilers defenseman knows exactly what his offensive game can do. The task now is sharper and more specific: trim the mistakes, choose the safer play more often, and make sure the bad nights don’t spiral.
“There’s always work to do,” said Bouchard in his first media availability of training camp. “I think a lot of it’s not letting those mistakes pile up.
Making the simple play, not always going for the home run play. I think I was caught doing that quite a bit last year, so I think if you can, not dumb it down, but simplify a little bit, it’ll help things.”
That’s a pretty clear shift in focus for a player who just delivered the best offensive season of his career. Bouchard finished with 21 goals, 74 assists and 95 points, good enough for a fourth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting.
The production is there. What he wants now is a cleaner game without the puck, starting with less time spent defending in his own end.
“I think a lot of it’s trying not to let the puck get in your zone,” he said. “Good gaps, denying the blue lines.
If you can do that, transition the other way quickly, that’ll help. Even cutting plays off, get sprinting behind the net, cut that off quickly and get it going forward as quickly as you can.”
The Oilers also changed the voice behind the bench this summer, bringing in Mike Babcock and D.J. Smith after moving on from Kris Knoblauch and assistant Mark Stuart. Bouchard said his early read on Babcock is straightforward.
“You know what you’re getting with Babs,” said Bouchard. “He’s very direct.
We’re going to be very organized. He doesn’t beat around the bush either, so I think that’s a good thing to have in a coach.”
He also said the two are aligned on what needs to happen with his game.
“I think he made it clear he doesn’t want to change things with my game, but he wants to improve things, and I think that’s a very fair thing,” he said. “And having him around the league for a long, long time, I want to be coached by someone like that. I want someone that tells me what they think, and I think he’s going to do that with myself and with the rest of the group.”
Smith already has a head start with Bouchard, having coached him at the World Championships a few months ago. That familiarity clearly matters to Bouchard.
“I’m excited for D.J. Like you said, I had him at Worlds.
He was a very, very good coach, very open, very vocal. He told you what he thought.
If he thinks you’ve got to improve in this area, he’ll help you do that and gives you a sense of comfort back there. He’s always going to have your back but expects a lot out of you, which is a good thing.”
Bouchard had plenty to feel good about last season, from the career-best numbers to a six-point game and a place in the Norris conversation. Still, his eyes are on a simpler version of the same player - one who raises the floor, not just the ceiling.
In Other News...
Oilers Suddenly Have A Rare Shot At A Young Star Center
A tense standoff in Columbus has opened an unexpected door for the Oilers, who are suddenly being mentioned as a possible landing spot for young center Adam Fantilli. The Blue Jackets have spent camp dealing with the distraction of an unsigned restricted free agent, and the longer the situation drags on, the more the speculation has shifted toward whether Columbus could eventually choose the cleaner path of moving the player instead of riding out the noise.
For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious. Fantilli would fit the profile of a high-end center in a lineup that could always use more skill down the middle, and reports suggest the Oilers would be willing to put together a serious package to get into the conversation. The names tied to that framework make clear this would not be a minor tweak, but a real swing involving roster pieces, prospects and premium draft capital, with the kind of price tag that says just how rare this opportunity might be. [Read more 🡒]
Babcock Is Sending Oilers Fans One Clear Message About McDavid
Mike Babcock spent Edmontons 2026 training camp making it clear that the Oilers next step is not about simply asking Connor McDavid to do more, but about building a structure that lets everyone else do more around him. The head coach kept coming back to role definition, team structure and what happens away from the puck, a reminder that even with the leagues biggest star driving the attack, the details in the supporting cast still matter.
Babcock also hinted at a more balanced way of spreading the load through the lineup, with bottom-six forwards expected to have a real hand in the teams success. For Oilers fans, the bigger picture is obvious: keeping McDavid fresh for nightly impact while preserving his special teams workload, all while asking the rest of the roster to shoulder more responsibility in a more demanding setup. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Camp Just Put Several Opening Night Roles In Play
Training camp has already given the Oilers a few early clues about how Mike Babcock wants to sort out the roster, with projected line combinations and pairings now taking shape for both Edmonton and the Bakersfield Condors. Its the kind of setup that turns September practices into a real audition, especially when coaches are still sorting out who fits where and which roles might eventually stick once the games count.
The picture is complicated by injuries, with Matt Savoie, Frederik Andersen and Mattias Janmark all working through issues, and that leaves a few spots in flux as evaluations continue. The next round of decisions should tell us more about the pecking order, but there are still open questions about how the checking lines will come together and which camp standouts will be rewarded with a longer look. [Read more 🡒]