Salary isn’t always the best measure of a player’s value, but it can tell you a lot about timing.
Talent matters, sure. But contracts are shaped just as much by circumstance — cap space, team need, negotiation windows, and leverage. This summer, timing was everything.
With the league’s salary cap finally increasing for the first time since the COVID era, free agents had a rare opportunity to capitalize. One of the biggest beneficiaries? Evan Bouchard, who signed a four-year, $42 million extension with the Edmonton Oilers in late June.
That kind of payday wasn’t just about performance — though Bouchard has posted back-to-back top-five scoring seasons among defensemen. It was also about momentum, projection, and a more flexible market.
Former NHL Defenseman Suggests Evan Bouchard Contract is Not ‘The Right Play’
But not everyone sees it as a smart bet.
With a $10.5 million cap hit, Bouchard now ranks fourth among NHL defensemen and is tied for 15th overall in the league — a number that raised eyebrows for at least one former NHL blueliner. James Wisniewski, never shy with his takes, believes the deal could end up hurting Edmonton’s championship hopes.
“I don’t think the Bouchard [contract] at $10.5 million is the right play,” Wisniewski said. “If you want to [expletive] win, that is not the guy that you’re going to sign to go to the next level.”
Appearing on a recent episode of the Empty Netters podcast, Wisniewski warned that even with the increase in the salary cap, Edmonton is taking a huge risk by putting so much into Bouchard’s contract, especially when the team is already committing high dollars to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
“You’re eating up a ton of salary,” Wisniewski said. “You have Draisaitl and McDavid. And I’m not taking credit away from [Bouchard] by being like a really good offensive defenseman. But he’s eating up 10 and a half million of your salary.”
NHL Insider Touts Evan Bouchard as ‘An Elite Offensive Player’
But Jason Gregor, co-host of the @dailyfaceoff podcast, thinks Bouchard is worth every penny. Appearing recently on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Gregor said that people are getting too caught up in the occasional defensive mishap that Bouchard makes, rather than acknowledging his greatness on offense.
“He does stuff that very few defensemen can do, right?” Gregor said. “He’s an elite offensive player, right? He’s got, no one shoots harder than Bouchard on a consistent basis. All the numbers are at NHL edge. His passing’s elite. And I know that in November on a him going back for a puck, right, he’s looking at times like a rec league defenseman and people freak out over it. The problem is, and a scout told me once, when you focus on what a guy doesn’t do, you miss all the things he does do. And that’s what Bouchard is. I told people, I said, ‘Get an Excel spreadsheet. Column A, put all the good plays he makes in a game, check mark, check mark. Column B, all the bad plays in a game. I will guarantee you, I’ll bet you everything, you got infinitely more at the end of the game in column A than you do column B. But because maybe the odd time, column B, it’s a big error. People freak out.”
Ex-NHL Vet Blasts Edmonton Gamble: “If You Want to Win, That is Not the Guy”