When it comes to NHL blue lines, Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard is among the more polarizing players. For every fan who thinks he plays no defense and is merely a power play guy, outlets like The Athletic, TSN, and others are crediting him for being among the league's best.
Another outlet has given Bouchard his props, as a new Bleacher Report ranking of every team’s top defenseman has Bouchard ranked at No. 6 overall.
The post was meant to list every team's top defenseman and rank them from 1-32. As such, it's logical to assume the rules would have left players off the list and given other teams two defensemen in the Top 32.
Still, the point remains. Another outlet believes Bouchard is better than 80% of the defensemen in the NHL.
Considering only Miro Heiskanen (Dallas), Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg), Zach Werenski (Columbus), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver), and Cale Makar (Colorado) were ranked higher, that's pretty good company to be in.
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Bouchard outranked names like Jaccob Slavin, Adam Fox, Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin and Charlie McAvoy.
Are More People Start To Recognize Bouchard's Impact?
Long labeled as more of an offensive specialist than a complete defender, is Bouchard finally starting to silence critics with these rankings? This is now at least three major outlets playing him in elite company, and not just as a puck-moving, power-play specialist.
The next step might be him shaking the reputation that he's little more than a product of playing with a partner like Mattias Ekholm, or being on the ice with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
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