"He has the same attributes": Oilers' Ekholm compares Bouchard to Erik Karlsson

Edmonton Oilers fans have come to realize just how talented of a defenceman Evan Bouchard is.

While his defensive play could still use some finetuning, Bouchard has elite offensive skills and could be in store for a massive year now that he will be a full-time member of the Oilers’ superb power play. As good as fans realize he is. However, very few would have ever given him as high of praise as his teammate Mattias Ekholm did when speaking on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast.

“I played with Erik Karlsson early on with the national teams and all that. I think he has the same attributes at times,” Ekholm said. “The passing, the vision. Obviously it’s tough to put him on that pedestal, not to put any pressure on him, but as an offensive defenceman, I think he has everything it takes.

“Buckle up for him. I think he keeps trending and keeps playing with the confidence; I think that was the biggest thing. I think when I got in, he was a little too worried sometimes about the defensive faults that happen, and the coaches want to push on, but as a guy like that, you have to just be able to be like, ‘Okay, I get it. But I also make eight good things happen offensively.'”

As Ekholm mentioned, comparing him to Karlsson at this time may be a stretch, but it goes to show just how much he believes in Bouchard. While the 23-year-old has a long way to go before matching the 101 points Karlsson recorded this past season, it is obvious that Ekholm sees him turning into one of the league’s best offensive blue-liners in the near future.

When the Oilers chose to select Bouchard 10th overall in 2018, they were hoping to get a defenceman who would turn into an elite offensive producer at the NHL level. While he does have some deficiencies in his game, he appeared much more comfortable and at ease after the Oilers acquired Ekholm at the trade deadline. The two have formed an excellent pairing together in a short time, and should continue to do plenty of damage for the Oilers moving forward.

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