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It's time to look at Oilers defenceman Bouchard as a serious Norris Trophy candidate

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Apr 1 2026, 9:03 pm
It's time to look at Oilers defenceman Bouchard as a serious Norris Trophy candidate
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

It’s time to admit that Evan Bouchard should be a serious threat to win the Norris Trophy this season.

After a season in which he is set to win the defensive scoring race by a healthy margin and likely breach the 90-point plateau, it’s clear that Bouchard is among the very best NHL defenders. He shouldn’t just be in the Norris conversation, but right smack-dab in the middle of the discussion.

Bouchard is an elite offensive defenceman in this league, with instincts that rival those of Cale Makar, Zack Werenski, and Quinn Hughes this season, all of whom have long been seen as no-brainer Norris candidates. Yet, none of those three have found a way to match Bouchard’s game-to-game impact during the 2025-26 campaign.

Let’s take a deeper look into Bouchard’s case to become the first Oilers defenceman to win the Norris Trophy since Paul Coffey did so in 1986.

Pure offensive dominance

The easiest part of Bouchard’s game to point at as elite is his offensive impact.

No other NHL defenceman has been as productive as Bouchard has been this season. As of Wednesday morning, he sits atop the defensive leaderboards with an incredible 86 points through 75 games this season. That is eight points clear of the second-place Werenski, and 11 ahead of Makar.

The offensive race isn’t even close, with Bouchard slated to win by a healthy margin. He is currently on pace to finish the season with 94 points, which would be the highest point total from an Oilers defenceman in 40 years.

There is a legitimate possibility that Bouchard could finish first in goals and assists from an NHL defenceman this year as well. It hasn’t even been close from an offensive standpoint, with Bouchard dominating that side of the argument.

Top-tier defensive results

The biggest thing that has worked against Bouchard throughout his entire NHL career is the perception that he is a below-average defender in his own zone. Sure, he is among the most elite point producers from the blue line, but it doesn’t mean as much if he lacks in the defensive zone, right?

Well, that isn’t exactly an accurate portrayal of Bouchard’s defensive play. It’s true that he isn’t some generational defensive player, and he is prone to the occasional bad-looking mistake, but his overall defensive impact is not nearly as bad as many think.

According to Natural Stat Trick, he has a 55.10 goals-for percentage (GF%), which ranks 38th among NHL defenders with 900 or more minutes this season and is higher than Hughes (51.01). Bouchard’s expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) of 55.84 is also higher than all the expected Norris contenders as well.

Does this mean he is playing like prime Victor Hedman in his own zone this season? Not at all, but he’s playing very good hockey in all three ends of the ice. The fact of the matter is that a lot of hockey fans only ever see his mistakes, but miss out on his top-tier play on a night-to-night basis.

Combine that with above-average defensive play with his otherworldly offensive ability, and you’ve easily got a player worthy of Norris consideration.

Who is Bouchard’s biggest threat?

This is not an argument that Bouchard is the obvious, consensus pick for the Norris Trophy.

There are a few very worthy competitors for the award across the league, most of which have already been mentioned. All of Hughes, Werenski, Makar, and even sophomore Lane Hutson have intriguing cases.

The most interesting may be Werenski, who trails Bouchard from an offensive standpoint, but may have the elite defensive numbers to make that up. The rest of the field, however, all have enough pitfalls in their game this year that should give the Oilers rearguard a solid enough chance to make it as a finalist.

If Bouchard can make that final ballot, it will be well-deserved, despite what a lot of people think of his game.

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