Ex-NHLer Slams Edmonton Oilers for Signing $42M Defenseman: 'They Made a Mistake'
Ex-NHLer James Wisniewski absolutely blasted Stan Bowman and the Oilers for signing Evan Bouchard to a massive $42 million contract, calling it a mistake.
Former NHL defenseman James Wisniewski believes the Edmonton Oilers made a mistake signing Evan Bouchard to a four-year, $10.5 million-per-year contract.
"I don't think that Bouchard at $10.5 million is the right play. If you want to f*cking win, that is not the guy that you're going to sign to go to the next level And I'm not taking credit away from him by being like a really good offensive defenseman, but he's eating up $10.5 million of your salary."
- James Wisniewski
- James Wisniewski
On the 'Empty Netters' podcast, James Wisniewski, a 552-game NHL veteran from 2005-2016 who's now an associate head coach at Ohio State's women's hockey team, praised Evan Bouchard's skill, especially on the power play.
But he questioned the value of the contract. He believes Edmonton should have sold high in their Stanley Cup Final year.
Both Wisniewski and Co-Host Dan Powers Believe the Oilers Should Have Traded Bouchard
Podcast co-host Dan Powers stated that the preferred decision that could have been made by the Oilers was trading Bouchard when his value was at its highest.
Wisniewski concurred, stating they might have perhaps obtained someone to perform the power play duties for half the price.
"But he's not that good other than that. Sign a $5 million power play guy, and then you have $5.5 million for a shut-down guy. Now you got two 'D' for the price of one."
"I guarantee you right now, if you gave me two months of actually getting my fat ass in shape, I could run the f*cking power play Literally you had to be f*cking Ray Charles in order not to run that f*cking power play in Edmonton."
- James Wisniewski
"I guarantee you right now, if you gave me two months of actually getting my fat ass in shape, I could run the f*cking power play Literally you had to be f*cking Ray Charles in order not to run that f*cking power play in Edmonton."
- James Wisniewski
Even though Edmonton did not receive a steal of a deal, Bouchard would have earned even more money on the open market through an offer sheet. And there is ample reason to suspect the Oilers will continue to receive good value from him.
Bouchard led all Oilers defensemen in the past two seasons in creating even-strength Grade A scoring chances and in avoiding obvious defensive mistakes.
In the 2025 playoffs, not only did he play the best even-strength hockey of his career, but he also became a reliable penalty killer.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 6 | 140 ANSWERS Ex-NHLer Slams Edmonton Oilers for Signing $42M Defenseman: 'They Made a Mistake' Was the Evan Bouchard contract a mistake? | ||
| Yes | 99 | 70.7 % |
| No | 41 | 29.3 % |
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