Edmonton Oilers’ blueliner Evan Bouchard was one of 13 defencemen invited to Team Canada’s off-ice orientation camp for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, taking place Feb. 6-22 in Italy. This will mark the first time the NHL participates in the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Hockey Canada shouldn’t complicate the selection process and take the best players available. They failed to do so for the 2025 World Junior Championship, resulting in a quarter-final elimination. They left some notable players at home and selected more role players. That has become a norm for Hockey Canada, and hopefully, they don’t make that mistake again. This is the first time in 12 years the NHL will participate in the Olympics, so fans deserve to see the best players play for their country, which brings us to Bouchard.
Related: TSN Experts Project 3 Oilers Will Play for Canada at 2026 Olympics
The NHL Network released its top-20 defencemen list, and Bouchard was ranked 10th. However, he was third among Canadians, only behind Cale Makar and Josh Morrissey. If he’s the third-best Canadian defenceman, why wouldn’t he make the Olympic roster? While he’s a polarizing player, he should undoubtedly be on this team, especially if he has a good start to the 2025-26 season.
Bouchard Is a Big Game Performer
Bouchard is a big game performer, as evidenced by his recent playoff success. He has 20 goals and 81 points with a plus-12 rating in 75 playoff games throughout his career. He has had some clutch moments, especially during the 2025 postseason. The 6-foot-3, 192-pounder scored a massive goal during Game 3 of Round 1 against the Los Angeles Kings to take a 5-4 lead. Then, he added another two goals in the third period of Game 4, including the tying marker with 29 seconds remaining, to force overtime, in which the Oilers eventually won. If it weren’t for Bouchard, the Oilers would’ve been down 3-1 in the series heading back to Los Angeles, and they likely wouldn’t have advanced.
In a short tournament like the Olympics, it’s important to have difference-makers, and that’s what Bouchard is. While his defensive game can be questionable and inconsistent at times, he more than makes up for that offensively. Like it or not, he’s an elite number one defenceman on a team that has made back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances. He makes things happen and comes up clutch in big moments.
Bouchard Has Become Versatile
Contrary to popular belief, Bouchard is more than just a power-play merchant. He recently added penalty killing to his repertoire during Edmonton’s 2025 playoff run. He spent 41:13 on the penalty kill in 22 games during the playoffs, after spending just 19:10 shorthanded in 80 regular-season games, more than doubling his total in 58 fewer games.
The biggest concern with having Bouchard on the Olympic roster is where he would fit. He won’t get much power-play time with Makar manning the first unit and Morrissey on the second unit. However, if the Oilers’ blueliner is consistently on the penalty kill to start the regular season, he can prove that he’s a valuable and versatile asset. He also excels at 5-on-5, even without Connor McDavid on the ice. McDavid’s numbers actually decline when he’s not on the ice with the 25-year-old blueliner, because that’s how good their number one defenceman is. If teammates Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews, and Makar can be on the team, why can’t McDavid and Bouchard? That familiarity will only benefit Team Canada, especially in a short tournament where you must find instant chemistry with your teammates.
Another question was Bouchard’s ability to play without Mattias Ekholm. Well, we got the answer to that question in the playoffs. Bouchard has been paired with Ekholm since the Swedish blueliner was acquired at the 2023 Trade Deadline. But injuries forced him to play without Ekholm throughout the majority of the postseason, and he remained elite. He continued to elevate his play in the postseason without the veteran’s presence.
The right-shot defenceman has become a versatile player, which wasn’t the case a few years ago. He can run the power play, he can play with different partners, he can kill penalties, and he’s elite at even strength. The Oakville, Ontario native has added more elements to his game, making him a more complete player. He’s just entering his prime, and he will only get better, especially if he continues to improve his defensive game.
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