Sunday Scaries: Bouch is back, Auston Matthews, and Connor McDavid’s love for Edmonton

Happy Sunday Nation Citizens!!

This week we finally were gifted some peace of mind from Ken Holland in the form of an Evan Bouchard bridge deal.

While I’m sure all of us were hoping to see a longer-term contract for our young defenceman, it was not in the cards. The biggest issue the Oilers faced regarding Bouchard’s contract was the tight cap space. He signed a $3.9 million dollar two-year contract, but now the Oilers have a 21-man roster and a very, VERY tight cap situation. As a result, it’s looking like the Oilers will have to run a 21-man roster at least until the trade deadline when we can possibly acquire another player and then upgrade the lineup.

However, it was important for this team to keep Bouch around and we’re happy that a contract was able to get done. He improves our (league-best) powerplay and is such an important member of this team. With 89 points in 184 games and 26 points in 28 games, he is developing into a well-rounded young defenceman who is only going to grow as a player over his next two seasons in Edmonton before scoring a big payout that he’ll likely deserve.

This summer, Connor McDavid has made it abundantly clear that he loves this city. He has also made it known that he is hungry for the Cup and wants to bring it to Edmonton.

Most recently in his interview with Mark Spector, he said, “I love playing in Edmonton, and I feel really at home there.” He went on to say that his fiancee Lauren Kyle also loves it in Edmonton and that there are “a lot of things that check the boxes for us in Edmonton. I love playing in Edmonton, I’m 100 per cent committed to winning in Edmonton with this group, and we’re gonna see it through.” Music to my ears, truly.

Speaking of Connor McDavid staying in Edmonton, Auston Matthews just accepted a four-year contract that carries a $13.25 million AAV to remain a Toronto Maple Leaf over the next four years. Now, don’t get me wrong, Auston Matthews is an amazing hockey player, but do I think he deserves to be making a million more than McDavid? No. Does he deserve FIVE million more than Leon? Absolutely not.

I also understand that Connor and Leon are not making close to what they deserve, but when their current contracts end, Matthews just set those two up to make insane amounts of money when it’s time for renewal in a few years.

My final piece of amazing news we got this week…

All I have to say about this baby news is:

Congratulations to Ryan and Bre Nugent-Hopkins on welcoming their absolutely perfect baby girl Lennon Ayla into the world!!

Oilers fans will get to watch her and her dad both grow up but never age, and we could not be more excited about it.

Something else I was thinking about is how there are a lot of Oilers babies that are eligible to be placed in the Cup should the boys win it this year… Dare to dream?