I believe it is reasonable to say that two things can be true at once here. One, Bouchard simply needs to be better. Even by the advanced metrics that he historically ranks well in, Bouchard is worse than he was compared to each of the past two seasons. However, he has been extraordinarily unlucky, and you can expect his results to substantially improve much sooner than later.

However, there is reason to believe that this will not last.

It is obviously a small sample, but so far, the Nurse pairing has already seen a drastic improvement next to Jake Walman. The two have out-scored opponents 2 to 1 alongside a 52 percent xG%. Note that in 105 minutes last season in 2024-25, Nurse and Walman had an excellent 61 percent expected goal share, out-scoring opponents 8 to 2. Again, another small sample, but another reason to believe that Nurse and Walman could form a very solid second-pair as they build chemistry and consistency over a larger sample. Even on paper, the two defenders are a good stylistic match, as Walman’s excellent puck-moving has already been incredibly beneficial for Nurse, who historically struggles when he is the primary puck-mover on his pair.

All-in-all, the Oilers possess a top-pairing that has controlled play but been incredibly unlucky, a second-pairing with real potential, and a reliable third pairing. As Ekholm – Bouchard regresses to the mean, and while Nurse – Walman develops chemistry, there is strong reason to expect a significant improvement in Edmonton’s overall results sooner than later.