There was once a point in time years ago when people never thought Evan Bouchard could outproduce Tyson Barrie.

Bouchard’s third full-time season in the NHL saw him lap any production Barrie ever had, scoring 18 goals, 64 assists and 82 points. He carried that success into the playoffs, adding six goals, 26 assists and 32 points. His assist total became a single-playoff record among all defencemen, passing a previous mark by his coach, Paul Coffey.

Simply put: Evan Bouchard has arrived.

There’s a lot of blue in his numbers, which is excellent to see from the 24-year-old. He’s tremendous at driving play offensively and helping choke out opposing teams in the Oilers zone, too. While offence has always been a strong suit of his going back to his junior hockey days, the defensive side of his game was always something that needed to be worked on. There’s no denying there’s still warts there, but as the regular season progressed into the post-season, he began to find himself more comfortable there.

His impacts on the game are significant. He drove play last year at a five percent rate above league average, and defence at a league average rate, with his power play and penalty kill work being three percent, and two percent above league average, respectively, according to HockeyViz. And for the second straight year, those impacts make him a top-pairing defenceman in the NHL.

People are quick to say that Bouchard’s growth as a player has come solely because of his playing alongside Mattias Ekholm, and while there’s no denying the fact that this has been a plus for the right shot with a howitzer from the point, credit is due for Bouchard stepping up as a player. The Oilers’ trust in him grew last year, as he played the second most ice-time against elite competition, according to PuckIQ, with Ekholm being the only one above his 31.8 percent. It marks a 37 percent increase over his prior career average, further highlighting the Oilers’ willingness to have him on the ice.

Bouchard is entering a critical year, the final of a two-year, $3.9-million AAV bridge deal he had signed ahead of last season. He’s going to be due for a significant raise, with Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli projecting him to earn $10-million a year on his next contract.

There’s no doubt in my mind Bouchard will have another very productive season at 5v5 and on the power play. The question now is how soon does he hit the 100-point mark?

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.