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Oilers Thoughts: Bouchard looking to build off last game, Henrique solid and Frederic needs to bring more

3 16
08.11.2025
The Edmonton Oilers are just over a month into the 2025-26 season, and like any team with high expectations, there’s plenty to unpack, with some players quietly putting up strong starts, while others are still trying to round out their game.

With that in mind, let’s dive into five Oilers thoughts, from Evan Bouchard’s play and Adam Henrique’s strong start to which players could be ending their scoring drought, the missing gamesmanship, and how the Oilers need more out of Trent Frederic.

One Game at a Time for Evan Bouchard

The start of the season for Evan Bouchard, after signing a massive $10.5 million-a-season contract, has been nothing short of a nightmare straight out of The Amityville Horror, filled with ghoulish defensive blunders.

A Stephen King–like novel could be written about his horrific blown defensive coverages and giveaways, and at this point, there are no excuses for them. And many years from now, scientists will need to run a full lab experiment and figure out why he starts seasons so slowly, only to turn into a playoff beast. For now, though, it’s about steadily building his game and regaining that confidence, one step at a time, and hopefully he can build off the good performance he had last game........

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