The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing player storylines from around the NHL. On deck this week is:
• Bouchard becoming an all-time great playoff performer
• Klingberg building his stock back up
• Rodrigues making a habit of coming up clutch
• Panthers getting major value from Mikkola
Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers
Evan Bouchard is a coach’s dream… or nightmare.
Equal parts brilliant and frustrating. Bouchard can make an incredible hockey IQ play at one end of the ice and moments later look completely lost at the other. There are stretches where Bouchard is a dominant offensive player, but also seems borderline uninterested at defending. A flawed player with an incredibly high ceiling, where you hope the good outweighs the bad, and in the post-season, it certainly has.
Bouchard has been excellent again this spring and is starting to chip away at the narrative that he can’t be relied upon. So good in fact, he’s starting to etch his name as an all-time great playoff performer. It’s not an exaggeration for the 25-year-old, who recently moved past the likes of hall of famers Doug Harvey and Rob Blake on the all-time points list among defencemen in the post-season. For perspective, Bouchard has 75 points in 70 playoff games, where Blake played more than twice as many (146) to collect his 73 points. In these playoffs Bouchard has 17 points in 17 games and it’s the third post-season in a row where he’s scored at least 17 points.
When it comes to playoff points per game, Bouchard is almost in a class all to himself. Heading into Thursday night, only Bobby Orr had a higher points per game total as a defenceman in the post-season and Bouchard has been able to elevate his game in the playoffs better than anyone else ever has.
This post-season run from Bouchard might be his most impressive when you consider he’s done nearly all of it without Mattias Ekholm at his side. Ekholm is the calming force to Bouchard’s sometimes erratic play. He also allows Bouchard to roam offensively and helps clean up his mistakes. Without him, there was real concern that Bouchard would be nowhere near as effective, but it’s been just the opposite. To go along with the points, Bouchard is averaging over 25 minutes a night and is a plus-8 in these playoffs. Outside of some shaky moments early in the opening-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, Bouchard’s defensive play has virtually been a non-issue.
That’s in large part because the Oilers and Bouchard have done a great job at keeping the puck at the other end of the ice. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been dominant once again and Bouchard has really developed a great chemistry with the duo. It’s rare to see a defenceman be so in tune with a forward, but Bouchard has an innate ability to click with McDavid especially. There are times where it almost feels like Bouchard is playing on McDavid’s wing.
This great stretch of play couldn’t come at a better time for Bouchard. He’s due for a new contract in the summer and it’s going to be a big one. Any chance Edmonton had at keeping the AAV down evaporated over the past few weeks. Bouchard’s flaws haven’t disappeared entirely but points are what gets you paid, especially in the playoffs. He’s coming off a bridge deal with an AAV of $3.9 million and his new number will surely be nowhere close to that. It’s likely going to start with a nine or a 10.
There’s also the matter of offer sheets to be concerned about. They’re still rare and it would cost a lot to get Bouchard, but the Oilers got burned be a pair last summer and won’t want it to happen again. If Edmonton is in a sticky cap situation again, the vultures could start circling. The Oilers can’t lose him and would have a hard time replacing his point totals.
Perhaps the biggest impact of Bouchard’s playoff performance could relate to his inclusion on Team Canada at next year’s Olympics. Bouchard was left off the Canadian roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, but how can you exclude him now given his body of work in big games? There will still be plenty of time for players to make their cases to be picked next season, though it’s going to be harder justifying not including Bouchard in favour of someone like Travis Sanheim or a 36-year-old Drew Doughty. Even if you can’t completely trust Bouchard defensively, his chemistry with McDavid alone might be enough to take him and use him in situations to help create offence.
Whether or not he cracks Canada’s roster remains to be seen, but the list of blue liners that can elevate their game in big moments like Bouchard are few and far between. Even if he isn’t a perfect player, it doesn’t mean Bouchard can’t carve himself out a place in post-season lore, and if he helps the Oilers win a Stanley Cup, his legend will only grow. The numbers already back it up.
John Klingberg, Edmonton Oilers
Rumours of John Klingberg’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
After undergoing hip resurfacing surgery on both hips in late 2023, Klingberg’s career was in jeopardy and he missed significant parts of the past two seasons before the Oilers gave him a chance in February. At 32, he’s never going to be the number one defenceman he once was, but he’s been an important contributor for Edmonton during the playoffs.
With Ekholm sidelined, Klingberg has been called upon for significant minutes in the post-season, averaging over 18 per game and three times exceeding 20 minutes in a contest. He’s also chipped in with four points, is quarterbacking the second power-play unit and has finished as a minus in just one game this spring.
When Klingberg signed with Edmonton midseason I must confess, I wasn’t convinced it was going to be a great fit for the veteran. With Bouchard in the fold, Klingberg’s chances to run the man advantage were going to be limited and I had a hard time seeing how he could contribute otherwise. Instead, he’s settled into a depth role and gives the Oilers another puck-moving blue liner down their lineup. You can also see that Klingberg’s mobility is improving, too.
At the very least, this playoff run Klingberg should really boost his value this summer, where he’ll hit the open market as a free agent. I wouldn’t expect some massive deal to come his way, but he’s certainly shown enough to warrant another contract from someone. There will be no shortage of teams looking for help on the back end and it doesn’t hurt that Klingberg can feature on the power play as well. He’s a gamble worth taking at this point.
Evan Rodrigues, Florida Panthers
The word of the playoffs for the Panthers has been depth. That is the foundation of what’s made them the toughest out of the past three post-seasons and what’s made almost every other team they’ve faced look inferior.
Florida has 10 players with at least 10 points in these playoffs and that includes its entire top-nine forward group. One of those skaters is Evan Rodrigues, who had 10 assists and no goals heading into game five against the Carolina Hurricanes, before he scored his first of the post-season. Rodrigues has been making a habit of producing in big games, as that was his 10th career point in a series clinching contest.
It’s another great example of how the Panthers get the most out of their players and can utilize them in different ways. Even Rodrigues would tell you he’s probably not a first-line player, but the Panthers deploy him on their top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart and the trio is very effective. When Rodrigues missed some time with an injury in Round 2, Jesper Boqvist, who has been in and out of the lineup in the playoffs, stepped in for Rodrigues and promptly notched two points in a big Game 5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That isn’t to say anyone could skate alongside Barkov and Reinhart and have success. It’s a misconception that it’s easy to play with great players, as you have to be incredibly skilled and think the game at a high level. Rodrigues can do both and his knack for stepping up when it matters most has been critical for the Panthers over these past two playoff runs. Last spring in the Final he had four goals and three assists versus the Oilers, helping the Panthers lift the Stanley Cup for the first time. If Florida ends up winning the rematch in a couple of weeks, there’s a good chance that a player like Rodrigues is going to come through in another key moment.
Niko Mikkola, Florida Panthers
Speaking of depth, you don’t make it to three-straight Stanley Cup Finals without having some unsung heroes along the way and Niko Mikkola would certainly qualify as one.
After being somewhat of an afterthought on the Panthers blue line, Mikkola is emerging as much more than that in these playoffs, turning into a key contributor in Florida’s defence corps. The Finland native is playing over 19 minutes a game on this run, which includes more than two minutes per night on Florida’s top-ranked penalty kill, and is contributing in a number of different areas, even at the offensive end of the ice. Mikkola is up to three goals in the playoffs and had four points in four games against the Carolina Hurricanes. Not bad for a guy who is six-foot-six and known more for his physicality than his offensive exploits.
Credit the Panthers for seeing something in Mikkola not many others did. The 29-year-old played sparingly for the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers during the first four years of his NHL career, before Florida gave him a three-year deal in the summer of 2023. Since then, Mikkola has won a Stanley Cup, represented Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off and is in the midst of another long playoff run. That kind of experience is invaluable for any player and Mikkola is rewarding Florida on a great value contract.
The Panthers have probably leaned on Mikkola even more than they planned. With the departures of Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, plus the suspension to Aaron Ekblad late this regular season, Mikkola’s minutes became more important and his responsibilities for Florida more critical. Now if Ekblad walks in free agency, the Panthers at least can take solace in the fact that Mikkola should be comfortable and prepared to step into an even larger role.
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