Oilers, Bouchard agree to two-year, $7.8 million extension
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The Edmonton Oilers have signed restricted free agent defenceman Evan Bouchard to a two-year, $7.8 million contract.
The 23-year-old defenceman will carry a cap hit of $3.9 million under the new deal.
Bouchard posted eight goals and 40 points in 82 games with the Oilers last season. He added four goals and 17 points in 12 playoff games before the Oilers were eliminated in the second round.
Signing Bouchard puts the Oilers over the salary cap by less than $400,000, per CapFriendly. He was the team's final restricted free agent, while unsigned forward Brandon Sutter will attend training camp on a professional tryout.
Bouchard is coming off the three-year, $4.975 million entry-level contract he signed with the Oilers in July of 2018.
Drafted 10th overall by the Oilers in 2018, Bouchard has 23 goals and 89 points in 184 games with the team.
The Oakville Ont., native represented Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championship in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., where he had three assists in five games en route to a sixth-place finish.
Oilers off-season complete?
With Bouchard now signed, the Oilers roster for the upcoming season may be set.
Edmonton had previously re-signed restricted free agents Raphael Lavoie and Ryan McLeod, who signed a two-year, $4.2 million contract.
The biggest splash of the team's off-season came in signing winger Connor Brown to a one-year contract with a $775,000 base salary, with up to $3.25 million available in games played bonuses.
Brown will reunite with Oilers superstar Connor McDavid after the two were OHL teammates with the Erie Otters from 2012-14.
"I think he's a great fit for the group," McDavid said in July of Brown joining the Oilers. "I think he fits in perfectly in the room, on the ice, all that type of stuff.
"When all is said and done, I think it's the perfect addition."
On the trade market, the Oilers cleared cap space in June by sending Klim Kostin and Kailer Yamamoto - who was later bought out - to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for future considerations.