Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm Have Made NHL History — And Nobody Wants to Face the Truth About It 

Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm Have Made NHL History — And Nobody Wants to Face the Truth About It

The NHL record books just changed, but it didn’t happen with an exciting goal-scoring show or a famous goalie mistake. Instead, it happened quietly — thanks to Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm. These two defensemen from the Edmonton Oilers have accomplished something never seen before in the modern NHL, and the league seems a bit awkward when discussing it.

Bouchard and Ekholm have changed what it means to be a defensive pair. This goes beyond just scoring points, minutes played, or statistics like plus-minus. It’s really about who controls the game. Game after game, they have taken charge of possession, set the pace, and revealed a tough truth: many NHL teams are still trying to build their defense for a game that has changed.

Now here’s the tricky part — their remarkable success didn’t come from amazing forwards helping them out. It came from defensemen who pushed the offense, stopped top players, and made other teams’ strategies seem old-fashioned. Experts often talk about “two-way defensemen,” but Bouchard and Ekholm have taken that idea to a whole new level. They aren’t just helping out on offense — they are leading it.

What makes it even more awkward? Their stats are comparable to, and in some cases better than, pairs that fans and analysts used to consider unbeatable. Yet, they are still mostly ignored in discussions that focus on superstar forwards and goalies.

This groundbreaking moment brings up an uncomfortable question that the NHL doesn’t want to address: are teams paying too much for forwards while not seeing the real worth of great defense teamwork? Because Bouchard and Ekholm show that when a defense works well together, it doesn’t just help teams win championships — it takes control of them.

History has been made. The quietness surrounding it is the most noticeable part.