Knights Last Line of Defence
November 17, 2017
By Grant McCagg
London Knights defenceman Evan Bouchard has picked up his game lately and has worked himself back into the top 25 discussion after a disappointing start to his season along with much of the London team. Paired now with fellow draft-eligible defenceman Alec Regula, Bouchard has totalled ten points in his last five games after starting the season with 12 points through the first 15. A 6-2 blueliner with above-average offensive skills, if the torrid production continues and he cleans up the defensive-zone mistakes Bouchard may interest teams in the draft’s top 20 before all is said and done.
Regula was highly-regarded by a lot of US-based scouts going into the season after a solid campaign as a 16-year-old in the USHL, but after his first month in the OHL a lot of Ontario-based scouts were wondering what all of the hype was about as he struggled to make an impact. While he still not putting up numbers, that’s not his game…he is and will be a big, fairly mobile defensive defenceman who will log big minutes in a shutdown role. He’s cut down on the defensive errors and adjusted to the step up in quality in the OHL. He may get a long look from teams by the middle point of the second round.