Recalled/Assigned: Ethan Bear Recalled

[McDNicks17]

Question about contract. If he plays 9 games does it burn a year or since he is AHL it doesnt matter?

That only applies to 18 or 19 year olds.

 

[GMofOilers]

Well hes passed my expectation of this season already. I thought he would be a border line AHL player this year.

I think hes actually looked better in this small sample size then Benning has all year.

I want to add, I think we need a more AHL development time, like all of next year.

 

[Hockey Nightmare]

Ya, there's no pressure on this kid at all. If he doesn't win the norris until 2021, it's fine.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Question about contract. If he plays 9 games does it burn a year or since he is AHL it doesnt matter?

His ELC started once he started playing for Bakersfield this season.

 

[suddeninterest]

The fact that a 5th round pick D is his first year of pro has played a few games and gotten a point is awesome in itself. If he tops out as a bottom pair guy who can play pp2 that’s pretty good I’d say.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

He needs to work on his skating and defensive positioning, but he's been great when the Oilers have possession of the puck. Bear is probably already our most threatening offensive dman which is beyond sad. Klefbom needs to get it together.

 

[ujju2]

If he can work on his skating this summer, and get some more games under his belt (to learn to better defend in the NHL), he's going to be awesome. Already our best offensive threat from the blueline, though a harder shot never hurts.

 

[ujju2]

The fact that a 5th round pick D is his first year of pro has played a few games and gotten a point is awesome in itself. If he tops out as a bottom pair guy who can play pp2 that’s pretty good I’d say.

As far as this team is concerned, he already is that. He's only going to get better.

 

[ujju2]

Larsson will be back. Bear won't make it passed 9 games

Larsson played last game and Bear did too, over Benning. I don't think the plan is to send him back this season unless he starts looking out of place, which he hasn't imo, though he's made a few rookie mistakes.

 

[McYoungGuns]

That only applies to 18 or 19 year olds.

in the Ahl its 18 and 19 year old European players drafted out of the CHL, other wise its all players not playing in the Ahl

 

[LTIR]

His skating has been a knock him for years now... "working on it during summer" is not going to fix it.
I hope he has a long NHL career ahead of him but I am not going to bank on it.

The shine will wear off I think.

 

[McDNicks17]

in the Ahl its 18 and 19 year old European players drafted out of the CHL, other wise its all players not playing in the Ahl

It's specifically for any player on an ELC in their 18 or 19 year old seasons.

Doesn't matter where they were drafted or where they're playing outside the NHL.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

His skating has been a knock him for years now... "working on it during summer" is not going to fix it.
I hope he has a long NHL career ahead of him but I am not going to bank on it.

The shine will wear off I think.

As it was for Khaira. Now is it an issue?

 

[Mr Positive]

He will look good in this stretch with us imo, because our team is thirsty for an offensive defenseman, so much so that Auvitu would even look really good. I do think Bear could be a solid player who could give offense without being any sort of liability, but it will take some time.

 

[Hemsky4pm2]

I think the reality that the Oilers aren't winning the Cup next season should be sinking in now. With that in mind, player development is really important. I'm hoping the plan for Bear is that he spends the majority of the season in Bakersfield next year and is only up with the Oilers in the event of injuries. I can live with the regular top 6 of Larsson, Klefbom, Sekera, Nurse, Russell and Benning. Let Bear get to the point where his is dominant in the AHL before he's a full time NHLer.

Tyson Barrie spent 48 and 39 games in the AHL in his first two pro seasons. I hope that's the plan with Bear. No need to rush.

 

[MoontoScott]

As it was for Khaira. Now is it an issue?

Speed is a nice to have in D-men but the most important quality is "poise." That's what makes Larsson the best D-man on the team and it looks like overnight Bear might be second best in terms of that quality.

For the last 2 decades the Oilers have had many great skaters who unfortunately were very mediocre hockey players. The old comparison of Doan versus Kelly was a good example. One had great wheels and the other had questionable skating ability. We saw how that turned out...............

 

[Canovin]

Khaira has gotten a lot faster. I have hope for Bear

 

[Mr Positive]

Khaira has gotten a lot faster. I have hope for Bear

or how about the ultimate example: Draisaitl.

People were saying he was going to be a bust after his rookie year, and that he could never improve his skating enough to be an NHLer

 

[Aerchon]

or how about the ultimate example: Draisaitl.

People were saying he was going to be a bust after his rookie year, and that he could never improve his skating enough to be an NHLer

Draisaitl has never been a bad skater. That was something Bennett fans fabricated and as a bigger guy his skating looks worse than it actually is. His style to slow things down and cycle also plays into this.

However Leon obviously worked on both his style and skating after his first year in the nhl. Adapted to more starting and stopping and developed his first step acceleration. Hopefully Bear can improve as well.

 

[McJadeddog]

Larsson played last game and Bear did too, over Benning. I don't think the plan is to send him back this season unless he starts looking out of place, which he hasn't imo, though he's made a few rookie mistakes.

Yeah, my guess is that he stays up the rest of the way. Might as well really, as he is likely our best chance at developing a PP-QB on the backend (which is pretty sad). I suspect he will spend the majority of the season in the AHL again next year, but this cup of coffee in the bigs will certainly help him in the long run. He isn't exactly excelling, but he isn't being completely over-whelmed either, to his credit.

 

[BigTime99]

Remember last year and offseason where Benning was penned in to be a lock for top 6 dman. Young players development is not linear. I would like to see Bear in the ahl for more development time.
On his skating, he is not slow like Benning but the skating stride seems sloppy. Surely that can be improved upon and he will also get stronger which will help his balance. What are the Oilers paying David peltier for? I haven't seen much improvement from many of the teams slower skaters.
Oilers might be better of f hiring Bo Horvats skating coach. She has done wonders for him.

 

[Hockey Nightmare]

Retire Drai and make him the skating coach

 

[MoneyGuy]

Retire Drai and make him the skating coach

Worst idea ever.

 

[KarmaPolice]

He had a rough start against perhaps the best team in the league in Nashville (I think they'll make the SC Finals at least). He was -3 in that, his first NHL game. In the 4 games since, he's gone only -1 and has put up 2 points, including that beautiful backcheck leading to the Drai goal last night. He's looking better with each game and he's even getting near 20 minutes playing time the last two games: 19:54 and 19:55 respectively, and is a +1 and 2 assists over those last two games. Seems the Oiler brass really want to see what they have in this kid, and I'm not complaining. Hoping he keeps slowly improving. Slow and steady. Want to see him shoot more on the PP and improve his speed a bit. Drai was able to improve his speed fairly drastically over a couple years. I think Bear has enough drive to do the same, although I know it can be quite complicated (having a certain skating style can limit your speed potential, etc.). We'll see how things go, but I have faith in the Bear.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Draisaitl looked like a completely different player after working on his skating (post-rookie year)