2015 Draft - 3rd pick: Ethan Bear (2017: Named WHL D-Man of the Year)

[Blitzago*]

Haha. It is a long one. I appreciate the like and sub... if you just want a taste of what he can do jump to the 33:20 mark.

Jesus that shot though.

 

[oilers'72]

Ethan Bear has been named WHL Defenceman of the Year at the WHL Awards presentations.

 

[The Nuge]

Ethan Bear has been named WHL Defenceman of the Year at the WHL Awards presentations.

It's a pretty impressive list of recent winners (Provorov/Theodore/Petrovic/Barrie/Alzner/Russell/Phaneuf)

 

[oilers'72]

Ethan Bear has been named WHL Defenceman of the Year at the WHL Awards presentations.

I'll have a link for this when the WHL site posts it. The awards ceremony took place at noon in Calgary and I just happened to go to the live feed when Bear was announced.

 

[joestevens29]

It's a pretty impressive list of recent winners (Provorov/Theodore/Petrovic/Barrie/Alzner/Russell/Phaneuf)

I've seen all those guys be referred as bums and not that long ago either

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Let me get my bearings on this.

You guys are bearing the good news that this defensive barbearian who a year ago, could bearly skate, is now pawsitively trending?

With a little bit of patient forbearance, and if this kid can continue to Beary those one timers, we will be an embearassment to the rest of the scouts in this league.

I for one welcome the addition of his playoff beard.

 

[joestevens29]

Let me get my bearings on this.

You guys are bearing the good news that this defensive barbearian who a year ago, could bearly skate, is now pawsitively trending?

With a little bit of patient forbearance, and if this kid can continue to Beary those one timers, we will be an embearassment to the rest of the scouts in this league.

I for one welcome the addition of his playoff beard.

I think you should've left the bold off and seen if anyone picked up on it.

 

[Aceboogie]

Its pretty hard not to get pumped about Bear. His stats are off the chart good- 28 goals in regular season plus 16 points in 11 games in playoffs. To boot his 5x5 points really picked up this year. If this was a Detroit, Philly or Chicago prospect people would universally be saying this kid is next big offensive D (aka the Ghostibhere treatment)

Pretty excited to see how he stacks up in pros. If he pans out as a right handed puck mover whos great on the PP, he could solve a TON of issues

 

[oilers'72]

WHL Defenceman of the Year – Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy
WINNER: Ethan Bear – Seattle Thunderbirds

Ochapowace, SK product Ethan Bear helped lead a potent Thunderbirds attack this season, finishing the year third in team scoring with a career-high 70 points (28g-42a) over 67 games played. Bear finished second in the WHL with 14 power-play goals and led all rearguards with nine game-winning markers. Originally selected 25th overall in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, Bear has racked up 192 points (66g-126a) through 264 career WHL regular season games. Bear was chosen by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round, 124th overall, of the 2015 NHL Draft.

http://whl.ca/article/whl-announces-2016-17-award-winners

 

[BarDownBobo]

Its pretty hard not to get pumped about Bear. His stats are off the chart good- 28 goals in regular season plus 16 points in 11 games in playoffs. To boot his 5x5 points really picked up this year. If this was a Detroit, Philly or Chicago prospect people would universally be saying this kid is next big offensive D (aka the Ghostibhere treatment)

Pretty excited to see how he stacks up in pros. If he pans out as a right handed puck mover whos great on the PP, he could solve a TON of issues

I'm waiting to see how he transitions to the pros before getting too excited. I still question his all around game, the number of times I'd look up the boxscores and see him have a 2 or 3 point game and still end up with a minus rating overall is concerning to me. He's never blown me away when I've seen him in person either, but that's only a handful of games spread over a couple years so it's absolutely possible I just caught some bad games. I'm hopeful he turns out, like you said he could be a huge piece on the back end for a number of years, but I'm trying to lessen my expectations until he does it at the next level.

 

[Fourier]

I'm waiting to see how he transitions to the pros before getting too excited. I still question his all around game, the number of times I'd look up the boxscores and see him have a 2 or 3 point game and still end up with a minus rating overall is concerning to me. He's never blown me away when I've seen him in person either, but that's only a handful of games spread over a couple years so it's absolutely possible I just caught some bad games. I'm hopeful he turns out, like you said he could be a huge piece on the back end for a number of years, but I'm trying to lessen my expectations until he does it at the next level.

He was a minus after scoring 2 or more points exactly once last year during the regular season (3 times in the previous year) and was a minus only 16 games. Ekblad in his draft year was a minus 21 times.

 

[Aceboogie]

If only we could put Bear in a time machine and develop him 2 years. But atleast if he does turn out hell be a really good cheap option in 2/3 years when well need the help if cap is an issues

 

[Gone]

Bah, he ain't no Justin Schultz.

 

[MessierII]

He's going to be a player. I'm excited to see him in camp. He'll likely need some seasoning but he looks pretty unbelievable and fits our needs to a T. Prospects like him is why I'm not worried about our back end going forward. We're going to be just fine back there. It's finding affording long term solutions to replace Nuge and Eberle that will be a concern moving forward.

 

[oilers'72]

http://whl.ca/video/whl-awards-ethan-bear-whl-defenceman-of-the-year

 

[oilers'72]

Bear is named WHL player of the week, the third time this season he's been named.

http://whl.ca/article/thunderbirds-bear-named-whl-player-of-the-week-2

 

[USC Trojans]

It's been a while since we've had a true offensive d-man (MA Bergeron?)
Hope he pans out...no need to rush him. Give him a full season or two in the AHL with a few call ups here and there.

 

[Aerrol]

Glad to hear he's still tearing it up. Would be really nice if we could have a later round pick truly exceed expectations for us. Especially one who's a RHD offensive dman.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

I'm waiting to see how he transitions to the pros before getting too excited. I still question his all around game, the number of times I'd look up the boxscores and see him have a 2 or 3 point game and still end up with a minus rating overall is concerning to me. He's never blown me away when I've seen him in person either, but that's only a handful of games spread over a couple years so it's absolutely possible I just caught some bad games. I'm hopeful he turns out, like you said he could be a huge piece on the back end for a number of years, but I'm trying to lessen my expectations until he does it at the next level.

I think when it comes to Bear though he may be flawed in certain areas and not as complete as you'd like to see there are a few things working to his advantage such as situation and opportunity. First, the team does have a pretty well rounded blue line featuring few players that are quite good in their own zone, I believe this would allow them to take a chance on a guy who can possibly be a big point producer even if it means he's a bit of a liability in his own end at times.

Second, we have the coaching staff who will craft a role for him that will put him in the best position to succeed and gain confidence while trying to limit his potential for miscues. In addition we have the kind of elite talent upfront who can execute at a high level and make things easier on him. In the offensive zone Bear really understands where to be, he has a great arsenal of shots that he can get off quick from many different areas, and he is very good at getting accurate shots through traffic and on net. I think he will fit right in and our elite talent up front will make it easier for him to perform at the level he will need to be at to make it in teh bigs.

 

[McFlyingV]

I think when it comes to Bear though he may be flawed in certain areas and not as complete as you'd like to see there are a few things working to his advantage such as situation and opportunity. First, the team does have a pretty well rounded blue line featuring few players that are quite good in their own zone, I believe this would allow them to take a chance on a guy who can possibly be a big point producer even if it means he's a bit of a liability in his own end at times.

Second, we have the coaching staff who will craft a role for him that will put him in the best position to succeed and gain confidence while trying to limit his potential for miscues. In addition we have the kind of elite talent upfront who can execute at a high level and make things easier on him. In the offensive zone Bear really understands where to be, he has a great arsenal of shots that he can get off quick from many different areas, and he is very good at getting accurate shots through traffic and on net. I think he will fit right in and our elite talent up front will make it easier for him to perform at the level he will need to be at to make it in teh bigs.

The bolded is something that Jim Johnson doesn't get enough credit for. He helped develop Burns, Vlasic and Braun in SJ, and we're now seeing him help Klefbom, Benning, and Nurse emerge. This guy knows how to work with young Dmen.

 

[PaPaDee]

The bolded is something that Jim Johnson doesn't get enough credit for. He helped develop Burns, Vlasic and Braun in SJ, and we're now seeing him help Klefbom, Benning, and Nurse emerge. This guy knows how to work with young Dmen.

Absolutely. He's done a phenomenal job.

 

[CornKicker]

as much as i love what letestu has been for us this year replacing him on the PP with a bear or Pujlu shot is going to make the PP deadly

 

[CupofOil]

I'm waiting to see how he transitions to the pros before getting too excited. I still question his all around game, the number of times I'd look up the boxscores and see him have a 2 or 3 point game and still end up with a minus rating overall is concerning to me. He's never blown me away when I've seen him in person either, but that's only a handful of games spread over a couple years so it's absolutely possible I just caught some bad games. I'm hopeful he turns out, like you said he could be a huge piece on the back end for a number of years, but I'm trying to lessen my expectations until he does it at the next level.

He was a +34 on the season.

I still think he's a longshot to be an NHLer unless he improved a tremendous amount from this summer when he was a complete non factor again in Penticton. Average size and skating are two things working against him.

His numbers are impressive but it's his draft +2 year so that should be taken into account. I'm always skeptical of junior numbers translating to the pros especially a player like this who has some physical limitations so we'll see. At the least, he's an intriguing prospect to follow. I still think that Jones will be the better pro, has more translatable tools IMO.

 

[GMofOilers]

This kid will need at least 3 seasons in the AHL to make the jump to the NHL. If he can make the NHL, its a ways away.

Hes not a for sure bet yet.

 

[Glass Eyes]

The bolded is something that Jim Johnson doesn't get enough credit for. He helped develop Burns, Vlasic and Braun in SJ, and we're now seeing him help Klefbom, Benning, and Nurse emerge. This guy knows how to work with young Dmen.

Maybe in regards to Braun, but Burns and Vlasic were in SJ ages before Jim Johnson got there. (12-13).