Confirmed with Link: Ethan Bear signs 2-year $2M AAV

[Mr Positive]

Petry and Bear are not even close really, Petry could skate, Bear cant, huge difference. Oh I forgot size to, way more battle in Petry and he was pretty soft here.

Pretty dumb comparison

I didn't say they were the same player. I said their situations are similar. Petry also played really badly for long stretches.

 

[yukoner88]

Petry and Bear are not even close really, Petry could skate, Bear cant, huge difference. Oh I forgot size to, way more battle in Petry and he was pretty soft here.

Pretty dumb comparison

Not a dumb comparison at all if you're mainly talking about development paths. When Petry was here, he went through many up n down stretches with his play. People are starting to have the same reactions to Bear as they did with Petry, and more recently people had the knives out for Nurse aswell.

Both Nurse and Petry have proven that you need to have some patience with young dmen. Bear is only his 3rd season into being a pro, his development won't be a straight linear line of improvement.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I eagerly await the sell low trade on this player only to see him blossom somewhere else.

 

[GMofOilers]

Not a dumb comparison at all if you're mainly talking about development paths. When Petry was here, he went through many up n down stretches with his play. People are starting to have the same reactions to Bear as they did with Petry, and more recently people had the knives out for Nurse aswell.

Both Nurse and Petry have proven that you need to have some patience with young dmen. Bear is only his 3rd season into being a pro, his development won't be a straight linear line of improvement.

Like I said, Bear to slow and to small, not a good combination. Petry had way more tools to be a top4 guy.

 

[bobbythebrain]

I never saw the love affair w Bear. Last year imo I think alot of his play was masked by the winning.
Nurse-Bear combo continually ran around but we still found ways to win

 

[missinthejets]

I like Bear but he's not a surefire guy either. Small and not overly fast is a big hurdle. It is clear as well that Bouchard is just a flat out better player and prospect.

Keep him playing bottom pair and see where things go. This pretending that he can play with Nurse is a mistake to continue to try.

 

[yukoner88]

Like I said, Bear to slow and to small, not a good combination. Petry had way more tools to be a top4 guy.

LOL you didn't even read the post of that's the crux of your reply.

This is why I hardly try to engage a thoughtful debate on someone.

Try to make a thought out statement only to have the entire thing ignored so you can hang your head on the same tired narrative.

Have a good day man. I'm out of here for the day

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Anybody ever hear of the sophomore slump? It also doesn't help that he's coming back from a concussion and has been shuffled around on D pairings all year on this tire fire of a defence. Put your hand up if you think pairing Bear with Jones during this set with Toronto was a good idea. Bear will be fine he just needs some time and a decent partner. Trade talk at this stage is ridiculous.

 

[Nostradumbass]

The guy is coming back from a concussion with a hefty amount of time off. Give him some time...

 

[frag2]

Bear skating is just brutal.

Unless his hockey IQ and passing skills go supernova, his skating will hold him back.

 

[Mr Positive]

I never saw the love affair w Bear. Last year imo I think alot of his play was masked by the winning.
Nurse-Bear combo continually ran around but we still found ways to win

What I noticed from Bear was great D-zone patience, and would make subtle zone exits that ended with good passes rather than just clearing the zone. In his first real NHL stint he was an offensive zone player with a great shot and looked good on the PP, but he seemed to work to become more of a D-zone player. So he is definitely evolving. I'm sure he will change again, especially after he endures some real hardships this season

 

[GMofOilers]

What I noticed from Bear was great D-zone patience, and would make subtle zone exits that ended with good passes rather than just clearing the zone. In his first real NHL stint he was an offensive zone player with a great shot and looked good on the PP, but he seemed to work to become more of a D-zone player. So he is definitely evolving. I'm sure he will change again, especially after he endures some real hardships this season

I haven’t seen him win to many 1 on 1 battles since game 40 last year, mostly do to speed and size. I don’t see that changing because of those limitations

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Way premature to write off a solid young defender. Bear was other worldly last year to make this team and earn his way into top pairing minutes. He's hit some real world development reality which happens for a huge majority of players and most certainly those playing defense. He's not helped by coming in to camp a bit late and fluke puck to the head concussion which has been a concern for this player. He's a step behind physically and mentally this year. But his benchmark is high because he's shown much early in his young NHL career.

Young defensemen need patience. Bear has earned some imo. That said, he need to move off top pairing d with Nurse (Barrie deserves it) and be positioned as a second/third pairing d-man to help stabilize his game and confidence through this sophomore slump. Bear's a solid young homegrown defender - a rarity for an organization that's been abysmal at drafting and development.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

ya I ain't writing this guy off yet
injuries has slowed his progress this year but there's ability there
people are always quick to rip a player, like Nurse in previous year and Jeff Petry in the past
defenseman take time

 

[McShogun99]

I never got the love affair with Bear. He has potential but doesn't have the elite tools to be a top pairing player, his spot should be bottom pairing but can fill in on the 2nd pairing. If you look at almost every other teams roster, Bear wouldn't be in the top 4. He's currently our 4th best RD. If we had a fully healthy roster our optimized D would look like this;

Nurse-Barrie
Klefbom-Bouchard
Lagesson-Larsson
Bear

 

[Bryanbryoil]

The guy is coming back from a concussion with a hefty amount of time off. Give him some time...

I don't think that he's 100% either. Whether it's being scared of getting hit, having some brain fog from his concussion or just being rusty for being off for so long, he doesn't look himself. I was really pissed to see him tossed onto the top pairing given his recent injury history, talk about setting a guy up to fail.

 

[DaGap]

I don't think that he's 100% either. Whether it's being scared of getting hit, having some brain fog from his concussion or just being rusty for being off for so long, he doesn't look himself. I was really pissed to see him tossed onto the top pairing given his recent injury history, talk about setting a guy up to fail.

No matter the coach, No matter the GM, No matter the roster for some reason Oilers love putting players in positions to fail

 

[Smartguy]

I never got the love affair with Bear. He has potential but doesn't have the elite tools to be a top pairing player, his spot should be bottom pairing but can fill in on the 2nd pairing. If you look at almost every other teams roster, Bear wouldn't be in the top 4. He's currently our 4th best RD. If we had a fully healthy roster our optimized D would look like this;

Nurse-Barrie
Klefbom-Bouchard
Lagesson-Larsson
Bear

Because last year we had no RD, Larsson was hurt to start the year, Barrie wasn’t here, Bouchard wasn’t ready. Benning was Bears only competition to start the year. Bear was the only capable,NHL calibre RD, so in Oiler fan fashion people rushed to say he was a top pair defenseman.

All players, especially D struggle, and I still think he has the top 4 potential, but I think as we are seeing this year, if we have more capable NHL players he should be slid down the lineup

 

[McOilers97]

Yeah, I'm somewhere in the middle on Bear.

He's an NHL calibre player that happens to be struggling, and we should be somewhat patient with him given how unforgiving playing D is in the NHL, especially for a 23 year old with < 100 games experience. I certainly wouldn't write him off at all.

On the other hand, I don't really see the tools to be more than a 3rd pairing RD long-term. That's fine if that's all he is, but let's not compare him as a young player to Nurse and Petry, who have physical tools and skating that absolutely blow him away. Maybe he'll be able to come through as a 2nd pairing calibre player at some point, but to my eye, he has some significant limitations that will likely prevent him from being a long-term minute-eater for a good team. He had a great start to last year, but hundreds and hundreds of players have a good 1 or 2 year stretch that they never replicate again in their careers, so let's temper the expectations a bit and just wait and see what happens with this player.

 

[Patch101]

ya I ain't writing this guy off yet
injuries has slowed his progress this year but there's ability there
people are always quick to rip a player, like Nurse in previous year and Jeff Petry in the past
defenseman take time

Ya, Its a mistake to bang on young defenders.
Not something I'm ganna do.

 

[McShogun99]

Yeah, I'm somewhere in the middle on Bear.

He's an NHL calibre player that happens to be struggling, and we should be somewhat patient with him given how unforgiving playing D is in the NHL, especially for a 23 year old with < 100 games experience. I certainly wouldn't write him off at all.

On the other hand, I don't really see the tools to be more than a 3rd pairing RD long-term. That's fine if that's all he is, but let's not compare him as a young player to Nurse and Petry, who have physical tools and skating that absolutely blow him away. Maybe he'll be able to come through as a 2nd pairing calibre player at some point, but to my eye, he has some significant limitations that will likely prevent him from being a long-term minute-eater for a good team. He had a great start to last year, but hundreds and hundreds of players have a good 1 or 2 year stretch that they never replicate again in their careers, so let's temper the expectations a bit and just wait and see what happens with this player.

I wouldn't be considering trading him since next year we could be losing both Barrie and Larsson. The team just needs to quit playing him over his head and just bring him back slowly.

 

[Snipes45]

They are playing him over his head and his skating does not make up for his lack of strength. He can't escape getting pushed off consistently.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I never got the love affair with Bear. He has potential but doesn't have the elite tools to be a top pairing player, his spot should be bottom pairing but can fill in on the 2nd pairing. If you look at almost every other teams roster, Bear wouldn't be in the top 4. He's currently our 4th best RD. If we had a fully healthy roster our optimized D would look like this;

Nurse-Barrie
Klefbom-Bouchard
Lagesson-Larsson
Bear

I actually think it's really easy to understand. He's a mid round draft pick who put the work boots on to beat the odds of making an NHL roster, climbed past at least one other regarded prospect to do so, and out kicked the coverage of his first season earning and delivering quality first pairing minute with simple, intelligent play and veteran poise. Add this kid's journey as an Indigenous role model and likeable, humble personality he's an athlete easy to cheer for. Throw in a draft development success for an organization that has grossly failed in this critical life blood function of successful franchises including a cornerstone position ridiculously overlooked through multiple rebuilds.

Bear quite possibly was/is a placeholder as a top pairing defenseman as the Oilers onboard blue-chip Bouchard and test drive Barrie (or hope upon hope look to go hard at a legitimate 1D Dougie Hamilton UFA this off-season). However he can be a reasonably solid second or third pairing right handed NHL defensemen ... if and when this franchise ever lurches out of mediocrity.

I prefer to see Ethan Bear from a glass half full perspective for what a young mid-level prospect can achieve when seizing opportunity and putting in the work to earn an NHL job.

 

[GMofOilers]

I actually think it's really easy to understand. He's a mid round draft pick who put the work boots on to beat the odds of making an NHL roster, climbed past at least one other regarded prospect to do so, and out kicked the coverage of his first season earning and delivering quality first pairing minute with simple, intelligent play and veteran poise. Add this kid's journey as an Indigenous role model and likeable, humble personality he's an athlete easy to cheer for. Throw in a draft development success for an organization that has grossly failed in this critical life blood function of successful franchises including a cornerstone position ridiculously overlooked through multiple rebuilds.

Bear quite possibly was/is a placeholder as a top pairing defenseman as the Oilers onboard blue-chip Bouchard and test drive Barrie (or hope upon hope look to go hard at a legitimate 1D Dougie Hamilton UFA this off-season). However he can be a reasonably solid second or third pairing right handed NHL defensemen ... if and when this franchise ever lurches out of mediocrity.

I prefer to see Ethan Bear from a glass half full perspective for what a young mid-level prospect can achieve when seizing opportunity and putting in the work to earn an NHL job.

I thought of him as the most over rated prospect to ever to play for the Oilers to be honest

 

[TheNumber4]

Bears been rough ever since coming back from Covid break. Needs to take a step back and slow down. Oilers need to take it slower with him and let him get back up to speed, cause it ain’t working right now.

Should be pretty simple tho no? Just give Besr 3rd pairing minutes. Just give him Bennings minutes from last year and be glad that we’ve replaced Bennings inability to pass the puck with someone who’s shown he can and is good At it.