Edmonton Oilers player review and 2021-22 preview: Ethan Bear

Sail on, Ethan.

After being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round of the 2015 draft, it’s impressive that Ethan Bear even played one game for the Oilers, let alone 132. It took a few years of continuing his development in the WHL and the AHL before breaking in with the big club late in the 2017-18 season.

He scored eight goals and 33 points in his time in Edmonton, a definite dip in production from his days in junior. His best season was the 2019-20 campaign when he played alongside Darnell Nurse creating a pair that complemented each other nicely.

This year, however, Bear had his struggles. He struggled with injuries after a poor training camp and never really found his legs until late in the season. A tough playoffs and suddenly, Bear found himself a Carolina Hurricane.

Even though he appeared to struggle this season, he actually had a decent campaign. With him being a young, cost-controlled right-shot defenceman whose biggest strength is moving the puck, it’s reasonable to suggest the Oilers could one day regret trading him.

His underlying numbers were good. According to hockeyviz.com, he contributed offence at a two percent rate below league average and defence at a 10 percent rate above league average. Even though Bear wasn’t the biggest defenceman, I always thought he held his own with his shifty play and ability to move the puck very effectively out of the Oilers end.

At 5×5 with him on the ice, the Oilers controlled 50.53 percent of the shot attempts, 46 percent of the goals scored and 55.36 percent of the expected goals scored and a deflated 98.3 PDO. Bad luck on the ice appears to have contributed to his downfall.

I was always a fan of Bear’s game in Edmonton much like so many in the community were of the Western Canadian kid.  Now, he’s off to get a shot in Carolina’s top-four.