Expectations high for Oilers’ Bear

Ethan Bear had his name written in pencil at training camp last season as a possible option on defence for the Edmonton Oilers.

This year, his name is written in ink on both a new contract and roster for the Oilers heading into the shortened 56-games season, which gets underway Wednesday at Rogers Place.

Coming off an outstanding rookie year, Bear is now considered a top-four defenceman with the Oilers and expectations are much higher for him heading to the year.

“He seized the opportunity last year and good for him, and his play went along well all year,” said Oilers head coach Dave Tippett on Saturday. “The expectations of how he was going to play were imperative to our team playing well. It's no different than last year. At the start of the year everyone was surprised, but by the second half of the year he was in his role playing big minutes and doing a good job.

“That's exactly what we need him to do this year. He has to come in and make sure he's doing his part and the expectations we have for him. I think his game will continue to grow, but it's not as if we're asking him to come here and change his game. We want him to play similar as he did last year.”

Bear, 23, was selected by the Oilers in the fifth round — 124th overall — of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. A junior standout with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, Bear spent two seasons in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors before making the breakthrough last year.

In 71 games with the Oilers prior to the NHL pause due to concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic, Bear had five goals and 21 points for the Oilers.

“I just want to keep improving,” Bear said. “It's a short season and there are a lot of games and not a whole lot of time in between. So you have to prepare the best you can and try to take care of yourself through the season and just try to improve.”

Prior to training camp, Bear and the Oilers came to terms on a two-year, $4-million contract. The deal was signed a couple of days before the start of camp on Jan. 2 and the Regina product had to spend a few days in quarantine before joining the rest of the group.

For Bear, it was important to have a contract in place before training camp, not wanting to miss the short runway leading into the season.

“It was the first time I had to deal with the business side of contract in the NHL, so I got a taste of that,” Bear said. “I'm happy I got to join the team early and not miss a day of training camp. These are very important days, especially with the short season, you have to be ready to go right away. If you're behind, there is not going to be much time to catch up and that could be critical.”

As it worked out, Bear was off the ice for just a few days before being able to join the rest of the team as per NHL protocols heading into the season, with COVID-19 still very much a concern. He took part in both scrimmages Thursday and Friday, and by Saturday was back up to speed with the team.

“He had to get up and going,” Tippett said. “I think the first couple of days he was a little tentative, he hadn't skated in a week and he wanted to get the contract stuff behind him, but in the last couple of days he's started to look like himself again; he was in the flow of practice.

“When you miss a week, you're just jumping in and everyone else has been skating that week and you feel like you're behind — even if you're not behind physically, you feel like you are. Now he's right in the flow of things him and (Darnell) Nurse have gotten back together and we need that pair to be good for us.”

The Oilers devoted the first part of practice Saturday to special teams, where Bear will be playing on the second unit along with defensive partner Nurse. The Oilers had the top power play in the league last season and are expected to be potent on the man advantage again this year.

“We're on the second unit and our job is to basically get a quality chance with not a whole lot of time left (on the power play),” Bear said. “And basically from there play fiveon-five. I think it's a good look from us. Both our PK and power play were pretty strong last year and it's definitely a strong part of our game and we take it very serious. We just have to make sure we're doing the little things and staying ready.”

Bear is not overly concerned with higher expectations going into this season. He set the bar high in his rookie season and wants to keep improving.

“I think he gets better because the experience he gets, especially for a defenceman, it's imperative to them improving in the league,” Tippett said. “The more situations they're in, the better they get. We fully expect he's going to come back and be as good or an even better player that he was last year for us.”