Fifth-rounder Bear makes strong case for Oilers job
The Edmonton Oilers, like most teams, are looking for a right-shot defenceman who can generate offence.
Well, they might not have to look very far if Ethan Bear keeps it up.
He didn’t move the excitement needle much when the Oilers drafted him 124th overall in 2015 — it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle when Connor McDavid goes first overall — but Bear is quickly playing his way out of the late-round shadows.
Granted, he’s putting up his point-per-game numbers in Junior — 87-in-87, counting playoffs, with the Seattle Thunderbirds — but it’s enough to make the Oilers stand up and take notice.
They signed him to a three-year contract, locking him up even though he still has another year of junior left.
“It feels really good, it’s huge for me and my family,” the 19-year-old said on the first day of Oilers orientation camp in Jasper.
“I’m really happy I signed it. Now that I have it out of the way I can concentrate on hockey and my work this summer.”
Bear’s arrow has been trending up in a hurry. He doubled his points from his first full year of junior to the second (19 to 38) and almost doubled them again in Year 3 (65 in the regular season).
“I think just the help from the Oilers,” said the 5-foot-11, 200-pound- er. “Helping me figure out different types of skills on the offensive and defensive zones, watching video over the course of the season, them describing things to me in a way that I never looked at before. It really helped me in all types of areas.”
Oilers senior director of player development Rick Carriere says there is much more to like about Bear’s progress than the goal and assist totals. He says his entire game is stronger, which is translating in the better numbers.
“Ethan’s offensive game really evolved but more than anything else I think he rounded out his game away from the puck, too,” said Carriere. “He’s a lot better in the D zone, checking down low. He had good corner battles, he was tougher in front of the net. His game is all about the puck and transition and moving his feet, and he did a really good job with that throughout the year and was able to put up some offensive numbers.”
Bear is more proof that midto late-round selections can still make it — something there was virtually no evidence to support until Brandon Davidson came from the back of the pack to earn a job with the big club last season.
“I’m working really hard,” he said. “I want to make a name for myself.”
That’s a message head coach Todd McLellan is trying to get across to all of the players in this year’s orientation camp: It doesn’t matter where you were drafted, it matters what you do after you are drafted.
“Saturday night at our dinner he was saying we have a lot of free agents here who didn’t get drafted, but that doesn’t mean they’re never going to play in the NHL,” said Carriere. “Just because you get drafted in the first couple of rounds doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a job, either.
“It sometimes comes from within the player and if they’re motivated to get better, and have that growth mentality, they’re going to get better and they’re going to pass some guys for jobs.”
I’m really happy I signed it. Now that I have it out of the way I can concentrate on hockey and my work this summer.