It’s done. Ethan Bear has signed a two-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers for an AAV of $2M/yr.
Man! That feels good to say and that great thing about Bear signing on the dotted line is that now we Oilers fans can start to really dig into line projections since the roster is about 99% finalized. We’re just waiting for that winger-for-defenseman trade that Bob Stauffer and others keep talking about…
Now, if you’ve got your ear to the ground and you follow Oilers talk radio, you’ve probably heard Jason Gregor speculate that he thinks Bear will get reduced minutes this season since the Oilers added Tyson Barrie.
It’s possible, I suppose.
If you ask me, I reckon when we look at the TOI at the end of the season, we’ll notice that Adam Larsson, Barrie, and Bear will have split the duties pretty evenly. Coach Tippett literally has a right-shot defenceman for every scenario, right?
Powerplay: Barrie/Bear
PK: Larsson/Bear
5×5: Bear/Barrie/Larsson
O-Zone Starts: Barrie
D-Zone Starts: Larsson/Bear
OT: Barrie/Bear
What he’s going to be juggling is his left-shot defenders aside from Darnell Nurse, who I think will play in every situation aside from the PP.
So you might have Nurse partnering Larsson on a PK, then Bear 5×5, and if a faceoff is in the other team’s zone, he could be alongside Barrie. Don’t ask me if that’s a good idea, I would think if Nurse is as good as he can be, it won’t be a problem.
Jim Playfair and Coach Tippett are going to have their hands full, but that’s a good problem to have and I might add that this group of blueliners might be the deepest the Oilers have had in a really long time and that’s without Oscar Klefbom.
I do wonder, however, what are the Oilers going to do with Caleb Jones, Kris Russell, and Slater Koekkoek?
My pairings for the Oilers in 2020-21 look like this:
Nurse/Bear
Jones/Larsson
Koekkoek/Barrie
Russell
I do realize that in yesterday’s post I had Russell on the third pair instead of Koekkoek and that’s because that is most likely how things will start. It’s much more palpable to have a guy making the league minimum (almost) as your #7 guy as opposed to a $4M vet. Don’t yell at me, that’s how the game gets played, folks.
But, for me, I want Koekkoek there I think. Which is kind of funny because I didn’t even really consider him an option until about 10 days ago and then over the weekend when I dug into his numbers a bit. Honestly, I thought someone else would’ve picked him up by now.
Why do I like him on the 3rd pair? I like him as Tyson Barrie’s cleanup man, but that’s not all. I think he could parter with every right-shot defender on Edmonton and be a positive impact due to his excellent two-way game. I don’t believe that can’t be said for the other lefties on the club… Yet.
I say “yet” because Caleb Jones could develop into a very dangerous two-way threat for the Oilers if things go well and what I’m hoping is that someday soon we see a Jones/Bear pairing in the Alberta Capital.
Can we go on a quick detour for a second?
Let’s look at Edmonton’s potential d-pairings in four seasons, shall we?
Broberg/Bouchard
Jones/Bear
Samorukov/Barrie
Getting back to what Bear coming back into the fold means for the Oilers. He’s the glue guy for this team now. He settles down the game for whomever he plays with and that has to be a refreshing feeling for the forwards on this club.
That being said, it’s a good thing Ken Holland didn’t trade Adam Larsson this summer (knock on wood), because having that depth on the right-side of his defense means if someone has a tough spell, others can be moved around to accomodate and I think this is a genuine concern to have for a player going into his second year in the league.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!
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