July 31, 2021 /

Edmonton Oilers Talk: Departing Bear Glad to Go Says It Would’ve Been Tough to Keep Playing in Edmonton

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

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Edmonton Sun (Rob Tychkowski)

Bear happy to be moving on after stressful Edmonton Oilers season
  • Looks like the mourning period is over.
  • “To go to a winning organization with a young core, for me, it kind of gives me butterflies,” said the 24-year-old defenceman, who was dealt to the Hurricanes on Wednesday.
    • “It’s something I’ve always wanted and something I need right now…”

BLH’s Thoughts: What does that mean? What kind of club is the Edmonton Oilers? Are they not a winning organization with a young core?

  • …he feels like a new beginning in a small-market U.S. city is exactly what he needs right now.

BLH’s Thoughts: So… Basically he wants to be anonymous. With what he’s gone through, I can completely understand that, but he’s kind of giving up on the massive group of hockey fans that he has in Northern Alberta and across Canada too, though. The harassment he and his family received (or possibly still receives) must’ve been so serious that he felt his only option was to leave one way or another. 

  • “Everything I had to go through last year, it would have been pretty tough to push through it and battle all the adversity I would have had to deal with in Edmonton. I’m looking forward to a new step and a fresh start.”

BLH’s Thoughts: So… Remember the time when we posted about the Bear/Foegele trade not simply being a “hockey trade”?… 

It’s not the message I expected. I mean, the company line is usually that a hockey player will persevere and not let the bad guys win. You stick around and show those you are a hero to that you’re the better man, but then again, as I said above, the situation for him and his family must’ve been untenable for them to stay in Edmonton. 

Now, this isn’t a pleasant thing to think about, but if he thought the racists were bad in Edmonton, the ones in the south are on a completely different level.

Not many in the bible belt could give two shits about ice hockey when they’ve got college football and basketball, NBA, NFL, MLB, Nascar, professional wrestling, and even MLS to choose from. So that might work in Ethan’s favor. 

I wish him all the luck in the world and it will be interesting to see how he does on the Hurricanes. 

  • “Playing (in Edmonton) was pretty stressful…”

BLH’s Thoughts: It always is and for everybody that plays there. Ask Grant Fuhr or Paul Coffey about some of their dark times in Edmonton… 

  • There is a great risk in trading a youngster with a big upside, but the Oilers feel they are deep enough at the position and needed help elsewhere, so GM Ken Holland pulled the trigger.
  • Did the Oilers give up on him too soon? There is a real fear among fans of Bear that the Oilers traded away somebody who is going to be a legit first pairing right shot defenceman in the NHL for a long time. Others don’t think he has the offence to make up for his defence or the size to log heavy minutes in the playoffs.

BLH’s Thoughts: This is funny. I’ve not heard one NHL player, coach, GM, ex-player, ex-coach, ex-GM, or otherwise express that they feel Ethan Bear is or has the potential to be a top-pairing NHL defenseman. I have heard a lot of armchair GMs and analytics proponents say it though… Yet, if he was one of those, wouldn’t have he played more in Edmonton’s elimination game versus the Jets in this year’s playoffs?

If Ethan Bear was a 1st pairing defender, would Tyson Barrie have passed him on the depth chart? Would Adam Larsson have played more than him? Would the Oilers leadership have asked Tyson Barrie back knowing full well that him returning would mean Ethan Bear would be traded? You’d think that his teammates would be able to recognize a top-pair defenseman, right?

Oilersnation (Jason Gregor)

Don’t Panic on Koskinen
  • Koskinen is not capable of being an every day starter for long stretches. He is best when he is the backup or when he has to split duties. Don’t ask him to do more.
  • Frank mentioned the Oilers and Blue Jackets are in discussions surrounding Joonas Korpisalo. Frank said he’d heard Columbus was looking for a first rounder and Dmitry Samorukov along with Koskinen in exchange for Korpisalo.

BLH’s Thoughts: Ryan Rishaug put this rumor to rest late last night saying, 

  • “Korpisalo for Koskinen and a high pick or prospect is not something the organization is considering at the moment. Have a great long weekend everyone!”
  • This would have an utter disastrous trade for Edmonton. It would be horrific. There is no need to do it for many reasons, but here is the main one: Korpisalo isn’t a starter.
  • Korpisalo is 38-32-15 with a .901sv% and 2.92 GAA in 5233 minutes.
    Koskinen is 56-47-9 with a .908sv% and 2.92 GAA in 6546 minutes.
  • Trading them straight up would be fair, since Koskinen had better numbers last season, the previous two seasons, and the past three years.
  • It is clear that Koskinen is better when he plays fewer games. No question there are concerns about facets of his game, but Korpisalo and Stalock are not obvious upgrades. I’m not sold either is better.

BLH’s Thoughts: Mark Spector said on Oilers Now yesterday morning that Koskinen has no currency with his teammates. They don’t trust him and his glove hand is of great concern… 

  • Acquiring Korpisalo only makes sense if Edmonton doesn’t have to give up much other than Koskinen. Stalock will need to be significantly better in preseason to become the backup. The truth is Edmonton doesn’t want Stalock or Koskinen in Bakersfield as they need Stuart Skinner and Ilya Konovalov to play a lot. At this point Konovalov might be a better back up option than Stalock.

BLH’s Thoughts: There are a few things that could happen here. Edmonton could loan one of their young netminders to another minor league team like what the Panthers did with Max Gildon last year. That way they could send one of Stalock or Koskinen to the AHL without issue. They might do that anyhow because nobody is talking about Olivier Rodrigue either. 

Speaking of loans, how would an international loan work? Would Edmonton still be on the hook for Koskinen’s contract? Would it slide or could they run it out. 

Another option could be the Oilers or their AHL affiliate could run with three goalies… 

If Stalock or Koskinen went unclaimed through waivers, they might just send them home until further notice too.

Lowetide.ca

MARQUEE MOON

This is 23 men, Oscar Klefbom on LTIR (so, 24) and there’s $828,000 in unspent do-re-mi. Kassian waivers to get things going as the season begins (Klefbom to LTIR). I do think we’ll see a LH defenseman added before the season, and a goalie at the deadline. Tomas Tatar is just out there with no contract, just saying. The forward group is looking damned dangerous, one more veteran hammer and we have liftoff.

BLH’s Thoughts: I have a feeling that Edmonton is going to try Kailer Yamamoto on the third line next season. I’ve heard Bob Stauffer talk about it this week and I believe Jason Gregor also spoke of this idea as well. Yamo had a really good go vs. the Jets in the playoffs on a line with Tyler Ennis and Gaetan Haas and I’m wondering if that got the hamster wheel moving in Dave Tippetts headbone.

So, if that is the case, I would think that Zack Kassian gets the promotion to the 2nd line in order to get him going again. The faster they can get this guy back into the right frame of mind and he starts playing like his old self, the better. It’s better for the team on-ice and it’s better for them with regards to trade value.

It’s not a bad thing to have Yamo playing on a line where he can shine and the good thing about this group of forwards is that it’s very fluid. There are a lot of players who can play up and down the lineup and on either side. 

Spector’s Hockey

NHL Rumor Mill – July 30, 2021

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Matthew DeFranks reports the Stars signing Braden Holtby on Wednesday to a one-year contract worth $2 million raised questions about their overcrowded crease that already features Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin and Jake Oettinger.

Stars GM Jim Nill said Bishop’s status for next season remains uncertain as he continues to recover from last fall’s knee surgery. The Stars could send Oettinger back to the AHL as he remains waiver-exempt but that might not be best for potentially the best healthy goalie in the organization. DeFranks speculates they could also shop Khudobin, who’s under contract for two more seasons at $3.33 million per season.

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

TagsEdmonton Oilers Edmonton Oilers Rumors Ethan Bear NHL NHL Rumors

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!