Edmonton Oilers Talk: Was the Ethan Bear Trade Simply a “Hockey Trade”?

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 (Jim Matheson)

Zach Hyman is exactly what was missing in the Edmonton Oilers top-six

The book on him, if you’re a member of Oiler Nation, is he’s hockey’s pre-eminent worker bee.
His game is blue-collar where there are no days off, which is exactly what Edmonton general manager Ken Holland is now paying him $38.5 million over the next seven years for. To be the dirt road player beside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, whichever centre the left-winger winds up with.
He is the 2021 version of the mulletted Ryan Smyth; works the boards, gets it to the net, takes a couple of cross-checks, keeps on smiling and supports the stars.
“His greatest trait is his compete. He’s a forechecker, he’s relentless, he’s on the puck,” said Holland. “We needed, along with the addition of Warren Foegele, forwards who can try to create more pressure in the offensive zone. We don’t want to be just a rush team.”

BLH’s Thoughts: That part about not wanting just to be a rush team is telling. The Oilers feel like their game became easy to pick apart as most of the offense created was off the rush last season. So they picked up a couple of LWers who are known for their forechecking abilities in an effort to be able to beat teams in a different manner.

This reminds me of something Kevin Weekes said a little while ago. He was talking about the great Oilers teams of the past and the one thing those clubs had was a bit of bulldog throughout the roster. Ken Holland addressed this team’s lack of physical assertiveness yesterday when he added Foegele and Hyman on the club’s LW and I don’t think he’s done either.

The Athletic (Daniel Nugent-Bowman)

Ethan Bear on being traded, his time with the Oilers and ‘looking forward’ to opportunity in Carolina: Q&A

Do you feel like it’s a sour way to end your time in Edmonton given what you had to endure at the end of the playoffs with the racist comments directed your way
- Yeah. You look around at Canadian markets and fan bases are really involved, which is awesome. It was something very tough that I had to experience after the playoffs. That’s not something any person or player wants to go through. I’m sorry about that. With the organization, it’s nothing they can control. I thought I handled it well. I’m happy to move on from that and get a new opportunity in a new city.
What’s the plan for the rest of the offseason? Are you going to try to get down there soon or wait until September?
- I haven’t quite figured out all those details yet. Kelowna (B.C., where he typically spends time in the offseason) is a good option for me. I’ll see what they have in terms of training and skating coaches in Carolina. That’s something to figure out at a later date.
It seemed like you were part of the building process here in Edmonton. Is it disappointing to leave that behind?
- No, I wouldn’t see it that way. This is a stepping stone in my career. Wherever I go, I’m going to keep building. I’m just trying to represent myself and my team professionally and win some games. I’m not worried about leaving here and what’s in the past. I’m more just looking forward to what’s in store in the future.

BLH’s Thoughts: Bear trained in Kelowna last summer and then came to camp in less than ideal form, which bit him in the ass I feel. Now, if he wanted to change that for this upcoming season, why wouldn’t he stay in Edmonton and train with Turris and that crew or head to Ontario and get together with McDavid’s group? Seems odd, but maybe he felt that getting out of Alberta and Edmonton in general was a better plan.

I find it quite interesting that Bear is “happy to move on” and that he isn’t worried about leaving Edmonton. More often than not, players are a tad emotional about having to leave the team that drafted them unless something unfortunate has happened.

So, here’s the thing, I was told late last night that Ken Holland was doing Bear a favor by trading him. I’m not going to say Ethan requested a trade but I’m not going to say he didn’t request one either.

What was passed on to me is that all the abuse he and his loved ones received after the loss in game four against Winnipeg was much more serious than what the media released.

I don’t think that Ken Holland wanted to trade Bear and he was willing to go into next season with Barrie, Bouchard, and Ethan on the right-side and at least give the three a go but his hand was forced to an extent. He knew how much the young man meant to the fanbase and the team and it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

As harsh as I may sound when I get into Bear’s metrics and ability versus another player, I wish him the best of luck in Carolina and I know he’s going to kill it down there. It’s a beautiful part of America and he’s definitely going to have the time of his life playing on that team.

The Edmonton Oilers did come very close to acquiring Darcy Kuemper before Colorado sealed the deal with the combination of Connor Timmins and a 2022 first-rounder.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) July 29, 2021

Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers sign veteran centre Derek Ryan… DURING Ken Holland’s media avail

After nearly twenty years of continuous improvement as evidenced annually by either increased production or graduation to a tougher league, Ryan finally showed signs of erosion in 2021. He scored just 2-11-13 but a solid +6 in 43 games with Calgary Flames, missing 13 games with a fractured finger and seeing his ice time cut back to about 12 minutes a night. The takeaway is that he more readily projects as a 4C than 3C at this stage of his remarkable career, but still very much an NHL-calibre player.
The 5’10 right-shot pivot is a whiz on the faceoff dot with a career success rate over 55%, a history of mid-range scoring (four seasons of double digit goals), and capacity to play both special teams, checking a lot of boxes for “bottom-six centre” in the process. He’s a modern version of Mark Letestu, who was a pretty useful depth centre for Edmonton a few years back.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m with Bruce on this one, I think Ryan will be much more of a 4C than a 3C. That said, I wonder if he and Ryan McLeod split the TOI and then Connor, Leon, and Nuge take on some extra minutes depending on the game state.

Check out this tidbit from Jonathan Willis:

Derek Ryan rank among Calgary forwards last season:

5v5 TOI: 12th
5v5 P/60: T-6th
5v5 CF%: 1st
5v5 SF%: 1st
5v5 GF%: 1st
5v5 xGF%: 1st

One of Edmonton’s weaknesses last year was that it’s bottom-six was where offense went to die (basically) and if this is one attempt at cauterizing that wound, I dig it. I love the contract, I love Ryan’s ability on the dot, and I’m very excited to see what he can do for this team, I’m just fearful of another Kyle Turris scenario.

NHLRumors.com

David Pagnotta: The Los Angeles Kings are looking for a top-six forward. Brandon Saad is one free agent they will look at.

Ryan Kennedy: Have heard that the Buffalo Sabres have asked the Vegas Golden Knights for Reilly Smith, Peyton Krebs, Nic Hague and a first-round pick for Jack Eichel.

Bruce Garrioch: The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to trade defenseman Calvin de Haan.

Michael Russo: The Minnesota Wild need to find a couple of defensemen. If they can’t find anything on the free agent market, they have to look at the trade market.