As of the evening of December 23rd, 2020, the Edmonton Oilers and RFA defenceman Ethan Bear have not been able to come to an agreement on a new contract. Bear hasn’t returned to Edmonton and according to GM Ken Holland, there are some health protocols that need to be completed before the young defender can get the green light to join his teammates on the ice.
This isn’t anything out of the ordinary today or any other season. RFA signings sometimes happen on the eve, during, or even after training camp long into the season. So, personally, I’m not worried if it takes a few extra days to get Bear under contract. He’s a valued member of the club and I know that both parties are working diligently to get a deal done that works for everyone.
What I will say though is that this season needs to start off without a hitch. That means the Oilers need all their key players in camp and on time, including the RFAs. The faster they can get into “go-time” mode, the better they will fare against the other teams in the North Division.
The last thing a club wants to do is trade a young stud who they’re having contractual challenges with, but I just want to throw the idea out there because I don’t think that Bear is going to hit the same TOI/gm this season as he did last season? Edmonton has Adam Larsson and Tyson Barrie to eat up 20+ minutes/gm, right? So unless one of those three are switching to the left-side, someone’s ice-time is going to get dinged.
The other thing working against Bear is the fact that Evan Bouchard is ready for NHL work and he doesn’t need twenty or more minutes a game. In fact, he needs fewer minutes and more sheltered zone starts. They’ve got three defenders (possibly four if they do sign Slater Koekkoek) that can play the right side (Kris Russell, Caleb Jones, and Theodor Lennstrom).
In addition to those facts, here’s another. The Oilers have at least three blueliners who will break into the NHL in the next two seasons. Those players being Philip Broberg, Dmitri Samorukov, the aforementioned Evan Bouchard. How many of those players can you have playig for the team at one time. Maybe one or two of them will have to be moved to address needs elsewhere.
I mean, is it just me or is Bear picking a unique time to put his foot down? Surely he paid attention to how things worked out for Jesse Puljujarvi. Does he want to head over to Europe to play a season or two until cap space opens up and he can get the pay he feels he deserves?
In theory, he should get a deal similar to what Philippe Myers or Eric Cernak signed for recently. Basically, a three-year deal where the AAV is around $2.5M but the actual pay goes from $1M in year one to somewhere between $3M and $4M in year three.
Now, in the event that a trade cannot be avoided, what do you think Ethan Bear could get in a deal? He’s young, right-handed, proven that he can handle big minutes against the toughest opposition, and his teammates love the way he distributes the puck.
Would you use him to bring in that elusive no.1 goaltender? A Joonas Korpisalo perhaps? Would you try to make a 3-for-1 trade and get a real top-pair defenceman like Dougie Hamilton?
In the end, what’s most likely happening is that the team is waiting to be able to put Oscar Klefbom on LTIR. Then they can make the Bear signing official because, like I said above, the last thing a team wants to do make a trade in this scenario. Especially when they’ve found a player who helps his defence partner as much as Ethan Bear does.
That said, if Ken Holland can make his team better, he absolutely should.
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