Just Who is Ethan Bear?

At the 124th spot in the 5th round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft the Edmonton Oilers selected a young defenceman who the International Scouting Service had ranked 78th overall from the Seattle Thunderbirds. His name… Ethan Bear.

• Red Line Report: Shutdown rearguard plays against the opposing teams’ top line every night and refuses to give away even an inch of space. Owns a laser shot that often finds the net – keeps it low and often produces dangerous rebounds. A good skater who likes to take the puck deep
  into the offensive zone and create chances, yet still has the speed to get back on defence.

At the age of 14 he left his home in Ochapowace, Saskatchewan and traveled over 1500km to attend the Pursuit of Excellent Bantam Program in Kelowna, British Columbia. He very easily could’ve drove the 2 hours west to Notre Dame and stayed closer to home.

At the Pursuit of Excellence Program in Kelowna he put up 44 points in 40 games during the 2011-12 season. The year following he played for the Yorkton Harvest of the SMHL where he had 35 points in 38 games and was also an SMHL first team all-star. He was also selected in the 2nd round 25th overall of the 2012 WHL bantam draft by the Seattle Thunderbirds. He managed to get one game in for the Thunderbirds that year.

In 2013-14 he made the cut and thus began his career as a Seattle Thunderbird. In his rookie season Bear managed a modest 19 points in 58 games for Seattle but he also captained the Canada Western U-17 team and the World Hockey Challenge.

The 2014-15 season saw Ethan Bear play for the gold medal winning Team Canada at the U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial and Bear’s stat line for Seattle was much improved. He finished the season with 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points which is exactly double what he did the previous season.

What will Ethan Bear be for the Edmonton Oilers?

That really is the question eh? I’m not sure with the way the Oilers are moving that he’ll be much for them so he’s really got his work cut out for him. Think about it, look at the players ahead of him on the depth chart. Nurse, Klefbom, Schultz, Musil, Davidson, Oesterle, Laleggia, and Gernat have all got a shot, well maybe not Gernat, at cracking the Oilers’ roster in the next season or two.

For Ethan Bear to usurp any of the previously mentioned Oilers prospects he’s going to have to really bust his ass and work on everything. He’s a good two-way defenceman right now but he’ll have to be an outstanding one to even be considered for the Oilers in 3-4 years. If he can do that, I wonder if he could be a Craig Muni Type. Solid not spectacular but effective. One thing he does have going for him is he’s right-handed and the Oilers really could use a few more righties in the organization.