Edmonton Oilers: Ethan Bear can become a star in Klefbom’s absence

Ethan Bear has been presented with a golden opportunity and it is up to him to now take it.

We are still basking in the glory of the NHL confirming that the 2020-21 season will commence on 13. Jan, 2021, but it will soon be back to work for the Edmonton Oilers and young defenseman Ethan Bear.

It has somewhat been a baptism of fire for the Oilers already after General Manager and President of Operations Ken Holland announced earlier today that defenseman Oscar Klefbom is officially done for the 2020-21 season, and will now instead focus on getting ready for 2021-22.

Therefore, Ethan Bear has now been presented with an opportunity to step up to the plate for the Oilers and become a real horse on the backend for his team.

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Now, we’ll preface this by stating that Bear is still currently a RFA with Holland also revealing today that he’s hopeful something will get done at some point this week.

Bear will get a slight raise on his previous contract which was worth $2,165,000, and it is likely to be a bridge deal given that the Oilers are currently just over the flat cap of $81.5 million, maybe a one-year contract with an AAV of just under $1 million

Anyway, getting back to the main point of the day and the onus will now be on Bear to really elevate his game and become the main guy on defense for the Edmonton Oilers.

I mean, the early evidence is encouraging when it comes to believing that Bear can morph into a top-pairing defenseman for the Oilers and help to cover for the loss of Klefbom, who recorded 34 points (5 G, 29 A) in 62 regular season games in 2019-20 and is an effective power play quarterback.

Klefbom also averaged 25:25 of ice time per game last season, tied with Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks for fifth among NHL defensemen, so the Oilers will need someone to help replace those minutes and Ethan Bear could well be the guy.

After all, Bear carved out a strong and incredibly impressive rookie season in 2019-20, turning a lot of heads and proving that the Oilers do boast some high-end prospects in what is an otherwise depleted and underwhelming farm system.

In 71 regular season games last year Bear put up five goals and 16 assists for 21 points with a plus / minus rating of -4, while recording 33 penalty minutes, 106 blocked shots, 59 hits and 44 Takeaways to collect some votes for the 2019-20 Calder Trophy.

However, when you dig down into some of the underlying metrics, that’s when you are presented with a clearer picture of just how dominant Ethan Bear was for the Edmonton Oilers in 2019-20.

Paired with hulking defenseman Darnell Nurse for much of the year, a partnership that really flourished and blossomed, Bear played 36.1 percent of his five-on-five minutes against elite players, recording an on-ice goal differential of 25-19 (via Puck IQ).

What that means in a nutshell is that, despite being an untested rookie who was still cutting his teeth in the NHL, Bear thrived when playing against much-tougher and higher-skilled opponents and did a great job alongside Nurse of shutting down other team’s top lines.

Another interesting note is just how much Bear was relied on, with the 23-year-old quickly earning the trust of veteran Head Coach Dave Tippett and forming Edmonton’s most reliable defensive tandem alongside Nurse.

In-fact, Bear logged an average of 21:58 ATOI during the 2019-20 regular season, while that jumped up to a lofty 22:37 during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Both numbers are incredibly high for a rookie but that just illustrates how reliable Bear was during the regular season, and also how much trust he had earned from the coaching staff.

Therefore, it is feasible to think that the Oilers could lean on Bear even more in 2020-21 with Klefbom now done for the year.

It is likely that Tippet will keep Bear and Nurse together given how dominant they were as a pairing, especially against elite players, while Bear should continue to see plenty of time on the penalty kill after logging 1:58 a night in 2019-20.

And, while offseason addition Tyson Barrie, who signed a one-year, $3,750,000 prove it deal in Free Agency, will rise up and become Edmonton’s go-to guy on the power play, Klefbom’s year-long absence could pave the way for Bear to see a slight increase in man advantage time with the right shot only seeing 45 seconds of PP action a night last year.

Bear will gobble up big minutes at even-strength and he should also continue to be a fixture on the PK while being given more responsibility on the PP, and he’s only going to get better with age too.

He played a real mature game in what was an up-and-down year that featured plenty of peaks and slumps for Edmonton, while Bear should be better and more battle-tested heading into the 2020-21 season.

Overall, the Edmonton Oilers may have unearthed a real hidden gem in Ethan Bear who was the 124th overall pick in the Fifth Round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and it will now be up to the prospect to prove that he’s capable of being the main guy on that blueline by stepping into the void left by Oscar Klefbom’s year-long absence due to injury.

Once he has thrashed out terms on a new deal, of course.