Teams are ramping up preparing for the start of the 20/21 season. The Canadiens and Senators have both made some deals to bolster their lineups, the Flames have signed goaltender Garret Sparks to a PTO and now the Oilers have joined the fray.
We have already discussed the signing of shutdown defender Slater Koekkoek to a one year deal worth $850,000 but last night the team announced a deal fans have been waiting to get done.
Ethan Bear has finally signed a new deal, a 2 year deal worth 2 million per season. When the deal is finished, Bear will remain an RFA. Bear broke out in a huge way for the Oilers last season, posting 21 points in 71 games and alongside Darnell Nurse being part of Edmonton's top pairing at 5 on 5.
Talking with people, I never got the sense that contract negotiations here were ever in danger of falling apart. Bear's camp were exploring a few different options in 1-3 year deals before settling on this 2 year deal.
The danger with a one year deal is if Bear performed on the same level again, the team would likely have to look at reupping him again at a 4-5 million dollar deal. Instead the team gets Bear on a well priced 2 million dollar deal and more time to see how he progresses in the NHL.
Ideally Bear should play less than he did last season as neither him nor Nurse should be logging top 10 minutes in the league. Hopefully Tippett can institute a more defense by committee strategy that keeps all these players fresh, especially in a condensed season.
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OILERS INK A COUPLE PTO's
Today the Oilers announced a pair of PTO signings in Devin Shore and Ryan Stanton. Here is the blurb on both players.
Devin Shore
The 26 year old Shore is a versatile player who can play either on the wing or at centre. His best two seasons came in 16/17 and 17/18 with the Dallas Stars where he put up 33 and 32 points respectively. After that, Shore fell off a cliff offensively, was traded to the Ducks and hasn't looked the same since.
In terms of what Shore can bring to the Oilers, I am not overly impressed. In the 73 games he played with the Ducks he only played 59 minutes on the PK, while he has played some centre he has never had a FO% over 50%. He also isn't a great asset at 5 on 5 and his possession numbers stunk with the Ducks with a 46.71CF% and a horrendous 38.55GF%.
The Ducks were pretty terrible in those seasons but Shore was still in the lower echelon of those teams.
Ryan Stanton
Oilers fans should be somewhat familiar with the 31 year old left shot defender as he spent time in 17/18 and 18/19 with the Bakersfield Condors.
Stanton had actually already signed an AHL contract with Bakersfield this off-season, but this move allows the defenseman to participate in the Oilers training camp and potentially earn a two way deal.
Other than that there is little to say about the 31 year old. He is a veteran shutdown player who plays a simple game. This is clearly nothing more than a depth move.
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Ultimately in a normal year I don't see either of these players outperforming the current NHL roster, but surprise surprise we are not in a normal year.
COVID and new restrictions will make callups difficult which is why the 4-6 man Taxi Squad has been implemented for teams. Should injuries or illnesses occur, having a guy like Shore to slot into the roster is a big improvement over a Patrick Russell.
In an interview this morning, Dave Tippett spoke about his plans for training camp, expecting 22-24 forwards, 12D, and 5 goalies in camp. Here is likely who to expect.
FORWARDS Connor McDavid Leon Draisaitl Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Kailer Yamamoto Jesse Puljujarvi Zack Kassian Kyle Turris Gaetan Haas Joakim Nygard Jujhar Khaira Josh Archibald Tyler Ennis Dominik Kahun James Neal Alan Quine Patrick Russell Tyler Benson Alex Chiasson Ryan McLeod Adam Cracknell Cooper Marody Seth Griffith Joseph Gambardella Devin Shore
DEFENSE Darnell Nurse Ethan Bear Adam Larsson Tyson Barrie Caleb Jones Kris Russell Slater Koekkoek Evan Bouchard Theodor Lennstrom William Lagesson Ryan Stanton Philip Kemp
GOALIES Mikko Koskinen Mike Smith Anton Forsberg Stuart Skinner Oliver Rodrigue
Some of these will be sent back to their respective AHL, or other professional leagues, some will be released and some will make either the big club or the Taxi Squad. It will all start to happen on January 3rd.
Thanks for reading!