It has been two years since the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes made a trade swapping Warren Foegele for Ethan Bear. The trade occurred on July 28, 2021, and was a one-for-one. At the time, the Oilers needed depth scoring (as they typically do) and the Hurricanes wanted to add a young defenceman for the right side. It has worked out for one team much more than the other to this point, so we’ll get into why, the players’ journey, and how the trade has impacted the teams.
Foegele is a Third Line Staple for the Oilers
Foegele started his NHL career with a very short look on the Hurricanes for two games before becoming a full-time member for the final two years of his entry-level deal. They weren’t convinced and bridged him for one year before the 2020-21 season. As a takeaway machine and someone who had 76 takeaways to 61 giveaways in 2019-20, Foegele struggled in the shortened season, recording just 16 takeaways and 28 giveaways, and was traded before he was inked to a new deal.
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This completely flipped right back and Foegele even improved in the two seasons since joining the Oilers. He recorded 96 takeaways and only 56 giveaways in the same amount of games as his first two seasons with the Hurricanes. As part of an energy line in Edmonton, retrieving pucks and creating opportunities off of those turnovers is valuable. He has found his role on the Oilers as the third-line winger, and even though he has experienced quite a few ups and downs since being acquired, the Oilers don’t seem to regret the decision at all as they were very reluctant to move him to free up cap space this offseason.
Foegele doesn’t play a lot on the Oilers’ special teams, but he is capable of doing so. Their second power-play unit doesn’t get a lot of time as their top unit is the best in the league, and the team has so many options available to them to kill penalties that he isn’t necessarily needed on a regular basis there either. This means that all of Foegele’s production comes at even strength, which the Oilers have tried to improve over the years. The combination of size and energy he brings when he’s on the ice is tough to find, and he proved just how valuable he could be with his playoff performance in 2023. His numbers don’t tell the whole story, but in recent history, players who don’t show up in the playoffs for the Oilers are moved. Take Jordan Eberle and Kailer Yamamoto for example.
Foegele isn’t overly expensive for a third-line player who produces at both ends of the ice and could realistically move up to the top-six if needed (from “MATHESON: Foegele thriving on Oilers strong third line with the two Ryans”, Edmonton Sun, Apr. 29, 2023). He’s scored at least 10 goals in all five NHL seasons and was on pace for 16 goals last season. He’s still a member of the Oilers and could remain with the team even after his contract expires in 2024. The same can’t be said about Bear.
Bear Has Jumped Around Since Trade
Bear really only had one promising season in the NHL, his rookie season at age 22 in 2019-20 where he played in the top-four and put up five goals and 21 points in 71 games. This was a pretty strong Oilers team and although he blocked over 100 shots, he recorded 84 giveaways. That placed him eighth in the league and fourth among defencemen in giveaways. They clearly wanted to change the amount of giveaways/takeaways, playing a part in that trade, but the Hurricanes are a very good forechecking team and could afford to lose out in that area.
Bear struggled to replicate any success he had during the 2020-21 season and played just 43 games, dropping four minutes of average time on ice per game from one season to the next. The Oilers traded a third-pairing defenceman for a third liner (Foegele) and Bear spent just one season in Carolina averaging 16:05 per game and playing just 58 games. The Hurricanes decided to ship Bear to the Vancouver Canucks along with Lane Pederson for just a fifth-round pick.
Bear went on to have a better season with the Canucks, but his time in Vancouver came to a quick end as well. He wasn’t qualified and became an unrestricted free agent. He is now 26 years old and it will be difficult for him to earn a full-time NHL role in the coming seasons.
Who Won the Trade – Oilers or Hurricanes?
While the Oilers still have Foegele playing well on the third line for one more season at a reasonable price, they can’t be anything but happy with the trade. He has battled through the tough times and has solidified his spot in the lineup. The Hurricanes came away with a late-round draft pick and really didn’t get what they wanted out of the trade, understandably giving up on Bear after a short period of time due to a lack of space and production. The Oilers and Hurricanes have been fairly active trading with one another, but the Oilers came out on top in this exchange and are still reaping the benefits.