NHL
It’s no secret that the Detroit Red Wings have a type in the NHL Draft.
They like smart players. They like competitive players. And they like responsible players who impact the game in all parts of the ice.
You can call it predictable, repetitive or anything else, but broken down to its core elements, they’re looking for a lot of the same traits as the rest of the league: the ones that tend to win playoff hockey games.
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It was no surprise, then, when the Red Wings used the No. 13 pick in Friday’s NHL Draft on a player who checks all those boxes: Everett (WHL) winger Carter Bear, a 6-foot winger who stands out just as much for his motor as he does for his slick hands and creativity.
“Very skilled, very tenacious. We like the way he thinks the game,” said Kris Draper, the Red Wings’ assistant GM and director of amateur scouting. “He’s a player that played in all situations. … He’s the type of player that, when you go watch him play, sometimes you walk out of the rink and just really appreciate the effort that he gave. He’s consistently, shift-in, shift-out — loves to get in on the forecheck. He’s relentless on the puck. Really appreciate the effort, compete, and the way he thinks the game.”
When I spoke to Bear at the NHL Draft Combine this month, he said he wanted to be known “as a tenacious guy” who “wants to win every battle, wants to win every shift.” That is easy to see on video, as Bear plays with a constant motor, finishes hits and is fearless in going to the hardest areas of the ice.
That all certainly appeals to the Red Wings, who have made clear that competitiveness is a key piece of what they consider “Red Wing DNA.” What makes Bear such a fit, though, is the skill and smarts he brings as part of that package. Combining those qualities — the tenacity and the touch — is what allowed Bear to score 40 goals and 82 points in just 56 games this season.
“The thing with Carter is, he can score in different ways,” Draper said. “He can score from the perimeter, the way he shoots the puck. He can score off the rush. He can score off the cycle. He gets around the net. So that’s obviously a skill in itself, not being one-dimensional, pure-shooter, or a guy that just scores goals one way.”
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In other words, this isn’t just a gritty winger who can add secondary offense. He’s a highly skilled forward whose smarts and competitive traits should make his creativity translatable as the hockey gets tougher. He’s a player with hard skill, able to use his hands and vision in front of the net and willing to give a second effort to get the job done.
For a Red Wings team that has struggled to find offense in the hard areas of the ice, Bear could be an antidote to those issues down the line.
“When you get around the net and you’re going to score goals like that, there’s a chance that on some nights you’re going to have to pay the price,” Draper said. “And with Carter, there’s no hesitation to do that. His willingness is something that we really appreciate. He’s a hockey player that can score goals in different ways, and that’s a skill in itself.”
Bear’s profile makes him easy to like, and there’s not a major weakness that stands out in his game. Even if he’s not the fastest player on the ice, his motor means he still plays at a high pace. It’s easy to envision him being impactful on the forecheck, scoring around the net and making heady set-up passes from tough spots on the ice as well.
“We believe he plays a style of hockey that is conducive to winning — that good players on good teams do,” Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said. “He has very good habits. And again, he’s a kid that competes hard. He’s actually very good with the puck, and very smart, and can make plays, but he has a bit of edge to his game, too. And if he’s going in the corner with somebody, he’s going to come out with that puck a lot more than not.”
He also has a compelling story of resilience. He was sent back from Everett his first year in the WHL after being just a sixth-round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. Then he had to climb his way up from being a fourth-line type to become one of the league’s most productive scorers.
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“That’s what drives me a lot,” he said. “Working hard and never taking a shift off.”
This year, his perseverance has been tested another way, after Bear’s season ended early due to a partially lacerated Achilles tendon.
“Having an injury like that, pretty bummed out when you can’t play with your teammates during the playoffs,” Bear said. “It’s pretty devastating. But I didn’t really want to think that way. I think I tried taking the positive way, going through this whole stage of recovery and being positive all along. … But hearing my name called, it’s kind of a relief for sure, but it’s also being pretty grateful of what Detroit thinks of me, and giving me that opportunity, for sure.”
Bear said Friday night that he is skating — he feels he’s at about 80 percent — but he’s not in a contact phase yet.
The Red Wings, though, felt the injury “wasn’t a concern for us at all,” Yzerman said, after their medical team concluded the injury will heal 100 percent.
“In speaking with our doctors on this one, we don’t think it’s an injury that limits him, that will restrict him in any way moving forward,” Yzerman said.
With a fan base that has grown impatient after nine years outside the playoffs, there was some curiosity about whether Detroit would make its pick at No. 13, or if it would instead trade it for more immediate help. Yzerman has been on record as saying he’s willing to use picks, prospects or players in a trade to make the team better, and when he was asked Friday night if there were any trades he had explored, Yzerman said, simply, “Yes.”
However, he didn’t reach an agreement on any such discussions, at least on Friday. There are still a few days left before free agency opens on Tuesday, and the offseason does not end then, either. It was mid-July when the Red Wings traded for Alex DeBrincat in 2023, the most consequential trade of Yzerman’s tenure.
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Certainly, a splash move Friday could have helped Detroit’s path back to the playoffs in 2026. But there is still time to make one, even with the first round of this draft now complete.
Instead, they got a prospect in Bear who has the potential to be a playoff-style scorer in the future. And Detroit’s enthusiasm about him was clear on Friday night, starting right from Yzerman’s comments on ESPN after the pick.
“We think he’s an extremely intelligent hockey player,” he said. “Very competitive, highly skilled, and obviously — scoring 40 goals this year — a great goal scorer, so we just think he’s an excellent all-around player. From everyone we’ve spoken to, his former teammates, coaches, everyone thinks extremely highly of him. We think we found ourselves a special young prospect here.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Max Bultman has covered the Red Wings for The Athletic since 2018. He previously was a general assignment writer in Detroit and is a 2017 graduate of the University of Michigan. Follow Max on Twitter @m_bultman
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