DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills examines the Red Wings’ reasons for selecting Carter Bear 13th overall during the 1st round of the 2025 NHL Draft,
“We’re getting a very intelligent hockey player, extremely competitive,” [Red Wings GM Steve] Yzerman, from Little Caesars Arena, said in a Zoom call with the media on Friday. “At the junior level, he really can score. We think all of his game translates to the NHL as well. I think our fanbase will really take to him when the time comes that he’s playing for the Red Wings because he competes hard, he’s a really good person. I know we’re very excited about this pick.”
This season, Bear tied for seventh in the Western Hockey League with 40 goals and paced the Everett Silvertips with 82 points in 56 games.
“Obviously, if you just look at the stats that he put up, he put up some real good numbers playing on a good team,” [Kris] Draper also said via Zoom. “The thing with Carter is that he can score in different ways. He can score from the perimeter, the way he shoots the puck. He can score off the rush and off the cycle. He gets around the net, so that’s obviously a skill in itself – not being a one-dimensional pure shooter or a guy that just scores goals one way. He can score in a lot of different ways, which is a great attribute for Carter to have.”
Although an Achilles injury sustained in March prematurely ended Bear’s season, Yzerman said that wasn’t something Detroit was overly concerned about moving forward.
“We were aware of that,” Yzerman said. “We checked it out. We talked to him. He’s been examined fully, and we expect it to heal.”
Continued; Bear seems to be a high-character, high-motor forward who’s grounded thanks to his family and his First Nations community. The Wings got a good egg.
