JBD’s NHL drive is headed to the Motor City.
Former Okotoks Oilers blueliner Jacob Bernard-Docker inked a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings with an average annual value of $875,000 on July 1.
Bernard-Docker, a Canmore defenceman who starred for the AJHL’s Oilers from 2016-18, has suited up in 144 NHL games with the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres.
A first-round draft pick of the Senators in 2018, Bernard-Docker played parts of five seasons with Ottawa prior to be being traded to Buffalo as part of the Josh Norris and Dylan Cozens trade in March.
Bernard-Docker, 25, joins a Red Wings blueline headlined by Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson and also featuring veterans Ben Chiarot, Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl.
The Red Wings are in the midst of a nine-season playoff drought, the second longest active run in the NHL behind only the Sabres.
