There's a whole segment of Oilers fans that I don't understand. They wait years for a homegrown 1st pairing RHD and then they throw him out the first chance they get. PTSD effects from the Decade of Darkness, perhaps?

Stop trading Buffalo your overpriced players!

Not enough ice time for all of the young D, especially with Bouchard coming up with superior offensive skill, ideally suited for 3rd pair for another season. Left side could also be tight with Broberg coming in a year or two.
Bear (solid but definitely not a 1RD) and/or Jones could either be sitting/rotating in and out, lost to expansion, or given that Bouchard is basically here, cash them in for a greater need - a young promising goalie who can grow with the core. Would never throw them out, but trade from an area of strength to address an area of weakness? Yeah. Asset management.

They should be willing to try just about anything at this point.

That's how you continue to suck....

I have a few issues with this:

1) you traded Bear for less than FMV
2) you could get a UFA goalie for zero assets and similar cap hit
3) Bear IS a 1st pairing defenseman, he's played 1st pairing since October 2019 (90+ games) successfully
4) you removed Bear in order to keep Barrie, who isn't as good, is in his decline years and is far more expensive

What Chairelli did (Hall-for-Larsson, 16+33-for-Reinhart) was also asset management. That doesn't make it smart. You can argue "areas of strength", but your moves here vis-a-vis Bear/Barrie make the team worse.