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Ethan Bear

Snapshots: Three Stars, Laine, Bear

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Filip Forsberg leading the way. The Nashville Predators winger scored five goals and seven points in three games, extending his lead in the team scoring race. Forsberg now has 14 goals and 32 points in 35 games, not quite the same pace he set last season when looking for a new contract. Even with a Forsberg hat trick on New Year’s Eve, the Predators failed to secure two points against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Second and third went to Erik Karlsson and Antti Raanta, who each had outstanding weeks. Karlsson had seven assists in four games and now leads the entire NHL in that category with 40 through his first 39 games. The San Jose Sharks defenseman is having an incredible bounce-back campaign and will once again be a Norris candidate thanks to a huge point total. Raanta, meanwhile, stopped 67 of 71 shots across three wins, keeping the Carolina Hurricanes on their 11-game streak.

  • Patrik Laine is out of COVID protocol and back with the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The star ginger will be back in the lineup tomorrow and is expected to skate with Kent Johnson and Jonny Gaudreau on the top line. Laine’s season has been constantly interrupted by injury and illness, resulting in just 20 games played so far. He has nine goals and 16 points in those appearances.
  • Portzline adds that Nick Blankenburg, who has been out since November, will travel with the club for their game against the Ottawa Senators but is not expected to play. The 24-year-old was averaging more than 18 minutes a night in his seven appearances before going down to a broken ankle.
  • Now that the calendar has been turned to 2023, players on one-year deals are eligible to sign extensions as Joe Pavelski did yesterday. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Ethan Bear and the Vancouver Canucks are expected to talk this week about a potential deal, though there is no guarantee a contract is signed so quickly. Bear has played well for the Canucks since they acquired him at the end of October from the Carolina Hurricanes, and is currently scheduled to become a restricted free agent when his one-year, $2.2MM deal expires.

Guillaume Brisebois Assigned To AHL

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With Ethan Bear on the way in and Quinn Hughes nearing a return, the Vancouver Canucks have assigned Guillaume Brisebois to the AHL. The move comes directly after the best game of Brisebois’ career, which included his first NHL point – an assist on J.T. Miller’s empty-net goal.

Brisebois, 25, played nearly 19 minutes in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and legitimately looked like he could handle himself at the NHL level. If that’s true, it’s a nice place for the Canucks to be in, considering how thin their defensive depth looked just a few days ago. The team now has two-straight wins after their brutal start and things have calmed down in the Vancouver market (for the time being).

Hughes was on the ice at practice yesterday, and told reporters including Ben Kuzma of The Province that he would likely would have played if the team had games Sunday or today. Instead, the group is set to take on his brother Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night.

Bear, too, joined the group yesterday after his acquisition from the Carolina Hurricanes and appears ready to get into the lineup. The 25-year-old defenseman hasn’t played a game yet this season after scoring 14 points in 58 appearances last year.

West Notes: Saad, Hughes, Bear, Studnicka

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The St. Louis Blues are in a rocky stretch of their season at the moment. After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Blues have stumbled and are now 3-4 and second-to-last in the Central Division. Injuries haven’t played a major role in the team’s lackluster performance, but St. Louis could still nonetheless certainly stand to get healthier. Forward Brandon Saad has skated in just three games this season, and the Blues have to be hoping that he can return to health soon.

Despite the fact that he has not been placed on injured reserve, it doesn’t look as though Saad will be returning any time soon. As The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports, Saad hasn’t been practicing due to an upper-body injury, and per Blues head coach Craig Berube, he’s “still a ways away.” Saad is an important contributor to the Blues’ all-around game, and the 24 goals and 49 points he scored last year is certainly the sort of production St. Louis could use right now.

Some other notes on Western Conference teams:

  • The Vancouver Canucks’ defense has been ravaged by injuries so far this season, although their situation has begun to improve. As noted by The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, top defenseman Quinn Hughes was back on the ice with his teammates today at practice. Hughes has missed Vancouver’s last four games with a lower-body injury, but could be returning soon. The American blueliner has five assists in five games this year and had 68 points in 76 games last season.
  • The Canucks have been busy on the trade market as of late, acquiring center Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins and defenseman Ethan Bear from the Carolina Hurricanes. Drance reports that both Bear and Studnicka are on the ice today at practice. Bear and Studnicka have played just one NHL game combined so far this season, so it will be interesting to see how coach Bruce Boudreau chooses to deploy them to begin their Canucks careers.

Vancouver Canucks Acquire Ethan Bear

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The Vancouver Canucks just got their first win of their season last night, and their front office remains busy. After acquiring Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins yesterday, the team has completed another trade.

As first reported by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, (with additional details from The Athletic’s Thomas Drance) the Canucks have acquired defenseman Ethan Bear and forward Lane Pederson. In exchange, Carolina is receiving a 5th round pick. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Hurricanes are retaining $400k on Bear’s contract as part of the trade. The deal has now been officially announced. 

In a corresponding move, the Canucks announced that forward William Lockwood has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

For the Canucks, this trade could not come at a better time. Vancouver’s blueline has been absolutely ravaged by injuries, and the team is in desperate need of reinforcements on that front. Their help now comes in the form of Bear, a 25-year-old defenseman with nearly 200 games of NHL experience.

Bear never really seemed to find his footing in Carolina, and didn’t play in any of the team’s playoff games last season.

Before he was a Hurricane, though, Bear was seen as a promising young defenseman in the Edmonton Oilers organization, and perhaps the Canucks believe a change of scenery can help him get back to the form he showed as an Oiler.

Even if he doesn’t return to that level of play, he still represents a likely improvement over the current depth blueliners the Canucks are relying on.

In addition to Bear, Vancouver is receiving a forward, Pederson. The 25-year-old was acquired by the Hurricanes as part of the Brent Burns trade, and will now be shipped to Vancouver having played just four AHL games as a member of the Hurricanes organization.

Pederson is a capable AHL scorer who should help bolster the Abbotsford Canucks, and he also has 44 games of NHL experience, albeit with just five points scored.

Possibly the most important aspect of this deal is the fact that the Hurricanes are retaining salary. Bear is on a $2.2MM cap hit this season, a cap hit the Canucks would be hard-pressed to absorb. Now, they’ve found a way to fit him in and will get an upgrade to their defense, an upgrade they desperately need.

For the Hurricanes, the team receives a fifth-round draft pick for a defenseman who they seemingly had no long-term plans for. As mentioned, Bear was never really a fit in Carolina, and now his time there is over.

Just on the basis of his play, Bear is likely more valuable than the fifth-round pick they received for him. But when you factor in how difficult moving money is in today’s cap-strapped NHL, it’s likely that finding a taker willing to take on Bear’s full salary and pay more than a fifth-rounder to do so would have been a challenge.

Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

More On Sabres’ Defense Search

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Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams was clear this week that the team might make a move to add some defensive depth in the wake of injuries to Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju. The executive claimed it wouldn’t be a big move though, striking some of the top names off the speculation board. One that remained was Ethan Bear, given his situation with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Bear requested a trade in the past and hasn’t played at all this season, despite signing a one-year, $2.2MM deal in the summer. The right-shot defenseman might seem like the perfect answer for the Sabres right now, especially given his relatively young age. While Buffalo has discussed Bear with the Hurricanes, according to Darren Dreger of TSN, he doesn’t believe they are willing to give up an asset at this point.

The Hurricanes are clearly not willing to just give Bear away, even with the awkwardness surrounding the situation. The 25-year-old does still hold some value as an asset. It also makes sense that the Sabres aren’t willing to pay for someone like that, given they won’t have much room for him once everyone is healthy. Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury and is expected back in a few weeks, meaning the available minutes will quickly disappear.

If the Sabres do make an addition, it seems more likely to be a veteran depth player that can move in and out of the lineup when necessary. For Carolina, that means one fewer team on the market for Bear, who they seem in no rush to move.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.

An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.

  • It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.

Snapshots: Bear, Norris, Danforth, Australia

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On the topic of young defensemen expected to be dealt, it’s Jakob Chychrun’s name that comes up more times than not and given his talent, that’s not unfair. However, another young defenseman that could be dealt is that of  Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Ethan Bear. Perhaps not the talent Chychrun is, Bear is a solid player in his own right, but has had his share of issues in regards to getting in the lineup and overall playing time since the Hurricanes acquired him from the Edmonton Oilers for forward Warren Foegele in the summer of 2021.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada, a decision on Bear could be coming soon. Bear, who hasn’t played a game yet this season, wants to play, says Friedman, but the team has been unable to find a trade they like. According to Friedman, interested teams have asked Carolina to retain a certain percentage of Bear’s salary cap in order to create a trade package to the Hurricanes’ liking. Carolina, in turn, has told teams that they don’t plan to retain any cap given the fact that their reason for dealing Bear would not be at all cap related. Ultimately, as relayed by Friedman, the situation is expected to resolve itself shortly. It would seem at this point, if Carolina cannot get a better offer for the defenseman, their options would be to accept an offer they think is under-valued, put Bear on waivers, play him, or continue to scratch him, potentially doing harm to the relationship.

  • Earlier this afternoon, Ottawa Senators forward Joshua Norris left their game against the Arizona Coyotes after appearing to injure his arm off the faceoff. Norris immediately left the ice in pain and appeared to throw his stick in the hallway. After the game, no update was offered on the injury itself, and that is still the case this evening. However, Friedman did say on 32 Thoughts that the plan was for Norris to have an MRI once the swelling in his arm went down. No update thus far could be seen as a bit concerning, but an MRI should give more clear results and lead to a timeline once complete.
  • Also on the injury front, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth left tonight’s game with an upper-body injury and will not return, the team announced. What exactly the nature of the injury is remains unclear; Danforth had played regular shifts throughout the first period, but did not return for the second period. The forward had three points in five games coming into tonight.
  • An interesting note on international NHL showcases was brought up tonight on 32 Thoughts. It appears the league is exploring the possibility of playing games in Australia, perhaps as soon as sometime next season. The league plans to have a site survey shortly and would like to have a few games there if possible. Although the league has greatly expanded its outreach into international markets, heading to Australia is intriguing given its status as a non-traditional market.

Hurricanes Shopping Ethan Bear

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Earlier this summer, Carolina gave Ethan Bear permission to speak to other teams heading into restricted free agency.  At the time, it seemed like he was a candidate to be non-tendered but in the end, the Hurricanes qualified him and signed the 25-year-old to a one-year, $2.2MM deal.  However, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that even with the new contract, Carolina is still trying to move the young defender.

Last season was a tough one for Bear.  After being a regular in a top-four role for Edmonton back in 2019-20, he battled some injury issues the following season and dropped down the depth chart which helped contribute to him being traded to Carolina a few days after the draft in 2021.  The hope was that he’d rebound but instead, history repeated itself.  Bear was banged up at times last season and when he was in the lineup, he struggled.  Overall, he had five goals and nine assists in 58 games with a career-low 16:05 ATOI.  While he underwent a minor procedure after the playoffs, Bear was available to play if needed but was scratched for every contest.

In a recent appearance on CHEK (video link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canucks are among the teams that have shown interest in Bear.  There is a definite opening on the right side of their back end but making the money work could be tricky.  They’re less than a million below their LTIR ceiling (with Micheal Ferland not playing again this season) which is considerably less space than Bear’s contract.  Tucker Poolman’s availability for the start of the year is in question but he’s expected back at some point which takes the option of adding Bear to slide into Poolman’s vacated spot off the table as well.

Meanwhile, Carolina has no such cap concerns.  With Max Pacioretty and Jake Gardiner LTIR-bound to start the season, they have the ability to find him in without an issue.  However, Dylan Coghlan is also in the fold and could push for a spot on the third pairing which could have Bear on the fringes of the lineup once again; Brett Pesce and Brent Burns are clearly locked into the right-side spots on the top two pairings already.  By qualifying him, the Hurricanes determined that there was still some value but if he sits a lot early on, that will change in a hurry.

Whether it’s Vancouver or another team, it looks like Bear is a candidate to be on the move over the coming weeks and with the situation he’ll likely be in with Carolina where he’ll be battling for a spot in the lineup, it might be a move that the Hurricanes will want to make sooner than later.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2022 Arbitration Tracker

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The dates for the upcoming arbitration hearings have been set, with the first one scheduled for July 27. Hearings will continue through August 11 this year, with that being the busiest day of the schedule. It is important to note that the CBA agreement in 2020 changed the rules for arbitration so that once a hearing begins, teams are no longer allowed to negotiate with the player in question.

The full schedule is:

July 27
Isac Lundestrom (Anaheim Ducks) – Settled: 2 years, $1.8MM AAV

July 29
Jesse Puljujarvi (Edmonton Oilers) – Settled: 1 year, $3.0MM

July 30
Kasperi Kapanen (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Settled: 2 years, $3.2MM AAV
Matthew Phillips (Calgary Flames) – Settled: 1 year, $750K AAV (two-way contract)

August 1
Mathieu Joseph (Ottawa Senators) – Settled: 3 years, $2.95MM AAV
Steven Lorentz (San Jose Sharks) – Settled: 2 years, $1.05MM AAV

August 2
Yakov Trenin (Nashville Predators) – Awarded: 2 years, $1.7MM AAV

August 3
Jesper Bratt (New Jersey Devils) – Settled: 1 year, $5.45MM AAV

August 5
Andrew Mangiapane (Calgary Flames) – Settled: 3 years, $5.8MM AAV

August 6
Miles Wood (New Jersey Devils) – Settled: 1 year, $3.2MM AAV

August 7
Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton Oilers) – Settled: 2 years, $3.1MM AAV

August 8
Ethan Bear (Carolina Hurricanes) – Settled: 1 year, $2.2MM
Lawson Crouse (Arizona Coyotes) – Settled: 5 years, $4.3MM AAV
Zack MacEwen (Philadelphia Flyers) – Settled: 1 year, $925K

August 9
Maxime Lajoie (Carolina Hurricanes) – Settled: 1 year, $750K (two-way contract)

August 10
Keegan Kolesar (Vegas Golden Knights) – Settled: 3 years, $1.4MM AAV
Oliver Kylington (Calgary Flames) – Settled: 2 years, $2.5MM AAV

August 11
Mason Appleton (Winnipeg Jets) – Settled: 3 years, $2.167MM AAV
Morgan Geekie (Seattle Kraken) – Settled: 1 year, $1.4MM AAV
Tyce Thompson (New Jersey Devils) – Settled: 2 years, $762.5K AAV (partial two-way)
Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) – Settled: 8 years, $9.5MM AAV
Jake Walman (Detroit Red Wings) – Settled: 1 year, $1.05MM
Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins) – Settled: 1 year, $3.5MM

Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Ethan Bear

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July 28: The Hurricanes have officially announced the contract for Bear, confirming the details reported yesterday. General manager Don Waddell released a statement on the deal, though it will raise even more eyebrows:

Adjusting to a new team and system can be challenging for a young defenseman. We are confident Ethan will be able to take another step in his development this season.

July 27: PuckPedia reports that the Carolina Hurricanes re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Ethan Bear to a one-year, $2.2MM deal. The contract will make Bear a restricted free agent again next offseason with one more season remaining on his RFA eligibility.

Carolina acquired Bear last season in a one-for-one swap with the Edmonton Oilers for forward Warren Foegele. Bear’s first season in Carolina wasn’t too kind to him, though, as his defensive play took a serious step back while seeing a reduction in his role. His 16:05 per-game average is a far cry from his 21:58 mark in 2019-20 with the Oilers. On the scoresheet, he tied his career-high in goals with five and added nine assists for 14 points in 58 games.

If Bear is able to rebound back to his form from his first two full seasons in Edmonton, though, it’s a great deal for the ’Canes. Bear will still be battling for ice time on the team’s third pairing along with new acquisition Dylan Coghlan and a healthy Jake Gardiner — if Carolina doesn’t opt to trade him. $2.2MM might be too steep a price to pay for someone the organization views as a seventh defenseman, but it’s a gamble to trade him away and watch him bounce back elsewhere.

After the signing, the Hurricanes are left with under $2MM in cap space.

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