12/28/23: The Capitals have now officially announced Bear’s signing, confirming the two-year term of the contract as well as its $2.0625MM cap hit.
12/20/23: Washington wrote on X this morning that the team is “expected to sign” Bear “at a later date,” adding that he is joining the team for their morning skate today.
12/11/23: The Capitals have made a contract offer to unrestricted free-agent defenseman Ethan Bear and are expected to close a deal in the near future, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast Monday.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal added this morning that Bear’s agency has told his former team, the Canucks, that they’re out of the running for his services. Dhaliwal surmises that the key element in Bear’s decision will be term. The Capitals are one of the few teams prepared to offer Bear a multi-year deal, Friedman said, while the Canucks don’t have the financial flexibility to offer Bear anything more than a one-year, $1MM-prorated deal.
Washington would be the fourth NHL stop for Bear, who has suited up for the Oilers, Hurricanes and Canucks since Edmonton drafted him 124th overall in the 2015 draft. After playing a limited role in Carolina in 2021-22, Bear signed a one-year, $2.2MM deal with the Hurricanes following an arbitration filing but was dealt to Vancouver, along with depth forward Lane Pederson, for a fifth-round pick in the first few days of the 2022-23 campaign. Bear rebuilt his market value in Vancouver, recording three goals, 13 assists and 16 points in 61 games while averaging 18:32 per contest and posting a 51% Corsi share at even strength.
Named to Canada’s roster for the 2023 World Championship, Bear went without a point in eight games before sustaining a shoulder injury that required surgery in mid-June, which carried a projected recovery timeline of six months. With Bear out long-term and his role on the squad moving forward uncertain, the Canucks opted not to issue him a qualifying offer and let him reach unrestricted free agency.
That isn’t to say Vancouver wasn’t interested in retaining the 26-year-old once he was ready to return to play, as they’ve remained in discussions with Bear’s camp and had made contract offers in recent days. With Bear reportedly prioritizing term, however, there was no clear path for a return to the Canucks.
Instead, he looks to join a Capitals defense that’s been solid this season in preventing quality chances against but hasn’t provided much in the way of offense outside of John Carlson, who leads the team in assists with 14 in 25 games. Bear won’t move the needle in terms of point production from the Washington blueline, but he remains a well-rounded player who can log minutes on special teams. The Capitals’ penalty kill has been in the middle of the pack this season, ranking 18th in the league with a 79.8% success rate.
However, considering Bear is a right-shot defenseman, the fit seems a bit puzzling on Washington’s depth chart. Unless they’re looking to try Bear on his off-side, he would sit behind a rather deep right side of the Washington defense comprised of Carlson, Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk, all of whom have been competent this season. Bear is a valuable asset, but he’s not a major upgrade over either Jensen or van Riemsdyk, especially with all three of their right-shot defenders locked into seven-figure cap hits through 2026.
If Bear is willing to sign in D.C. there aren’t many suitors.
4th on the RH depth chart…
Gotta be a better fit
I mentioned that earlier, and was told TVR plays both sides.
Maybe Edmondson is on his way out?
This really needs to be filed under “who cares”
And yet you clicked on and commented on the article. Aka a “look how cool I am everybody” guy
Speaking of rando mid season signings of former Pacific division players…has there been any update on what’s up with Puljujarvi?
Is he practicing with us, etc? Haven’t heard anything about him since the tryout deal was announced.
Has Pustinen showing a bit more than nothing made him irrelevant?
Found something from Kingerski, he quoted Sullivan saying Puljujarvi still needed more recovery time before he can practice. He got the hip resurfacing surgery that seems to be the kiss of death in most players anyways (in my opinion) so I wouldn’t count on the guy in any case
I can’t figure out where he fits on the Caps. He’s a right shot on a team heavy on RD. He doesn’t provide much speed, or offense – both of which the team needs desperately. He’s not big. I don’t get it.
The Caps roster screams rebuild! MacLellan has really run this team into the ground.
Good for Bear – he should help Caps generate some offence. Guy deserves to be a regular – a 4/5 guy on most teams
Really? I got the privilege of watching him single-handedly give that series to the jets with his awful defensive plays. He’s an offensive defenceman without the offence. Honestly I hope he can put the pieces together as he seems like a nice kid but so far all I’ve seen was just not pretty.