Canucks battling with Eastern Conference team for Ethan Bear: report

It looks like the Vancouver Canucks might not be bringing back former defenceman Ethan Bear after all.

After weeks of speculation that the Canucks were the frontrunners to land the 26-year-old from Regina, a new report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicates that Vancouver might be getting left behind in a bidding war.

During last night’s edition of Saturday Headlines, Friedman reported that at least one other team out East has significant interest in Bear.

“It looks as if Ethan Bear is getting close to resuming his NHL career or at least picking a team that he is going to do it with,” reported Friedman. “There are a number of other clubs that suspect that the Washington Capitals have really made a strong bid [for Bear].

“Nothing official at this time, but it is believed the Capitals have made a legitimate run at him.”

The latest edition of Saturday Headlines with @FriedgeHNIC 📰 pic.twitter.com/3lUfy7opkI

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 10, 2023

This is not good news for the Canucks, whose limited amount of cap space seems to be hindering their ability to stay competitive with other teams vying for Bear’s services.

According to CapFriendly, Vancouver has $3.7 million in cap space, but that number will fall to around $1.2 million when defenceman Carson Soucy is activated from LTIR later this season.

Looks like the Canucks are getting priced out of the Ethan Bear sweepstakes.

The free agent defenseman has interest from a number of teams but doesn’t seem like Vancouver will be part of a bidding war.

— Satiar Shah (@SatiarShah) December 9, 2023

The Canucks have reportedly had “big-time interest” in adding Bear but, if they can’t clear more cap space soon, it appears they might be out of luck.

Bear was among the team’s best defencemen last season and spent the majority of his time playing next to Quinn Hughes on the team’s top pairing. Unfortunately, Bear suffered an injury over the summer while playing for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships,  which required surgery and caused him to miss the first two and a half months of the NHL season.

At the time of the injury, the Canucks decided not to qualify Bear, which made him a UFA and able to sign with any team.

With his recovery nearly complete, it seems like other teams are interested in adding him into the fold. Bear scored three goals and 15 points in 61 games last season and was a +6 despite Vancouver’s poor overall defensive results.

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• Canucks have "big-time interest" in Ethan Bear but might get outbid: report