Canucks looking at Ethan Bear and trade options for a defenceman: report

The Vancouver Canucks are in desperate need of a right-shot defenceman.

That’s obvious when you consider that head coach Rick Tocchet has been auditioning unheralded rookie defenceman Cole McWard on a pairing with Quinn Hughes throughout preseason.

While the Canucks bench boss has trumpeted a defence-by-committee approach, it’s clearly not an ideal solution.

Could a trade be coming?

“I think they’re working the phones,” said Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal on today’s edition of CHEK television show Donnie and Dhali, in reference to the team’s search for a right-shot defenceman.

Yesterday, Dhaliwal indicated that Ethan Bear could make a return, saying that four to five teams are “in the mix” to sign him, including the Canucks.

“They called the agent a week ago, just to keep tabs on how is the injury,” said Dhaliwal. “But I know there’s interest from the Canucks in Ethan Bear.”

"It amazes me that this franchise has not developed a right shot defenceman in 15 years.."@DonTaylor5 & @DhaliwalSports chat about a possible Ethan Bear return and the lack of defenceman developed by the #Canucks https://t.co/h4e2SKM7eJ pic.twitter.com/Od3hx4ZUxY

— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) October 4, 2023

But Bear is still recovering from shoulder surgery and is not scheduled to return until December. With opening night just six days away, the Canucks would prefer a solution sooner than that.

The Canucks signed Ian Cole and Carson Soucy in free agency, and most fans and media expected one of them to be paired with Hughes. Both left-shot defencemen have experience playing the right side, but so far Tocchet has been hesitant to play either one of them on their off side.

Soucy briefly paired with Hughes in training camp before McWard took over, while Cole has played exclusively on the left in preseason.

There has been a lot of chatter among fans and media about picking up a defenceman off waivers, and that could still happen as teams finalize their 23-man roster. But you would be delusional if you think it’s likely they can find a top-four defenceman on waivers.

Finding a right-shot defenceman in a trade will be difficult too, though that’s exactly how the Canucks acquired Bear one year ago.

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