Canucks are out of the Ethan Bear sweepstakes: report
Free agent defenceman Ethan Bear has informed the Vancouver Canucks that he will not be signing with the club, according to CHEK Media’s Rick Dhaliwal.
Bear has spent the first part of this season without an NHL team as he’s recovering from a shoulder injury. The Canucks were initially thought to be the favourites to sign the defenceman once he was ready to return. However, recent reports from a few days ago suggested that they’ve been priced out and that Bear could sign with another team, perhaps the Washington Capitals.
Today’s news that Bear’s camp has informed the Canucks that they’re no longer in the running confirms that the right-handed player will be heading elsewhere.
The Canucks have been told they are out on UFA Ethan Bear.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) December 11, 2023
“The Canucks were hoping to get Bear on a one-year deal at around [$1 million]. It’s not happening,” Dhaliwal said on Donnie and Dhali this morning. “The Canucks have been told on the weekend that they are out on Bear. The price of Bear went up to competition. This is a player the player the Canucks really wanted.”
Dhaliwal added that Bear is expected to get $1.5 million pro-rated this season, or over $2 million annually on a two-year deal.
"The #Canucks have been told on the weekend that they are out on Bear. The price went up through competition.."
@DhaliwalSports on Ethan Bear signing elsewhere and which targets might be options for the #Canucks now.https://t.co/h4e2SKM7eJ pic.twitter.com/3MTTfDkPDl
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) December 11, 2023
The Canucks already added to their defence corps this season with the acquisition of Nikita Zadorov in late November. Even after the addition of the huge Russian defenceman, it was still thought that Vancouver was the team to beat in the Bear sweepstakes. However, that has now clearly changed, likely due to the salary offered by other clubs, which the Canucks would struggle to match.
Zadorov counts for $3.75 million against the cap, eating up most of the space that the team cleared when they traded Anthony Beauvillier and his $4.15 million deal to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bear has played 251 NHL games, including 61 with the Canucks last year. He has 63 career points and looked like a capable top-four option for large stretches last season.
As a right-handed shot, the 26-year-old defenceman would have filled a large organizational need. The Canucks have been using Noah Juulsen and Mark Friedman regularly to eat up minutes on their right side. Bear would have represented a significant improvement over either player.
When Carson Soucy returns from LTIR, the Canucks best six defencemen will likely include four left-handed players. That means that head coach Rick Tocchet will need to shift one player to their off-side, something that he has seemed reluctant to do so far this season.