On Thursday afternoon, the Caps announced the signing of unrestricted free agent defenseman Ethan Bear. Washington and the 26-year-old Bear agreed to terms on a two-year deal worth $4.125 million and carrying an annual salary cap hit of $2.0625 million.
Tonight, at Capital One Arena against the Nashville Predators, Bear will make his debut in a Caps’ sweater.
A fifth-round pick (124th overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 NHL Draft, Bear reached the NHL as a 20-year-old, late in the 2017-18 season. He got into 18 games with the Oilers that season, and he flourished as a full-time NHLer in ’18-19, leading the NHL with 71 games played and finishing third among Edmonton defensemen with an average of 21:58 nightly. Bear finished 10th in Calder Trophy balloting that season.
Dealt to Carolina for Warren Foegele in the summer of 2021, Bear saw less ice time and a lesser role on a stacked Hurricanes blueline. Early last season, he was shipped to Vancouver for a draft pick. He had a good season with the Canucks, pushing his ice time back up to 18:32 per game, its highest level since his rookie campaign.
Bear was selected to represent Canada at the IIHF World Championship last spring, but during the playoff round of that tournament, he suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery and has sidelined him since. Vancouver elected not to tender a qualifying offer to Bear, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Several NHL clubs monitored the progress of his rehabilitation, and the Caps eventually emerged as a favorite to land the defenseman. He has been with the team for more than a week now, skating and traveling with them, and on Thursday morning he fully practiced with the team for the first time.
Bear didn’t play on Friday night against the Islanders in New York, but Martin Fehervary’s first-period injury in that game has Bear taking his place in the Caps’ lineup tonight against Nashville.
“We’ll see here,” said Bear following Thursday’s session. “Obviously, I still have to clear some things with the doc either [Thursday] or [Friday]. But whatever happens, it was a good first practice, and good to get those reps in. By [Friday] we’ll see what happens.”
Over the course of his five NHL seasons, Bear has amassed 251 games, which is essentially three full campaigns. His career totals of 16 goals and 47 assists suggest that he could contribute somewhere in the neighborhood of five goals and 20 points over the course of a full season.
The addition of Bear gives Washington four right-handed defenseman; John Carlson, Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk are the righties who are already on the roster. Bear is the youngest of the quartet by far; Carlson will turn 34 in less than two weeks while Jensen turns 34 and van Riemsdyk turns 33 later in the upcoming year.
Bear also has the least amount of term – and the lowest AAV – among the four right-handers; he is under contract for the remainder of this season and next, while each of the other three has at least two full seasons on their respective deals following the current campaign. There is clearly incentive for Bear to work toward his next contract, and the Caps have an excellent recent history of bringing players to the District via trade or signing, and those players then liking the culture here and liking playing here enough to sign an extension to stay in Washington.
Similar to last season’s trade deadline when a couple of swaps with Boston and Toronto, respectively, enabled the Caps to turn back the clock on one of their left side blueline slots when they essentially converted Dmitry Orlov into Sandin, the signing of Bear makes Washington’s right side a shade younger while giving the team another asset at a premium position. van Riemsdyk’s ability to play on his off side allows the Caps to play all four righties at once, should they choose to or should they need to do so, as is the case in tonight’s scenario.
Bear’s most recent NHL action came in the finale of the 2022-23 regular season with Vancouver, on April 13 of this year; he skated over 20 minutes in each of the Canucks’ last four games last season. Bear’s shoulder surgery took place on June 15, and he is champing at the bit to get back in action.
“Everything feels good,” he says. “I’m healthy and I’m ready to roll, and it’s any day now when I’m going to play. We’ll just take it day-by-day. I feel good, I’m excited, and I’m just waiting to get that nod.”
At the same time, he is thankful the Caps haven’t pushed him or rushed him, and he has been able to spend some time getting to know his teammates and to grow accustomed to the lay of the land locally, at least a little bit. The Caps haven’t been home very much or for very long this month.
“It’s been really nice, to be honest, knowing that I’m not getting rushed into a situation,” says Bear. “Being able to get to know the guys a little bit, watch a couple of games, and to just kind of get comfortable with the team environment, that’s been really nice. And obviously it just gives me that itch more and more every day to want to play, so we’ll see what happens, but it’s been good.”
A sturdy two-way defenseman, Bear is capable of contributing on the second power play unit; he was on the Seattle Thunderbirds’ second power-play unit as a 16-year-old while playing junior hockey. He battles hard in the corners, below the goal line and at the net front, and his upper body strength combined with his strength on his feet makes him a force in those situations.
He can also contribute on the penalty kill; he is a fearless shot blocker who is competitive and possessed of a high work ethic. Bear also makes a good first pass out of the zone – and is capable of delivering the occasional goal line to far blue line stretch pass – and he can pound the puck from the point with authority as well.
The Caps are banking on Bear showing the form he showed in his first full season in the League, and the bet carries minimal risk. At 26, Bear should be entering his prime seasons at this point, and he believes his grueling rehab process has actually made his body better than it was before the shoulder injury.
“It’s not often that a player gets six months to dial in on your body,” says Bear. “Because when the offseason starts, it’s only like three months. It’s not a lot of time. And one-on-one training with my strength coach is something that you usually don’t get when you train with a group of guys. I’m nitpicking every little thing to try to get perfect, and honestly I’ve never felt better. So I’m ready.”
A decade ago, the Caps lost Orlov to a wrist injury sustained in the World Championship; Orlov ended up missing virtually all of the following season, but when he did return to full-time playing status, he was a better player.
“Honestly it’s tough getting hurt and doing surgery and stuff like that,” says Bear. “But the rehab and the recovery, I would actually say it’s been a blessing in disguise. I’ve never had time like this to strengthen other areas of my body, and to strengthen the area that was the main cause of why I got injured five years ago.
“So it’s been really nice. I had time to reflect on my career and my journey, and it makes you appreciate being here and being in this environment and playing in the National Hockey League a lot more. It makes you want to be more motivated and more hungry. And it helped me realize just how much I love to play.
“And it hasn’t felt long at all; it’s gone by quick. And now that it’s all settling in here, I’ve done everything I possibly could to be ready. So I’m not going to be second guessing myself. I’m ready to play when I get that chance.”
That chance comes tonight at Capital One Arena.
