Confirmed with Link: Ethan Bear re-signed, $2.2M, 1yr

[Joe McGrath]

Teams are never looking for competent RHD on small contracts, right?

 

[MrazeksVengeance]

Healthy Gardiner and healthy Bear could be one of the best 3rd pairs in the league. Although I suspect at this point Gards will be gone soon for us to keep Necas.

That’s such a what if It’s a surprise Disney has not made it a Marvel story.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Teams are never looking for competent RHD on small contracts, right?

That's the $2.2M question.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

One of the best advanced stats pairings, yes. also one of the worst defensively

Fair but Bear actually looked solid defensively to me before the covid issues. I think if he’s fully recovered and playing confident he would be one of the better all around 3rd pair D men in the league. Definitely a big what if, kinda like with Necas, after how poor he played down the stretch last year.

And of course Gards being back to his Toronto prime self is incredibly unlikely, but if he could get back to that level or close to it he’s a solid 2nd pair D man who could fit well with Bear.

Probably moot as I think 1 of them has to go to keep Necas but we’ll see.

 

[Negan4Coach]

Boo

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Fair but Bear actually looked solid defensively to me before the covid issues.

He looked ok, but he seems to panic when under pressure. Slavin was able to cover, but that’s not ideal.

 

[LakeLivin]

The year is 2069. Society has completely unraveled (like, worse than now, go with it). The Earth's sun has burned out. The only thing left in this crazy world of ours, aside from chaos, is the NHL and hfboards. Carolina trades a 6th round pick in the 2070 draft to Vegas for a 7th rounder in the 2069 draft. @Lempo, leader of the rebel group The Future Considerations Truthers, proclaims the prophecy has been fulfilled. Vegas has been made whole. Society can be reborn anew.

I had it all typed up to say that 5 years from now, the Canes include an extra 7th in a trade with VGN and Lempo will revel in "I told you so", but I never posted it. Your post is so much better that I'm glad I didn't.

So what is a future consideration that would reasonably be considered "tangible"? Maybe a fourth round pick or better? This is important so that when the obligation is fulfilled I'll know whether to remain completely silent and let @Lempo get ridiculed or point out that I was the first to suggest that we might be sending Vegas something back of at least a little value.

 

[Chrispy]

So what is a future consideration that would reasonably be considered "tangible"?

Bojangles.

 

[ndp]

Boo

I’m not totally convinced that you, Boris and Moses Malone aren’t the same person.

Or are you guys pulling the ol three kids ina trench coat bit? It’s like some weird hive mind has control of youse guys accounts.

 

[MinJaBen]

So what is a future consideration that would reasonably be considered "tangible"?

Rod won’t flex on their coaching staff at their next game in Vegas.

 

[Canes]

Teams are never looking for competent RHD on small contracts, right?

He's more a sometimes competent (next to one of the pure defensive d-men in the game) small RHD jack of some trades, master of none on an okayish contract.

But even then the answer could be yes.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

He's more a sometimes competent (next to one of the pure defensive d-men in the game) small RHD jack of some trades, master of none on an okayish contract.

But even then the answer could be yes.

Erik Gudbranson received a 4x$4M for being a RHD with a pulse that can, at least last season, walk and chew gum at the same time. Other years even that was questionable, but still, one full season of that was enough for the UFA market, turns out. If that's the case, then all of Bear/Coghlan/Chatfield have some degree of trade value, too. I'm not worried about it.

 

[bleedgreen]

You need defensive depth. Bear is better than he played the second half, there’s really nothing unusual about this other than our cap space. We still have more moves so that’s gonna sort itself out one way or another.

I don’t mind having Gardiner and Bear both to be honest, though that’s a third pair our coach would plaster to the bench when you need a third pair the most. Not enough grits.

 

[Ole Gil]

You need defensive depth. Bear is better than he played the second half, there’s really nothing unusual about this other than our cap space. We still have more moves so that’s gonna sort itself out one way or another.

I don’t mind having Gardiner and Bear both to be honest, though that’s a third pair our coach would plaster to the bench when you need a third pair the most. Not enough grits.

It's hard to believe Jake Gardiner is going to come back off an almost 2 year layoff at 32 and be any good. He seemed pretty borderline before he got hurt. Like if it was a PTO, I would not expect him to get a 1 way contract.

Maybe I'm misremembering his pre injury play. Maybe his back and hip surgery weren't that bad. But it just feels like a situation where everything should go terribly.

 

[Chrispy]

They don't need to be under the cap until the start of the season right?

It's far from ideal scenario, but they can cut $1.125M off the cap by sending Gardiner to Chicago. Add $762K from sending Chatfield down and you have almost $1.9M on top of the current $1.88 in cap space.

Nearly $4M should be enough for Necas. It's about $3M in dead cap for Gardiner, but it gets the job done.

 

[Unsustainable]

What would it cost for Gardiner to Chicago for conditioning? Since he hasn’t played in 2 years.

 

[Lempo]

They don't need to be under the cap until the start of the season right?

Yes, iirc the team is allowed to be 10 percent over the cap between July 1 and the last day of the pre-season.

edit: technically, per CBA 50.5 (c)(ii)(B), they have to be under the cap ceiling, but the cap ceiling gets temporarily raised to 110 percent level:

Nevertheless, in order to ensure that Clubs may have sufficient time and flexibility to plan their rosters during the off-season, the Upper Limit shall be temporarily raised by ten (10) percent to permit Clubs additional flexibility with their Averaged Club Salaries during the period from July 1 until and including the last day of Training Camp. On the day following the last day of Training Camp, the Upper Limit shall again be lowered to the level as calculated in Section 50.5(b), and all Clubs must once again be in compliance with the Upper Limit from the day following the last day of Training Camp until and including June 30.

It's interesting that as far as the cap ceiling goes, the off-season officially starts only on July 1 simultaneously with the Free Agency, despite the playing season having ended a long before that.

One would imagine the normal cap should potentially make some pre-July 1 extensions tricky, but I don't remember ever hearing that some extension couldn't be made until July 1 because of the cap room. But maybe those who would be concerned just move some cap hit out in that case.

 

[AD Skinner]

There are probably a handful of teams in the nhl on which bear could hold down a middle pair spot, the canes just aren't one of them. I dont really get all the hate

 

[CanesUltimate11]

He looked ok, but he seems to panic when under pressure. Slavin was able to cover, but that’s not ideal.

While he won't have Slavin to cover him (if he's here at the start of the season) at least he'll be on the 3rd pair and won't face as much pressure. At home anyway.

 

[chaz4hockey]

There are probably a handful of teams in the nhl on which bear could hold down a middle pair spot, the canes just aren't one of them. I dont really get all the hate

hhhm...we will see but IMO he is an undersized, non-elite skating D that will never sniff middle pair status successfully. I do think he moves nicely in the zone from the point.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

It's just impossible to gauge who is Ethan Bear. First 10-20 games, I thought we had a top 4 piece with good offense, agility, and pick movement. Post covid, he may as well have been Andrew Hutchinson.

As much as I am hesitant for him to take up capspace, the potential benefit he brings is pretty big. On paper, he should be a well above average third pair, according to his first half of last year and the season before in Edmonton. It's worth the gamble. Especially bc he had a legitimate excuse and what looks like also a leg injury in the end of the season. It is unfortunate that we are looking at Gardiner pairing with him. I'd rather it be a more defensive presence.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

I'm willing to wait and see on him. His post-COVID struggles are well-documented, but I agree that the upside is there if he's 100%. The hard part for me is not knowing whether last season was simply a matter of being unable to get back to form in the middle of the grind, or whether he's dealing with a more serious version of long COVID that no amount of summertime training can overcome.

 

[Chrispy]

What would it cost for Gardiner to Chicago for conditioning? Since he hasn’t played in 2 years.

I don't think a conditioning trip would grant any additional cap savings. Either he would be coming off IR or he would be riding the bench for a long enough time and agree to a conditioning stint.

Either way, does a conditioning stint actually provide short-term cap savings? Even if it does, the conditioning stint is only a band-aid. The long-term solution is simply to send the player to the minors and eat the cap hit over $1.125M.

 

[WreckingCrew]

I don't think a conditioning trip would grant any additional cap savings. Either he would be coming off IR or he would be riding the bench for a long enough time and agree to a conditioning stint.

Either way, does a conditioning stint actually provide short-term cap savings? Even if it does, the conditioning stint is only a band-aid. The long-term solution is simply to send the player to the minors and eat the cap hit over $1.125M.

I don't believe there is any cap savings... it's just temporary reassignment to get conditioning/ice time against lesser competition basically, but otherwise it functions like they're on your roster (bc they actually are)

13.8 Conditioning Loan. Unless a Player consents, he shall not be Loaned on a Conditioning Loan to a minor league club. Such Conditioning Loan shall not extend for more than fourteen (14) consecutive days. The Commissioner may take whatever steps he deems necessary to investigate the circumstances under which a Player is Loaned on a Conditioning Loan. If the Commissioner has reason to believe or determines that the Club has used the Conditioning Loan to evade the Re-Entry Waivers, or otherwise Circumvent any provision of this Agreement, he may take such disciplinary action against the Club, as he deems appropriate. The Player shall continue, during the period of such Conditioning Loan, to receive the same Paragraph 1 NHL Salary, and be entitled to the same benefits, that he would have received had he continued to play with the Club.

 

[bleedgreen]

It's hard to believe Jake Gardiner is going to come back off an almost 2 year layoff at 32 and be any good. He seemed pretty borderline before he got hurt. Like if it was a PTO, I would not expect him to get a 1 way contract.

Maybe I'm misremembering his pre injury play. Maybe his back and hip surgery weren't that bad. But it just feels like a situation where everything should go terribly.

We’ll see but we’ve been harsh on the guy. When healthy he looked good, but it depends on your expectations of him. I do think it’s possible he can manage the role, and of course maybe he can’t and we ltir him.