Rumor: Rick Dhaliwal- Ethan Bear will be signing in about 2-3 weeks. UPDATED: Looks like he will sign with Capitals according to Friedman

[Peter Griffin]

Does the whole "Unsigned players as of Dec 1st can't play in the playoffs" thing apply, or is that only for RFAs?

Arbitration eligible RFA have to sign by December 1st to play that season. UFA’s have to sign before trade deadline to be eligible for postseason.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Oh yeah none whatsoever haha. He'll likely never even hit ten points in a season, but he's absolutely fine as a team's 6-7 guy.

Now that We have said that watch him score the game winner tomorrow against Boston, and it will be in a shootout because the Leafs don't understand games are supposed to end after 60 minutes.

They also don't understand how to count to 6 because they are constantly taking too many men penalties but that's another issue.

 

[John Mandalorian]

A lot of teams are looking for defensive depth and no assets would need to be traded.

He's already tried and failed with teams starving for defensive help and also with a team like Carolina.

 

[Rowlet]

Why didn't he sign in the summer?

Injury

 

[MapleLeafs9]

It'll be Vancouver. I've read tweets before that he was hanging around there throughout their training camp while he's been hurt. Wish it was the Leafs though.

 

[CupofOil]

Not every team is run as stupidly as the Oilers, and not every fanbase will do things like bomb his instagram with racist abuse. He's a free asset on a cheap contract that can play top 4 minutes.

Bear is a good player. Some Oilers fans just really, really suck.

You're not wrong that some Oiler fans really really suck and about the instagram garbage but there's also a portion of the Oilers fanbase that significantly overrated Bear, the same ones that loved Puljujarvi funny enough. If he's playing top 4 minutes on your team you're not a very good team, but he's definitely a legit NHL bottom pairing Dman and a free asset like you said so there's value in that.

 

[BWJM]

Why would any team be "heavily interested" in Ethan Bear?

Because depth is important

 

[Sens With Benefits]

Good to see, always liked Bear. He's definitely a solid depth option and wouldn't mind him on the bottom pair. Would love to see him wear his Syllabic jersey full time.

 

[Petes2424]

It wouldn’t surprise me if there were 6 teams interested in adding a legit NHL RD for nothing but capspace.

That’s the assumption many people will disagree with. If he’s “legit” teams would’ve signed him, even with his injury. Nothing has suggested the injury is severe. Like Psysk was signed a year ago, even when Detroit knew he wouldn’t be available to start the season. RHD are in too high demand…. if teams believe they’re “legit”…. for him to have had no interest over the summer.

Like I said, we shall see how much actual interest there is. If he signs the expected deal in Vancouver, or a 2-way deal somewhere else, we’ll know there wasn’t much interest at all. If he gets over seven figures guaranteed, than there was. Even if it’s $1.2… $1 million or under, a team is playing darts. They really are…

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

Haven’t watched many Canucks games. But why would the Canucks break up the Hughes/Hronek pairing to make room for Bear?

 

[FissionFire]

According to Dhaliwal:

6 teams are highly coveting Bear and has been in contact with his camp since September. AAV will be around 1 mil pro-rated.

Dhaliwal says signing wont be about the money as all teams pretty much offering the same dollar amount. It will be about opportunity and success. Bear wants to showcase himself and play with Elite talent and make a playoff run so that he can set himself up for a long term contract in the summer.


I wonder which 6 teams are interested? Obviously Canucks being one of them and are proabably dangling a pairing with Q Hughes to sweeten their case. They were a dynamic pairing at times previously.

Breaking up the Hughes - Hronek pair should be a fireable offense. They have been outstanding together.

 

[StreetHawk]

That’s the assumption many people will disagree with. If he’s “legit” teams would’ve signed him, even with his injury. Nothing has suggested the injury is severe. Like Psysk was signed a year ago, even when Detroit knew he wouldn’t be available to start the season. RHD are in too high demand…. if teams believe they’re “legit”…. for him to have had no interest over the summer.

Like I said, we shall see how much actual interest there is. If he signs the expected deal in Vancouver, or a 2-way deal somewhere else, we’ll know there wasn’t much interest at all. If he gets over seven figures guaranteed, than there was. Even if it’s $1.2… $1 million or under, a team is playing darts. They really are…

Dumba was making $6 mill per on his last contract and signs for 1 year in the summer with AZ at $3.9 mill at age 29. This is the prime of his career and that's all he could get. A 1/3 pay cut for 1 year on a bad team from last season. Similar to Klingberg, I don't foresee a contract a similar long term contract for him next summer that he had before at $6 mill AAV.

Bear would have started the season on LTIR and had he signed would have had access to a team's medical team and facilities to rehab the injury. Figured, if the timeline to return was the last 2/3 of the season or so, then you can prorate the contract to match.

 

[Peter Griffin]

That’s the assumption many people will disagree with. If he’s “legit” teams would’ve signed him, even with his injury. Nothing has suggested the injury is severe. Like Psysk was signed a year ago, even when Detroit knew he wouldn’t be available to start the season. RHD are in too high demand…. if teams believe they’re “legit”…. for him to have had no interest over the summer.

Your issue with this argument is that Ethan Bear was given an insurance settlement of somewhere in the $3-3.5M range, payable as long as he’s not able to play. For him to have signed in the offseason a team would’ve had to make it worthwhile for him to forgo the $1.5~M he’ll probably collect up until the point he signs. So was anyone willing to sign him to say, a $2.5M contract back in July? I’m not so sure.

Like I said, we shall see how much actual interest there is. If he signs the expected deal in Vancouver, or a 2-way deal somewhere else, we’ll know there wasn’t much interest at all. If he gets over seven figures guaranteed, than there was. Even if it’s $1.2… $1 million or under, a team is playing darts. They really are…

For a lot of teams, paying even an extra $100k at this point isn’t feasible, let alone $300K. You’re also assuming Bear is going to jump at another pro-rated $100-300k instead of what he feels is the best situation for future success. 6 teams also isn’t a lot, you’re making this out to be half the teams in the league are jumping over each other for this guy. 6 teams could be just as interested in a player on waivers…

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

Why would any team be "heavily interested" in Ethan Bear?

Because he's a good player, won't cost anything to acquire, and will come cheap.

 

[Regal]

Haven’t watched many Canucks games. But why would the Canucks break up the Hughes/Hronek pairing to make room for Bear?

The other D pairings haven’t been strong enough lately, so if they can split them and make the second pairing stronger by more than what they downgrade by on the first pairing it could be worth it. Ideally they’d have someone who can anchor a second pairing but Cole, Zadorov, Soucy and Myers are at best complementary pieces on a second pairing.

 

[Ninety7]

Surprised to see how many people like bear. Always thought he was a meh player. He got absolutely cooked in the playoffs with the oilers. I think it was the series agains the jets, where he made three terrible turnovers that resulted in GWG’s.

Must admit, I haven’t kept up with the player since though, so maybe he’s improved

 

[Deadly Dogma]

Why wouldn't the Oilers hang onto him?

 

[Nanuuk]

Bear with me..

Reasons why Calgary would be a good landing spot.

1. Calgary will be re-making its D Corp and will trade either Hanifin, Tanev or both. Top four minutes will be available.
2. Calgary is re-tooling to a degree by integrating young talent at forward and on defence.
3. First Nations presence in the region is strong. Not that would necessarily be a consideration, but Ethan is from Saskatchewan.
4. Ethan is a right shot D and Calgary's upcoming depth is in short supply (more left shot D's).
5. Opportunity for a larger contract

So in summary, he might just be around for awhile if he signs here.

 

[cc]

Hoping my Canucks get him. He played well when he was there. I think he's a solid versatile dman. I can see him paired with Hughes or Zadorov depending on the need

 

[cc]

Haven’t watched many Canucks games. But why would the Canucks break up the Hughes/Hronek pairing to make room for Bear?

I think coaching would prefer not to put all their eggs in one basket and create some balance for the other pairings. They've tried Hughes with Myers and juulsen and Mcward but it isn't working with any of them.

 

[deleted user]

Would welcome him in Calgary, gladly.

 

[LeafChief]

Semi related, but happy to see Will Lagesson playing well. Always liked him as an Oiler. Solid, no nonsense defenceman that does his job and never complains.

He's been incredibly surprising. Not to say I want to see him on the playoff roster (assuming they make it) but he has been more than adequate in stepping up while there have been this many injuries and has a toughness to his game that I did not expect.

Of course, now that I am saying this out loud, this will probably be a kiss of death for him.

Now with regards to Bear, I hope that the Leafs are one of the teams in on this. Lots of injuries to our D-core so far.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Good post. It's like people forget the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes out of college in 2017 or so.

It doesn't mean he's a superstar, it means he's a free asset. And a decent RD at a cut rate is something every single team wants.

The problem in scenarios like this and the Vesey sweepstakes, is that it builds up expectations for the player to make an actual impact instead of just being another roster plug-in. Put the whole league in free agency at once, and nobody would even think about them. But put just the one player on the market, and you get this competition where suddenly a bottom-pair defenseman has “#3 upside” and a $1M contract becomes a $3M contract, and now you’ve got a guy ripped to shreds when he’s still that same $1M, bottom pair plug and people are pissed about it.

 

[Rowlet]

Breaking up the Hughes - Hronek pair should be a fireable offense. They have been outstanding together.

The Canucks had (arguably) two NHL level defensemen up until yesterday, and they're both (arguably) #1D, if they can get two stay at home defenders to play above their level and just hold things down, the pairs would be much more balanced.

 

[Osakahaus]

Its probably the islanders since our blue line is absolutely decimated and Ethan Bear probably will get a shot here since Barzal played with him before. Also cheap for our salary cap.