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

[DingDongCharlie]

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

D depth and no asset cost and a reported low signing cap number. Why wouldn’t multiple teams look at him?

 

[ChaoticOrange]

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.

He beat the wheels off of Lomberg in a preseason game a few years back. Absolutely nobody saw it coming, least of all Lomberg

 

[Dust]

Why wouldn't the Oilers hang onto him?

His game repeatedly fell off a cliff in the postseason for whatever reason. He would have a solid regular season, and then forget how to play hockey in the playoffs.

I can see how a lot of teams are interested though, still young, still has plenty of talent and it's a free asset for cheap.

 

[Warh1ppy]

The thing about Bear for a team like the Canucks or any other team just needing a stop gap is that they could sign him for that $1 million pro rated and then flip him at the TDL if their defense rounds in to form or gets healthy.

He's a free asset and won't cost much at all. I just can't believe we're at this point in the season already where this is what is news for us. Ethan Bear!

 

[Petes2424]

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.


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…

I think where you’re going with all of your responses, is that you disagree with my opinion on Bear as a player. That’s fine. I will happily admit being wrong about him, as he’s hard not to like as a person. He’s a great story.

Unfortunately, I stand by all of my reasoning. He’d have an NHL contract if teams truly had legit interest in him to be part of their plans. He’s gonna have to work himself back up to the level he was at, during one stage last season, for teams to see him as anything more than a 7th or AHL mainstay, who can be called up a few times a year.

If the Canucks truly did make that offer last season, I can’t understand how he didn’t take it. He bet on himself and lost. Then he bet on himself again, to drum up interest at Worlds, and it backfired too.

So I hope it works for him, but it’s gonna be an uphill battle. He was basically playing like an AHL plug when his season ended in Vancouver, and I think a lot of fans are trying to convince themselves he’s something he’s not. All because when he first arrived, he performed really well, and he is a great story.

 

[oceanchild]

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

Cheap RHD on a short contract that have NHL experience.

seems to be pretty straightforward

 

[lawrence]

Cheap RHD on a short contract that have NHL experience.

seems to be pretty straightforward

6 teams offering around 1 million

 

[nucks88]

Kinda sad state of affairs in the league when Ethan Bear is such a topic of conversation

32 teams.....soon to be more....blind greed has watered the talent down to near unwatchable levels at times...including Managers and Scouts....

 

[Umingmak]

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

He’s a solid second to third pairing right shot defenseman.

I’d take him over pretty much anyone on Edmonton’s defence outside of Ekholm

 

[Seanaconda]

He’s a solid second to third pairing right shot defenseman.

I’d take him over pretty much anyone on Edmonton’s defence outside of Ekholm

Has he really improved that much ?? Good for him i always liked him but didn't think he would ever really be better than a 6/7

 

[McJedi]

I suspect the Avs are one of those teams. RHD for the third pair.

 

[SK13]

Has he really improved that much ?? Good for him i always liked him but didn't think he would ever really be better than a 6/7

He isn't better than a 6/7. He went to Vancouver after his two previous teams threw him away because he's allergic to the gym and neither could trust him to play a shift in the playoffs. He had some good moments with a top-3 puck mover in the NHL on a non-playoff team - but it's not an accident he doesn't have a contract on December 9th and it's not an accident that his contract is going to be 1M/1YR.

Umingmak isn't a serious poster.

 

[Czechboy]

I'd take him on the Oil in a second.

Nurse - Ceci
Ek - Bouch
Kulak - Bear

I still don't like Ceci that high up but this could even out the minutes as that is a solid third pair.

 

[bernmeister]

The Rangers don't have a spot for him.

unfortunately, true.
we don't have playing time as it is for Jones,
who should be sold to highest bidder

gotta consider since super cheap only little $ to sign,
would try to create a space by moving some scrub

Bear is a stopgap and not an upgrade, but we are super thin on right handedness backliners, like most clubs

 

[LeapOnOver]

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.

Guessing Islanders are in the mix with all their blueline injuries. Not sure how set Lou Lams is with Bortuzzo and Reilly seeing significant TOI.

 

[canuckslover10]

If its for 1 million why not re-sign with the Canucks, is it a term issue?

 

[MMC]

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

As @reporterchris reported on Insider Trading on Thursday, the Capitals are one of a couple of teams Ethan Bear’s agent Jason Davidson is talking contract with. Things are progressing, but a decision today is unlikely.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Heard he is flying on a jet to Toronto as we speak

 

[BonMorrison]

Washington seems weird, he'd be a 7D on their depth chart.

Fehervary - Carlson
Edmundson - Jensen
Sandin - van Riemsdyk
Bear

 

[ManofSteel55]

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

Because if nothing else, he is a bottom pair right shot defenseman that a team can pick up now for nothing, instead of trading a mid round pick for a similar quality player of the same position in 3 months.

 

[ManofSteel55]

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.

I actually wouldn't mind having him back in Edmonton, but I don't think that happens after the abuse that the racist portion of our fanbase tossed at Bear before we traded him.

 

[Peen]

Washington seems weird, he'd be a 7D on their depth chart.

Fehervary - Carlson
Edmundson - Jensen
Sandin - van Riemsdyk
Bear

If they are offering a multi-year multi-million deal, he won't be used as one

 

[UrbanImpact]

Damn, hug a Torontonian if you get the chance.

They lost Lafferty, Ohtani and now Bear.

 

[Hockeylife2018]

Oh God, the ethan bear sweepstakes

...must be a slow day for the media