A young blueliner is stepping away from the game for the foreseeable future.
On Wednesday, the National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association revealed that Washington Capitals defenseman Ethan Bear is set to receive care from the Player Assistance Program.
Bear will be away from the organization for an indefinite amount of time while he receives care.
He was in the midst of his first season with the Capitals, having signed a two-year deal with the team on Dec. 28 after going unsigned this past offseason. The 26-year-old’s contract carries a $2.062 million cap hit through the end of the 2024-25 season.
The Regina, Saskatchewan native has played in 24 games with Washington, scoring a goal and three assists, registering a minus-5 rating while averaging just under 15 minutes per game. Bear was last in the lineup during the Caps’ 7-2 loss at the hands of Bear’s former team, the Edmonton Oilers, on March 13, having missed the last seven games.
Bear was left looking for a team after spending the 2022-23 campaign with the Vancouver Canucks, where he posted three goals and 16 points in 61 games. He was traded to Vancouver by the Carolina Hurricanes in October 2022, just three months after the Canes signed the former Seattle Thunderbird to a one-year, $2.2 million contract.
Bear has played 275 games in the NHL, 132 of which came with the Oilers. He has amassed 17 goals and 50 assists in his career, playing in eight playoff games with Edmonton during the 2020 and 2021 postseason.
Last spring, Bear represented his country at the IIHF World Championships, where he was on a Canadian team that captured its record 28th gold medal in Latvia. He suffered an injury during the tournament that knocked him out of the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
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