The Washington Capitals have been rather surprising out of the gates to open their 2023-24 campaign. They had low expectations entering the new season after a surprisingly bad 2022-23 season where they missed the playoffs, but they have shocked many fans and analysts around the league with solid play at both ends of the ice that has them right in the middle of the Metropolitan Division playoff battle coming out of the Christmas holidays. The Capitals helped bolster their defensive depth recently with their signing of free-agent defenseman Ethan Bear to a two-year contract.
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The Capitals have been attempting to fix their defensive issues since the offseason. Last season, they acquired Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and other than John Carlson, he has been the Capitals’ best defenseman. They also went out and acquired Joel Edmundson from the Montreal Canadiens to make even more of a difference on the point, and their improvements have shown in their early success this season.
Bear made his debut Saturday night (Dec. 30) with the Capitals and hasn’t played since the 2022-23 season because of a shoulder injury, hence the reason he ended up signing midseason with the team. In his debut, he had just over 20 minutes of ice time and added three blocked shots, two shots on goal, and was plus-1. He looked solid for a player who hasn’t played in the NHL for a while and looks like he will be a huge part of the team’s defensive depth heading into the second half of the season.
Bear’s Career Before The Capitals
Bear was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft at 124th overall. As a late draft pick, his path to the NHL was naturally going to take longer than most players, especially in one of the most stacked draft classes in recent times. He played his junior career in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Seattle Thunderbirds and during his draft year, he scored 13 goals and added 25 assists for 38 points through 69 games. He also played at the U18 World Championship scoring no goals but adding three assists in seven games with Team Canada.
Bear played four full seasons in the WHL with the Thunderbirds before he made the jump to the professional level. In his final season, he represented the team as an alternate captain and had his first point-per-game season in his junior hockey career scoring 28 goals and adding 42 assists for 70 points through 67 games. Over those four seasons in the WHL, he scored 66 goals and added 126 assists for 192 points through 264 games which comes out to a 0.73 points-per-game average.
Bear got his first taste of NHL action in the 2017-18 season where he scored one goal and added three assists for four points through 18 games but he spent the majority of that season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Bakersfield Condors where he scored six goals and added 12 assists for 18 points through 37 games. He spent the entire 2018-19 season with the Condors as the Oilers allowed him to find his confidence and get more ice time and he scored six goals and added 25 assists for 31 points through 52 games during that campaign.
A full season in the AHL is exactly what Bear needed though, as he ended up breaking through the following season and spent the entire 2019-20 season with the Oilers. During his rookie season, he scored five goals and added 16 assists for 21 points through 71 games and was seemingly solidifying himself as a full-time member of the Oilers in their depth chart.
Bear only played 43 games the following season scoring two goals and adding six assists for eight points. Before the 2021-22 season, the Oilers had an overabundance of defensemen on their roster and unfortunately, Bear was moved. They chose to trade him to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Warren Foegele. He only played one season with the Hurricanes before he was traded again, this time to the Vancouver Canucks. He never really found a home on either team and has now chosen the Capitals.
Over his NHL career, Bear has scored 16 goals and added 47 assists for 63 points through 252 games. He has built himself a reputation as a two-way defenseman who can provide solid depth to any contending team. With the Capitals, he can fit just about anywhere in the lineup which is exactly what the team needed going forward if they hoped to make a deep playoff run. Hopefully, he can remain healthy all season and show everyone exactly what he can do when he is fully healthy and put in a spot to succeed.
Bear’s Fit With The Capitals
As mentioned, the Capitals needed to add defensive depth if they wanted any hope of making a deep playoff run this season. With multiple injuries to their roster, they need to have enough players they can trust to continue winning games even when the team isn’t 100 percent healthy, and that’s exactly why they went out and grabbed Bear. In his first game with the Caps, he played on the second pairing, but for how strong he looked with over 20 minutes of ice time, I would not be surprised if he got an opportunity to play on the first pairing at some point this season.
It isn’t common for defensemen to be able to play on both sides of the blue line but Bear has. With the Oilers and Hurricanes, he played on both the left and right side and while he never left the bottom pairing on either team, he was able to hold his own regardless of where he was playing. This benefits the Caps in a big way when they get healthy because having a guy like Bear who they can move around if they need to makes it so much easier to create pairings and experiment during games if needed.
The Capitals are destined to be a playoff team this season. After a rough 2022-23 campaign, they have bounced back in a big way and find themselves right in the middle of the tight Metropolitan Division. Hopefully, Bear can provide exactly what the Capitals need and help lead the team to their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
