Ethan Bear surgical procedure leaves Canucks in a roster-buildling pickle

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Ethan Bear can be out for six months after shoulder surgical procedure, the Vancouver Canucks have introduced.

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Bear harm his shoulder on the IIHF World Championships final month and in current days it turned clear that he would want surgical procedure. A six-month restoration timeline pegs his doubtless return to someday in December, as a lot as two months into the 2023-24 NHL season.

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Bear doesn’t have a contract for subsequent season, however the Canucks clearly like his sport. He’s due a $2.2 million qualifying provide by the tip of the month, which might make him a restricted free agent.

Whether or not Bear’s agent Jason Davidson would be capable to wrangle any form of increase over and above this fundamental worth isn’t clear, although earlier than his harm Bear in all probability had a case for a two-year deal.

However now it appears doubtless he’ll have to point out he’s absolutely recovered earlier than the Canucks decide to him past this season — and there’s no cause to assume he received’t absolutely recuperate to be clear.

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The six-month timeline can be a bitter capsule to swallow for GM Patrik Allvin and his employees. The Canucks are brief on expertise on the proper aspect of defence, with solely Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers beneath contract in the mean time.

Hronek, don’t overlook, is recovering from a shoulder harm himself.

And there are not any prospects prepared to actually step up and fill the hole, although Cole McWard performed a enjoyable cameo function late within the season and Jett Woo lastly confirmed ahead progess this previous season. Sweded Filip Johansson isn’t far off both, however doubtless wants a while to regulate to North American hockey earlier than any NHL minutes are in consideration.

All three are most certainly to be in Abbotsford to begin the 12 months.

Bear wasn’t at all times Quinn Hughes’ companion this previous season however he did play there typically and stood a great probability of opening subsequent season as his companion, had he been wholesome.

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In different phrases, Bear’s function can be a tough one to fill.

The Canucks are presently capped out, the one crew over the wage cap for subsequent season. They might want to transfer a contract or two to complete assembling subsequent season’s roster, even earlier than they signal Bear after which get wage aid by placing him on long-term injured reserve.

With Bear wholesome, it’s clear they’d have centered on including cheap depth defencemen, gamers on low-cost offers like they’d the final two seasons with Luke Schenn and Kyle Burroughs. Schenn was traded to Toronto mid-season and is an unrestricted free agent this summer time, so conceivably he might be re-signed, whereas Burroughs can be set for unrestricted free company and talks between his agent Ross Gurney and the crew have been minimal.

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So with Bear injured, the Canucks will hope they will discover a participant who can fill in for Bear within the first couple months of the season, however received’t have a lot of a funds to take action. They might merely need to go along with a participant who would in any other case be within the seventh/eighth defenceman function, a great man who is aware of he’s solely going to play 30 to 40 video games per season and doesn’t thoughts watching most video games from the press field.

These gamers are helpful insurance coverage insurance policies however not gamers you lean on for too lengthy.

Discovering a approach to commerce Myers is unquestionably now a much bigger precedence than ever, as a result of his $6-million cap hit can be higher spent on a Bear contingency plan. At this level, Myers is finest suited as a third-pairing defenceman, behind Hronek and Bear. The Canucks can be clever to discover a approach to discover a correct stop-gap for Bear vs. falling again on giving Bear’s minutes to Myers within the short-term.

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And when Bear returns, the substitute would both slide all the way down to the third pair, sliding out whoever is filling the seventh defenceman function, or they might stay within the top-four, and Bear may slide onto the third pair.

Buying and selling Myers is less complicated mentioned than achieved, although. The Canucks have been making an attempt to maneuver the Chaos Giraffe for greater than a 12 months now however have by no means discovered an appropriate commerce. He has a restricted no-trade clause however with only one 12 months left on his contract, coming off a stable efficiency on the World Championships for Canada, maybe there’s a crew on the market who may use Myers, even along with his out-sized cap hit.

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