Hurricanes Not Rushing Ethan Bear Trade, But It Could Be Close

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted during his recent 32 Thoughts Now segment, that the Carolina Hurricanes have yet to play defenseman Ethan Bear this season but they aren’t hurrying to trade the blueliner either. Knowing that depth is needed in the NHL, especially on defense, the Hurricanes are simply icing the roster they feel gives them the best chance to win hockey games and because their team has such a solid blue-line corps, Bear has struggled to get in.

Speculation is that Bear will eventually be traded and Friedman did note there has been interest, with a few possible trades actually getting somewhat close. Friedman explained, “from what I’ve been told, the Hurricanes are telling other teams, ‘look, we don’t have a cap problem. We’re not keeping 50 percent of Bear’s salary if we’re not getting a good return or we’re getting a minimal return. We believe this is an NHL player.’”

The Vancouver Canucks are believed to be one of the teams that have shown the most interest. Their season has been anything but positive out of the gates and their blue line can’t seem to shut down opposing teams or hold leads. Bear just wants to play and the Canucks might be a spot that makes sense. But, they’ll either have to come up in their offer or the Hurricanes will have to get to a point where they’re simply willing to dump the player, which seems unlikely.

Friedman did think this situation would be coming to a resolution sooner than later, even though he didn’t offer insider information on which team is budging first, or if it’s another club that might actually step in and makes an offer.

Bear has a history of playing with skill, but he’s prone to making on-ice mistakes which has plagued hm throughout his NHL career to date.

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