The Washington Capitals are expected to add 26-year-old defenseman Ethan Bear to their 23-man roster in the next day or two. Bear, who has already skated with the team and met with DC media, has reportedly agreed a two-year contract with the Capitals that is yet to be officially announced.
The Capitals’ willingness to add a second year on Bear’s future contract was a large factor in why he chose Washington over a handful of other suitors. Now, PuckPedia, a leading source on all things salary cap and player contract details, has revealed what exactly Bear’s deal will look like in DC.
Expecting that Ethan Bear's #ALLCAPS contract will be finalized & registered in next day or two, and that it will be a 2 year deal with a cap hit of $2.0625M.
Bear was UFA after not being qualified ($2.2M) by #Canucks
Rep'd by Jason Davidson @tcnewsfeedhttps://t.co/3VV7Y9cfNM
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) December 27, 2023
Bear’s cap hit is expected to be $2.0625 million over the next two seasons. The salary is comparable to both of the last two NHL contracts that he signed but is a bit of a pay cut from the $2.2 million that he was making with the Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks last year.
His new contract is structured to provide him the most salary possible as the first year’s cash will be limited due to how far into the NHL season the Capitals are.
Further to this, Bear's #ALLCAPS contract will be signed shortly. The 2 year $2.0625M cap hit is:
Year 1 $1.375M
Year 2 $2.75MThis is backloaded the max possible. Since the year 1 salary is pro-rated, this provides the most cash possible to Bear https://t.co/dqolxqTv7M https://t.co/zcgzfXajhE
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) December 28, 2023
The deal will see him hold the fifth-highest cap hit on the team among all blueliners, ranking above Joel Edmundson ($1.75 million), Rasmus Sandin ($1.4 million), and Alex Alexeyev ($825k).
“I’ve heard such good things about the organization,” Bear said. “They have a great leadership here. But honestly, when I was coming to contracts and working things out, I think they were just very cooperative. They weren’t trying to rush me into anything. So I think just their understanding and I honestly felt like they really cared a lot.
“They want me here instead of needing me. So that was pretty much one of the reasons.”
As things currently stand on Wednesday, the Capitals are sporting around $6.7 million in cap space. Bear’s contract will eat over $2 million of that and the team will be activating veteran forward Max Pacioretty off of long-term injured reserve in the not do distant future which will be another $2 million.
Bear, who is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, has not played in an NHL game since April 13 when he was a member of the Canucks. The Capitals are currently already carrying seven healthy defensemen even after recently waiving defender Lucas Johansen. Bear is also right-handed which will have an impact on the team’s lineup once he’s healthy.
The Capitals already have three, right-handed veterans playing in every game this season. John Carlson, Nick Jensen, and Trevor van Riemsdyk are currently cemented on that side, earn the most against the cap of all of the team’s defensemen, and are signed through the 2025-26 campaign.
One likely scenario is that Trevor van Riemsdyk will be moved to the left side to accommodate Bear’s handedness despite head coach Spencer Carbery’s more traditionalist approach when it comes to handedness. TVR is comfortable playing on his off-hand side and has done so for the Capitals several times since signing with the club back in 2020.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
