The NHL is just over a week away from the 2025 trade deadline, and while the Washington Capitals have been sellers at the past two deadlines, they surely won’t be this year as they have a double-digit point lead atop the Eastern Conference. However, one player under NHL contract with the club could still make his way elsewhere.
According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, Washington has “engaged with teams” on defenseman Ethan Bear, looking to get the 27-year-old rearguard a potential NHL opportunity. Despite the interest, Kaplan adds that the Capitals would prefer to keep Bear as depth headed into the season’s final stretch.
Bear, an AHL All-Star for the first time this season, has been with the AHL’s Hershey Bears since the Capitals waived him during training camp in early October. He has 33 points (8g, 25a) in 46 games for the Atlantic Division-leading Bears, ranking ninth in the league among all defensemen.
Ethan Bear's 5️⃣ points in our last two games is tied for a team-high, and makes him our PSECU Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/SztPUPT7uh
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 18, 2025
The Saskatoon native was optimistic after his demotion to Hershey, seeing it as an opportunity to revive his career after finishing the 2023-24 season in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, receiving three months of support away from the rink.
“It just feels so good to play again,” Bear told RMNB in October. “I’m happy I’m down here, and I don’t have to be worried about being in and out of the lineup, not getting a groove going. With how I struggled last year, this is exactly what I needed. Just to kind of get my confidence going, feel a puck, play a lot of minutes. This is just exactly what I needed. And I’m happy to be here. It’s a fun group to be around.”
Bear had likely hoped for a shorter stint with the Bears, but Washington has had very few injuries to their backend this year. They also already have two depth defensemen, Alex Alexeyev and Dylan McIlrath, on their 23-man roster.
Neither Alexeyev nor McIlrath has seen game action since before the NHL’s holiday break. Four Capitals defenders, John Carlson, Rasmus Sandin, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Martin Fehervary, have played in all 58 of the team’s games this season.
Bear’s stint in the AHL this year is his first since he played 52 games for the Bakersfield Condors during the 2018-19 campaign. He initially arrived in DC after signing a two-year, $4.125 million contract with the Capitals in December 2023. He played 24 games with Washington last season, recording four points (1g, 3a).
