Vancouver Canucks defenceman Ethan Bear has had successful surgery to repair an injured shoulder, according to the team.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that D Ethan Bear underwent successful shoulder surgery. Bear was injured at the 2023 IIHF World Championship and is expected to be out for 6 months.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) June 15, 2023
Ethan Bear Gone For Start of Season
In a perfect example of bad timing for everyone, Bear will have surgery and miss a large part of the Canucks season. He was injured during the World Championship where he won a gold medal for Canada. He missed the medal round, sustaining the injury in the last seconds of Canada’s win over Finland back in May.
Ethan Bear went straight to the dressing room at the end of the game.
You can see Bear skate away at the end. #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/r7GTykY2NN
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) May 25, 2023
There was some consideration that he would try rest and non-invasive recovery. But with no signs of improvement, both the team and player decided to avoid risking a season-ending procedure. Recovery time is never a sure thing, as many Canucks fans know, but using Summer to convalesce will help.
It does leave Vancouver in a tight spot, but free agents looking for an opportunity should be perking up their ears.
What This Means
No one wins during Ethan Bear’s absence. The Canucks are desperate for a quick start to the year, and Bear is a restricted free agent. Having surgery and being guaranteed to miss games is a lousy negotiating position. And frankly, Vancouver lacks the talent to easily replace him.
It is good timing that Fillip Hronek is in the fold, but with Bear gone that leaves him, Tyler Myers, and…? This might give Filip Johansson his shot, but he’s played all of three games in North America. There are players there, but are any of them above replacement level?
With Travis Dermott still not establishing himself, there’s still a question of him getting a qualifying offer. Likewise for Noah Juulsen and Kyle Burroughs. Brady Keeper‘s horrible injury last year kept him off the ice and he also needs qualifying.
There is a pile of left-side defencemen who would be very willing to try the switch to play in the NHL. But while that helps those players, it doesn’t do much for Vancouver. Perhaps the closest prospect is Jett Woo, and he should be leading Abbotsford this season, not getting burned in third-pair minutes with Vancouver.
A tough start to the year for the Vancouver Canucks just became more likely, but it’s the right decision in the long term for both them and Ethan Bear. Hopefully, fans will agree.
Main photo by: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
