The Washington Capitals have recalled defenseman Ethan Bear from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick announced today.
Bear, 27, leads Hershey with 46 points (10g, 36a) in 62 games this season. Bear’s 46 points are an AHL career high and rank tied for seventh among AHL defensemen, while his 36 assists rank tied for sixth among blueliners. The 5’11”, 197-pound defenseman also ranks third among all skaters in plus-minus (+33). Bear represented Hershey at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic in February and was named to the AHL’s 2024-25 Second All-Star Team on Thursday.
Bear, who signed with the Capitals as a free agent on Dec. 28, 2023, recorded four points (1g, 3a) in 24 games with Washington during the 2023-24 season but has not played in the NHL since March 13, 2024.
Bear has recorded 67 points (17g, 50a) in 275 career games with the Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers. Bear spent the 2022-23 season with Vancouver, where he registered 16 points (3g, 13a) in 61 games. Among Canucks defensemen with at least 20 games played, Bear ranked third in plus/minus (+6), blocked shots (82) and shorthanded ice time per game (1:47). In addition, Bear’s 0.26 points-per-game in 2022-23 marked the second-highest rate of his career (2019-20: 0.30 P/GP).
Graphic: @CapitalsPR
Bear appeared in 58 games with Carolina during the 2021-22 season, recording 14 points (5g, 9a). Bear matched his single-season career high in goals with five, two of which were game-winners.
Originally drafted by Edmonton in the fifth round (124th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Bear recorded a career-high 21 points (5g, 16a) during the shortened 2019-20 season, appearing in all 71 of the Oilers’ games. Bear also averaged 21:58 of ice time in 2019-20, which ranked third among Oilers defensemen. Bear appeared in 132 games with Edmonton in parts of three seasons, as well as eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Bear registered 192 points (66g, 126a) in 264 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2013-17, where he was twice named to the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team (2015-16, 2016-17). During the 2016-17 season, Bear was awarded the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top defenseman and helped lead Seattle to the WHL championship.
Internationally, the Regina, Saskatchewan native has earned gold medals with Canada at the 2023 World Championship and the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Bear also represented Canada at the 2015 Under-18 World Championship, winning a bronze medal.
Washington recalled Bear after John Carlson was scratched for the Capitals’ final three regular-season games. Jakob Chychrun also sat out three of the last four and Matt Roy did not play in Washington’s season finale at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
The team opens their 2025 Stanley Cup Playoff first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network locally, ESPN nationally).
