ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have brought defenseman Ethan Bear up from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), general manager Chris Patrick announced today.
At 27, Bear tops Hershey’s charts with 46 points (10 goals, 36 assists) in 62 games this season, setting a personal AHL record. His 46 points tie for seventh among AHL defensemen, with his 36 assists tying for sixth. The 5’11”, 197-pound blueliner also ranks third league-wide in plus-minus (+33). Bear earned a spot at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic in February and was named to the AHL’s 2024-25 Second All-Star Team.
Signed by the Capitals as a free agent on Dec. 28, 2023, Bear notched four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 24 games with Washington in the 2023-24 season.
Bear’s NHL career spans 275 games with the Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Edmonton Oilers, totaling 67 points (17 goals, 50 assists). In 2022-23 with Vancouver, he recorded 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists) in 61 games, ranking third among Canucks defensemen (minimum 20 games) in plus-minus (+6), blocked shots (82), and shorthanded ice time per game (1:47). His 0.26 points-per-game that season was his second-best career rate (2019-20: 0.30).
In 2021-22, Bear played 58 games for Carolina, tallying 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists), including two game-winning goals, matching his career-high for goals in a season.
Selected by Edmonton in the fifth round (124th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Bear posted a career-best 21 points (5 goals, 16 assists) in the 2019-20 season, playing all 71 of Edmonton’s games and averaging 21:58 of ice time, third among Oilers defensemen. He played 132 games with Edmonton over three seasons and appeared in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.
With the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2013-17, Bear amassed 192 points (66 goals, 126 assists) in 264 games, earning WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team honors twice (2015-16, 2016-17). In 2016-17, he won the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top defenseman and helped Seattle secure the WHL championship.
Hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan, Bear has won gold for Canada at the 2023 World Championship and the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, plus a bronze at the 2015 Under-18 World Championship.
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