Bear suffered a shoulder injury while with Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship in May, which required him to undergo surgery. As a result, the Canucks decided not to issue Bear a qualifying offer, which made him an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. But the door is not closed on a potential return to Vancouver once he's healthy and ready to go.
During his most recent 32 Thoughts article, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman gave an update on Bear's status and it's pretty positive. While Bear likely won't return to game action until around Christmas time, he has begun skating in Kelowna, British Columbia.
The 26-year-old appeared in 61 games with the Canucks in 2022-23, which was his first season in Vancouver. In those 61 games, Bear had 16 points (three goals, 13 assists), 25 penalty minutes and was a plus-six.
While Ethan Bear hasn't fully closed the door on a potential return to the Canucks, it seems like it may be unlikely that he'll be wearing a Vancouver uniform this season given the team's depth on the blue line.
