LATEST | The timeline on Ethan Bear's return revealed: Numerous teams interested

Ethan Bear, who played with the Canucks in 2022-23, has missed the early part of this season as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

The 26 year old was recently seen skating in West Kelowna donning Canucks gear, leading to plenty of speculation that it's only a matter of time before the Canucks bring him back into the fold.

However, Rick Dhaliwal said on the Donnie and Dhali podcast that there will be no shortage of interest in Bear league wide.

He says the Canucks will spare no effort to bring the defenseman back to Vancouver.

Dhaliwal said.

Dhaliwal said Bear was initially expected to sign somewhere in November, but he's hearing December is more likely as the expectation is he'll be healthy enough to play just after Christmas.

An injury to Carson Soucy has tested the Canucks' defensive depth recently, and they would gladly welcome back Ethan Bear who played well for them last season.