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

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Owen Fullerton
November 20, 2023 (4:53 PM)

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The Canucks have been involved in just about every trade rumour concerning a defenseman this year, but could help on the backend come from a familiar face?

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.

The Canucks are one of many teams that are in on Ethan Bear, he's a freebie,

Dhaliwal said.

I've been told the Canucks will be aggressive when it comes to signing Bear.

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.