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It was a tough 2023-24 campaign for Bear, who entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on March 27, leaving the program almost five weeks later. Bear played 24 games with the Capitals, scoring once while adding three assists. The 27-year-old blueliner will battle Trevor van Riemsdyk and Alexander Alexeyev for the sixth and seventh spots on the Washington blue line. Bear has little fantasy value when he is in the lineup, as he is a third-pairing defenseman at best.
Bear will be sidelined for likely at least two months to begin the 2023-24 campaign, so he's unlikely to sign with a team until his return is closer. That makes it tough to predict what kind of role he might play, though he's likely to see bottom-four minutes and mostly defensive usage. Bear had 16 points, 75 shots on goal and 82 blocked shots in 61 contests with the Canucks a year ago, his third team in as many seasons. The 26-year-old doesn't need to be selected in fantasy drafts, and he'll likely be best left on the waiver wire even when he can return to the ice.
Arriving in Carolina last season after three years in Edmonton, Bear was essentially a part-time player for the Hurricanes. He played in 58 regular-season games and didn't see any action in Carolina's 14-game postseason run. Bear was banged up at times and didn't produce much (5 goals, 14 points) when healthy. Still just 25 years old, Bear should have the inside track to a full-time, third-pairing role for the Hurricanes heading into the 2022-23 campaign, but he will have to perform better than we saw a season ago to hold off the likes of Dylan Coghlan and Jalen Chatfield.
Bear enjoyed a full-time role in 2019-20, posting 21 points in 71 appearances. The 23-year-old blueliner also added 106 blocked shots and a minus-4 rating. Head coach Dave Tippett likes Bear's ability to find shooting lanes on offense as well as his steady work on defense. The youngster frequently skated with Darnell Nurse on the second pairing last year, and if that duo sticks together in 2020-21, they may earn more minutes. One knock on Bear is his lack of power-play time, but he should still be able to produce near a 30-point pace despite his harder assignment. He represents a solid depth option in deeper formats.
Edmonton has been desperate to find an offensive blueliner for years now, so it wasn't the least bit surprising that Bear went to the Oilers in the fifth round of 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Now 21 years old, he appeared in 18 games to support the Orange Crush last season, totaling one goal and three assists in that span. Bear's true potential can be witnessed in the AHL ranks, as he's collected 18 points in 37 games with Bakersfield, but it's important not to overlook the fact that the Saskatchewan native logged meaningful playing time (18:38) and even saw action with the first power-play unit as an Oilers rookie. Bear belongs on dynasty-league rosters and it's only a matter of time before he's a household name in redraft settings. With Andrej Sekera (knee) and Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) questionable to fully bounce back from their respective injuries, the young blueliner's time could come sooner rather than later.
The Oilers struck gold by selecting Bear in the fifth round of the 2015 draft, as he's gone on to post a pair of spectacular seasons in the WHL, including 28 goals and 70 points with a plus-34 rating over 67 games last year -- huge numbers for a blueliner. Now 20 years old, he'll take his talents to the AHL along with fellow offensive defenseman and 2015 draft value Caleb Jones this season. An accomplished playmaker and shooter, Bear is approaching must-own status in dynasty formats, and if he carries his production over to the pro level, it might not be all that long until he’s patrolling Edmonton’s blue line -- though that probably won't happen this season.
