The Carolina Hurricanes made a move to bolster their right-handed defensemen depth last summer, shipping Warren Foegele to Edmonton in exchange for 24-year-old blue-liner Ethan Bear.
And the first season in Raleigh for Bear was a bit challenging, as a strong start was followed up by a bout with COVID that caused Bear to miss some time and also suffer some longer-term effects.
Eventually, Bear became the odd man out on Carolina’s blue line, with the newcomer from Edmonton the healthy scratch for the Canes in every single playoff game while Brendan Smith and Ian Cole slotted in on the third pairing.