Bear will no longer help in Washington’s regular season. He entered the assistance program

Twenty-six-year-old Ethan Bear, who only got a contract at the end of December, is interrupting the season after three months. The reason is his entry into the NHL assistance program. Since there are only about three weeks left until the end of the regular season, it will not help Washington in the fight for the playoffs. If the Capitals are successful, the chances that he would at least return to Stanley Cup contention are very low, at least in the first round.

The 2023 world champion missed the start of this season due to shoulder surgery, which was estimated to take half a year to heal in June. As he is a young and quality fullback, despite the lack of training, there was interest in him after the announcement of his return. He ended up opting for a two-year, $4.125 million contract in Washington.

He fit into the Capitals lineup fairly quickly and played 24 games. However, since March 13, when he started against Edmonton, he has disappeared from the roster. He sat out seven games before it was announced on Wednesday night that he had entered the NHL/NHLPA assistance program.

The details of his entry into the assistance program were not published. The reasons are given only by the players themselves, if they decide to do so. However, there is speculation that it could be a mental issue, as Bear is constantly targeted by racist slurs due to his Native American heritage. Growing up on the Ochapowace Reservation in Saskatchewan, Bear was often verbally abused by racist fans during his time in Edmonton.

However, this is only speculation and the real reason for his problems is known only to those interested. At least Washington can “enjoy” the fact that it is collecting wins even without Bear, thanks to which it has already moved to the position of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with a two-point advantage over Detroit, against which it also has one game to spare.

Bear is the first hockey player to enter the assistance program this season. In February, Bear’s former teammate Yevgeny Kuznetsov, who was traded to Carolina upon his return, took advantage of this program. Patrik Laine from Columbus has been in the assistance program since the end of January, Colorado forward Valerij Ničuškin was out for almost two months. Another Colorado player, Samuel Girard, had been in the relief program since Nov. 24 and returned in late December.

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