Ethan Bear has signed a new contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.

I really like Bear. Had a solid start to the year but had it rough towards the end with covid and injury troubles. I could see him bouncing back now that he's hopefully fully recovered. Now, I expect we dump Gardiner to sign Necas but we run into a problem on defense. We have Burns, Pesce, Bear, Coghlan and Chatfield on the right side, but only have Slavin and Skjei on the left assuming Gards gets moved. The bad part is this probably pushes one of Chatfield or Coghlan to the minors, which i really want to see both playing.

Solid, hopefully he can get some ice time this year and stay healthy, he looked decent in Edmonton.

Why file for arbitration for only 200K more?!
What a waste.

Hmm I wonder if there's a trade in there somewhere. 1 for 1 for a good young LD.

I mean ... It's freaking 200k.

If you have 200k laying around i will take it. I mean its only 200k!

Maybe I'm just peculiar, but I find it odd that Bear, who was rumored to be on the discard pile, gets $2.2 million and the all-universe-touted Kappo Kakko gets $2.1 million.

how about you give your employer 200k and see how you feel.....

Different GMs (for sure), different agents (likely), and different team dynamics (duh) -- but let's not forget different roles (Bear is D, Kakko is F) and ages (Bear is 25, Kakko is 21) so their respective salary maths are gonna differ.

I guess they're entirely different situations!

They lost Brendan Smith in free agency so I assume they wanted some added stability for their bottom pair. Overall, I believe Carolina has taken a step forward this summer. I think Necas will be dealt soon.

If I was making 2 million, sure why not.

If they were paying me 2 million, sure why not.

I think hes still getting traded and this makes it easier

But hey if not hope he figures things out with Carolina's coaching staff

Cool, Bear is really good

Kakko is a top-6 forward while Bear is a bottom-pairing defenseman, Kakko is in his D+4 year while Bear is in his D+8, Kakko is on a big-market team while Bear is on a small-market team . . . yeah, PLENTY of reasons why Bear should make more than Kakko.

200k to an average joe is $200 to an NHL player

I don’t see it. Waddell and the team have stated they are committed to keeping Necas

Lol. It’s 10%. Would you rather make $70,000 or $77,000? How is this even a topic of discussion?

Solid signing. The AAV is hardly a raise and 1 year makes him still an RFA next offseason. Now hopefully he can stay healthy.

But someone tell me what on earth are we going to do with Necas with only 2 mil in cap space?

Right now our best bet to save some cap for the deadline is just to flip him for some picks.

This move confuses me a little bit, I think he's overpaid with this deal. But my question really is why. Maybe it's to increase trade value (and I hope it is) because we already have Coghlan and Chatfield on the right side. I really hope it's not gonna end up Gardiner-Bear.

At least it's below his QO right?

I thought Bear wouldve solidified himself as a good top 4 dman by now...but he still makes too many mistakes.
Hope he gets it turned around soon- and doesnt end up like Del Zotto, who went from a good young dman that the Rangers were going to have for a decade in their top 10... to a journeyman just a few years later.

I feel Bear is still getting traded and this just makes it easier to do so.

As when you got Coghlan you really dont need 2.2mill bear anymore and it gives more room to sign Necas

why would Ethan Bear worry about a mere $200K?

well... the current level of escrow in the NHL is 17.2%, so he'll actually only get paid about $1,821,600 (what actually gets returned to him at the end of the year remains to be seen)

assuming for a moment that he will be subject to US Federal tax and NC state tax (if he were subjected to Canadian taxes, they'd likely be higher or at least as much, anyways)

he'll be subject to the highest tax bracket at the federal level (37% on any amount over $539,901+, and about an average of 22.5% on the rest) or roughly $595,705, leaving $1,225,895

he'd also be subject to NC state tax (5.5%) of about $100,200, leaving a net of approx. $1,125,695.

and that is of course before he pays out any actual living and travel costs.

so yeah... probably worried about that $200K... (since it thus represents 17.76% (oh the irony, USofA) of his net...)

especially as the Govt is taking nearly half of it right off the top...