Ethan Bear and Maxime Lajoie have arbitration dates set

If you thought this was going to be a quiet summer for the Carolina Hurricanes and General Manager Don Waddell, I’m so sorry. With two Hurricanes filing for arbitration, we know that the Canes’ front office will be working on this until August at the latest, but now we know what days the two players will get in front of the arbitrator if it gets that far.

Ethan Bear will be the first one up. His date is August 8th. He is going to be one of three seen on that day. Bear is 25, and coming off of a season in Raleigh where he wasn’t as great after his time on the Covid reserve list as he was before it, there was still a lot to like about Bear and what he can do on the ice. I struggle to see where he fits into this roster now but this doesn’t mean that he is a bad player.

Maxime Lajoie is a bit of an unusual case. Capable of playing in the NHL full time, Lajoie was a big part of the Chicago Wolves Calder Cup winning team this year. Forming half of a formidable top pairing, the Quebec City native will be seen on August 9th. He will be the only player seen on that day should it get to that point, but the Canes will be busy with these two filing for arbitration.

Both defensemen will be seen before the final hearing on August 11th, and I would expect one, if not both, of these to be settled before they get to arbitration. Very few players ever get to arbitration, so it is hopefully something that will get settled before we get there. As for now, we wait and see. It’s only a couple of weeks away so buckle up and let’s see how the cards fall.