Ethan Bear and Lane Pederson were traded to the Vancouver Canucks by the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
Carolina received a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Bear, a defenseman, has not played in an NHL game this season. He had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 58 games with Carolina last season and did not play in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $2.2 million contract with the Hurricanes on July 28 and can become a restricted free agent after the season.
“Obviously, we’ve seen him through the Western Hockey League starting in Seattle and he started early in Edmonton and was traded to Carolina, and hopefully he’s excited to come back to Canada and be a part of the Vancouver Canucks and hopefully that gives the coaching staff has more options on the back end,” general manager Patrik Allvin said. “He’s a very smart defender and he showed early in his Edmonton career that he’s a very good transition and puck movement defender.”
Selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round (No. 124) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Bear has 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists) in 190 regular season games for the Oilers and Hurricanes and no points in eight playoff games .
“Anything we can do to make our team better, I’m fine with it [with it]” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Ethan play, but I remember him in Edmonton as a very good puck-moving defenseman and very aggressive offensively, so we’re looking forward to having him here. .”
Pederson, a forward, was acquired by Carolina on July 13 from the San Jose Sharks, along with defenseman Brent Burns. He hasn’t played in the NHL this season and has no points in four games with Chicago of the American Hockey League.
The 25-year-old is in the final season of a two-year deal he signed with San Jose on July 28, 2021, and can become an RFA after the season.
Signed by the Arizona Coyotes on October 13, 2016, Pederson has five points (one goal, four assists) in 44 regular season games with the Coyotes and Sharks.
Vancouver is currently without defensemen Quinn Hughes, who is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Travis Dermott (upper-body injury), Tucker Poolman (undisclosed) and Riley Stillman (undisclosed). The Canucks have played 10 defensemen this season.
“We were a little depleted here early in our end,” Allvin said. “As we’ve said over time, we wanted to add younger players. We have a right-shot defenseman who’s been in the league for a couple of years and has been in some playoffs and hopefully we can get him back on the court here . with our group.”
On Thursday, Vancouver acquired forward Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins for goaltender Michael Dipietro and defenseman prospect Jonathan Myrenberg.
Studnicka, 23, has played one game for the Bruins this season. He has seven points (one goal, six assists) in 38 regular-season games since being selected in the second round (No. 53) of the 2017 NHL Draft. Studnicka has no points in five postseason games.
The Canucks (2-5-2) won their second straight game on Friday, 5-1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They picked up their first win of the season with a 5-4 win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
NHL.com freelance correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report