Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday that Carter Bear would be out with an upper-body injury. On Thursday, McLellan put a timeline on it, and Max Bultman of The Athletic reported, “Carter Bear out a week to 10 days, per McLellan.”
A week-to-10-day absence most likely keeps Bear off the Red Wings roster to open the 2026-27 NHL season. He would instead start the year with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL.
Red Wings Prospect Carter Bear Could Be Ready for the Home Opener in the AHL
Assuming Bear is assigned to the Griffins, he has a chance to be ready for the AHL home opener, depending on how the upper-body injury heals. Grand Rapids opens the regular season on the road Friday, Oct. 2, against the Cleveland Monsters.
It is possible Bear will not be ready to play for the Griffins then either. Their home opener comes Friday, Oct. 9, against the Manitoba Moose. That feels like the most realistic date for him to be ready.
Bear Didn’t Begin the 2025-26 WHL Season Because of Injury
The Red Wings’ first-round pick in 2025, taken 13th overall, did not start the 2025-26 WHL season with the Everett Silvertips either. He was recovering from the partial Achilles tendon tear that ended his draft year, and Detroit did not reassign him to Everett until Oct. 1, 2025. Once back, Bear played 53 games for Everett and scored 36 goals and recorded 41 assists, along with a plus-45 rating. In 18 postseason games, he scored seven goals and recorded 15 assists, along with a plus-22 rating, as Everett won the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
The injuries have to be a concern for this Red Wings organization even with him just being 19 years old. Hopefully Bear can get on the ice sooner rather than later at the AHL level so he can develop properly.
