On Tuesday, the New York Islanders [http://thn.com/isles] announced that they signed goaltender David Rittich and right-shot defenseman Ethan Bear to one-year deals. The AAV on Rittich's deal is $1 million annually, per PuckPedia with Bear signing a two-way deal with an NHL AAV of $775,000, with a minor salary of $325,000. Rittich, 32, posted a 2.84 GAA and a .887 SV% in 34 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season. The Czech goaltender earned a record of 16-14-2 as backup to Darcy Kuemper. The signing comes in the wake of Semyon Varlamov’s rehab, which has seen no setbacks since undergoing lower-body surgery. Rittich will likely fight with goalie Marcus Hogberg, who struggled with consistency towards the end of last season. Rittich projects as a strong third string or decent backup option, seeing as the goaltender has experience with 230 NHL games over 10 seasons. In 2024-25, Bear logged 10 goals with 36 assists for 46 points in 62 games with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. The 28-year-old defenseman most recently played in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, scoring one goal with three assists for four points in 24 games in 2023-24. Bear suffered a significant shoulder injury in 2023 and entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program a year later, cutting his 2023-24 season short. Washington then sent Bear down and did not give the defenseman a qualifying offer. As a right-shot defenseman, Bear will serve as solid depth for the Islanders after losing Noah Dobson. PHOTO: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Kai Russell [https://x.com/KaiRussellTHN] contributed to this story.
