Vancouver Canucks defenceman Ethan Bear will undergo shoulder surgery, according to Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team.

Dhaliwal reported last week that Bear “may” need surgery, but added that there was a chance Bear played through the injury.

“Sources say that discussions are taking place about a possible surgery for Ethan Bear on his shoulder,” Dhaliwal said. “That’s an injury suffered at the World Hockey Championships. If the surgery is done, recovery will take a few months. There’s also a route to playing and not having the surgery, so they’re in the discussion stage.”

It appears the “discussion stage” has now come to a close. Bear missed Canada’s final two games of the World Championship in Finland, the team’s semi-final and final matchups en route to winning gold. The injury is believed to have been sustained in Canada’s final round robin game against Finland, as seen below:

It’s unclear at this time what Bear’s recovery timeline might look like, but the news of the surgery certainly puts a wrinkle in his contract talks with the Canucks. Bear is a restricted free agent this offseason and will need a new contract for next season. Acquired last October from the Carolina Hurricanes, Bear registered three goals and 16 points while averaging 18:32 minutes in ice time through 61 games this season.

Bear was Quinn Hughes’ most consistent defence partner and is almost certainly in line for a pay increase from his current $2.2 million cap hit. That being said, are the two sides going to be able to agree on a multi-year contract when Bear is going to be coming off of offseason shoulder surgery?

UPDATE: Dhaliwal added on his show that Bear is looking at “4-5 months of rehab”, and could be back in October or November.