“When I’m At The Rink, I’m All In”: Carter Bear’s On His Summer Training in Detroit, Surprising At Red Wings Camp

Carter Bear knew this would be an important summer.

With his first professional season approaching and a massive training camp ahead, the Detroit Red Wings prospect spent much of it in Detroit, putting himself in the environment where he hopes to eventually establish himself.

It gave Bear an opportunity to get comfortable with the organization before the competition really begins.

“First pro season incoming, a lot to learn about pro,” Bear said in an interview with R.org. “A lot of new faces and a new team coming as well. It’s pretty exciting to already know a bunch of the guys.”

Bear spent the summer training around the Red Wings organization, working closely with the team’s staff and getting to know several of the prospects who could be alongside him for years to come.

“Training here in Detroit is a privilege, to be around pro staff,” Bear said. “Trainers and stuff give me a sheet of what they want me to do, and I ask a lot of questions to make sure I’m doing it right. It’s a huge summer for me.”

Learning What It Means To Be A Red Wing

For Bear, spending the summer in Detroit was about more than simply getting stronger or preparing physically for camp.

It allowed him to become more familiar with the people, expectations and history surrounding an Original Six organization that has made no secret of wanting its young players to understand what wearing the winged wheel represents.

“It’s about having good chats and asking good questions,” Bear said. “Dan Cleary and Niklas Kronwall, they had a whole meeting with the players. They talked about what it means to be a Red Wing and talked about their stories and what they went through. It’s pretty cool how they talk about their experience and help get the best out of us.”

For a prospect who has yet to play his first NHL game, hearing those stories provided some perspective on the organization he is trying to become part of.

“It’s pretty surreal what they’ve done as an organization,” Bear said. “And to have us carry on.”

Some of Bear’s education came in a much less formal setting, from current Red Wings who stay around the Michigan area.

“Around the rink, Ben Chiarot is around here in the summer,” Bear said. “I see him quite a few times. He likes to chirp me a lot, but it’s all fun and games. Great guy and cool to learn from.”

Bear was also surrounded by players much closer to his own stage of development, as a group of Red Wings prospects was asked to stay the summer and train as a group.

That included 2026 1st-rounder J.P. Hurlbert, another prominent Red Wings prospect.

“I think it was great for creating bonds for the future,” Bear said. “I was in an Airbnb with J.P. Hurlbert for a little bit. He’s such a good guy and funny off the ice.”

It gave the two an opportunity to build a relationship away from the structure of development camp or training sessions.

Those relationships could eventually become important.

Detroit has spent years accumulating young talent as it attempts to build its next competitive core. Bear understands that some of the players he trained, lived and spent time with this summer could eventually be the same players he is trying to win with in Detroit.

That possibility isn’t lost on him.

“I want to win here. I think everyone does,” Bear said.

“It’s a special organization, Original Six team and an unbelievable amount of history here and all the legends and what they had. You want to win here. For me, I need to do anything that’s possible to help this team win in the future.”

Bear has already experienced how quickly a group of young players can turn belief into something tangible.

He only has to look back at Everett.

From World Junior Heartbreak To A Championship In Everett

Bear’s final season of junior hockey offered him both ends of the emotional spectrum.

Playing for Canada at the 2026 World Junior Championship was something he had dreamed about for years. But it just didn’t go as planned.

“I hated losing at the World Junior Championships. It really lit a fire under me,” Bear said. “It was a great experience for me and something I dreamed of doing my entire life. But the moment it was over, we locked in in Everett and went to chase a title.”

There was little time for Bear to dwell on the disappointment.

He returned to an Everett team in January with championship ambitions of its own and Bear felt something change within the group at that point.

The roster was set and they believed they could win together.

“Our group was unbelievable,” Bear said. “Once the trade deadline cutoff happened, our team connected and we believed we could do it all together.”

That belief was accompanied by an intolerance for losing that Bear still remembers vividly.

“As a team, we just hated to lose,” Bear said. “We didn’t lose two games in a row all season, just to show you how much we hated it. It would drive us crazy.”

That mentality suited Bear perfectly.

Winning the championship was obviously the payoff, but the characteristics that drove Everett throughout the season were also closely aligned with what Bear believes makes him effective as a player.

His competitiveness isn’t something he turns on only when he has the puck.

Bear wants to frustrate opponents. He wants to make them uncomfortable. If he can drag someone away from the way they want to play while helping his own team dictate the game, he considers that part of his job.

“It’s one of the reasons I play hockey, it’s the competitiveness,” Bear said. “I try to get under the opposition’s skin and do what you can to get them off their game and play your game. I want to win.”

That season also gave Bear a front-row seat to the development of one of junior hockey’s most exceptional young talents.

Bear didn’t just play with Landon DuPont. He lived with him for two years.

“I lived with him for two years, just seeing him grow,” Bear said. “Off the ice he’s really humble and easy to be around. Obviously on the ice he’s unbelievable. His sense of the game and how he can see the ice. It’s a pleasure playing with him and you don’t come across players like that often.”

Just to show how small the hockey world is. His roommate JP Hurlbert and former teammate in DuPont are now teammates with the Michigan Wolverines.

They’re both joining another former teammate, with Hockey Canada, in Michael Hage, who is seen as one of the top players not currently playing in the NHL. Bear has had a firsthand view of practicing and playing with Hage, and he’s excited for his friends to take the NCAA by storm.

What impressed Bear wasn’t simply Hage’s ability to beat defenders himself, but how effectively he creates offence for the players around him and makes those around him better with his IQ.

“Being around him, he’s a great guy, he’s funny,” Bear said. “He’s such a skilled player. He can beat guys one-on-one, but the way he feeds you is out of this world. He’s going to be a really fun player to watch this year in the NCAA and eventually in the NHL. An elite talent.”

Making Detroit’s Decision Difficult

Talking about his summer training and the tight-knit hockey world is always more of a laidback conversation, but Bear’s tone changes when he talks about training camp.

There is excitement, but there is also an understanding of what is at stake.

He is entering an environment filled with players trying to earn jobs, contracts and opportunities. Bear isn’t assuming his place in Detroit’s lineup will come immediately simply because the organization invested in him.

He wants to earn it.

“I try doing me and just work my ass off,” Bear said. “Everyone’s goal is to make the NHL. That’s my goal, I feel like I have a chance. Everyone gets a shot, and it’s about being competitive and outworking guys.”

Outwork, outhustle, outchance and disturb. That’s Carter Bear in a nutshell.

There is an obvious fit between that mentality and the player Bear points to when asked who his game resembles at the NHL level.

Brandon Hagel.

Hagel has developed into an impact NHL forward without abandoning the qualities that helped him get there. His game combines skill with pace, puck pressure and a willingness to make every shift difficult for the opposition.

“Brandon Hagel is my player comparison,” Bear said. “That’s the guy I think I’m closest to in terms of style and competitiveness. He just overwhelms you with his motor and he does whatever it takes to win; not just about points.”

But there’s still some development that needs to happen to get close to Hagel’s level, and Bear has gotten well ahead of it this summer.

One area he identified as particularly important this offseason was his skating, something he has spent considerable time improving before facing NHL competition at camp.

“I think my skating needed work,” Bear said. “I’m fortunate to have a skating coach that I’ve been working with this summer to get better.”

That willingness to recognize where his game needs work has been a major part of his development approach.

The Red Wings have laid out a path for his development, and Bear wanted to use every resource and piece of advice to ready himself for his first pro season; but also a lengthy NHL career.

“I’ll do whatever Detroit wants me to do,” Bear said.

For all the attention that will inevitably surround whether Bear can push for an NHL job, his approach is considerably simpler.

Compete. Improve. Give Detroit something to think about.

If the Red Wings believe another step is best for his development, Bear is prepared to take it and head over to Grand Rapids in the AHL. If an opportunity opens in Detroit, he wants to show that he is ready to grab it.

“When I’m at the rink, I’m all in,” Bear said. “The staff believes in me, and I won’t let them down.”

After a summer in Detroit, training camp will give Bear his first chance to show what all that work has produced.

Where he goes afterward will be Detroit’s decision. Bear’s job is to make that decision as difficult as possible.