2019 AHL Free Agency: Hershey Bears Team Needs

HERSHEY -- The Washington Capitals entered the season as the defending Stanley Cup Champions, added a few key pieces and seemed poised to make a deep run into the postseason and potentially defend their title, but had no answers at the NHL or AHL level for the depth and talent of the Carolina Hurricanes organization.

But those key additions and a “mortgage the farm” approach has left the Capitals with little option except to say goodbye to some big names and bigger contracts, paving the way perhaps for familiar faces in Hershey to get a shot in the big leagues.

Here’s a top-down look at who is coming back to Hershey along with who may be packing his bags for Washington or beyond.

UNDER CONTRACT

Forwards: Kody Clark, Shane Gersich, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Beck Malenstyn, Chris McCarthy (AHL), Liam O’Brien, Garrett Pilon, Brian Pinho, Mike Sgarbossa, Joe Snively, Riley Sutter, and Steven Whitney (AHL)

Defensemen: Alexander Alexeyev, Kris Bindulis, Tobias Geisser, Connor Hobbs, Lucas Johansen, Tyler Lewington, Bobby Nardella

Goalies: Parker Milner, Ilya Samsonov, Logan Thompson (AHL)

IMPENDING FREE AGENTS (Washington Capitals included as the trickle-down implications of not re-signing players will potentially influence Hershey)

NHL RFA Forwards: Jakub Vrana, Chandler Stephenson

NHL RFA Defensemen: Christian Djoos, Colby Williams

NHL RFA Goalies: Vitek Vanecek

NHL UFA Forwards: Devante Smith-Pelly, Brett Connolly, Dmitrij Jaskin Jayson Megna, Nathan Walker, Riley Barber, Mason Mitchell, Mathias Bau-Hansen, Hampus Gustafsson

NHL UFA Defensemen: Aaron Ness

NHL UFA Goalies: NONE

AHL Free Agents: Ryan Sproul, Joey Leach, Adam Morrison, John MacLeod

THE DRAFT

1st round - Connor McMichael (C) - the 18-year old is the first forward taken in the first round by the Capitals since Jakub Vrana. McMichael is the same height and close to the same weight. Suffice it to say if McMichael develops as Vrana did, this pick will be okay in the minds of many. He will return to the London Knights (OHL) per the NHL-CHL agreement.

2nd round - Brett Leason (RW) - the 20-year old should arrive in Hershey and make a big contribution; he’s 6’4” and weighs in at 198 pounds and is said to have raw potential. That’s right up Spencer Carbery’s alley.

3rd round - Aliaksei Protas (C) - the 18-year-old will return to Prince Albert (WHL) per the NHL-CHL agreement.

5th round - Martin Has (D) - the 18-year-old is expected by many to remain in Finland for another season.

HERSHEY TEAM NEEDS IN FREE AGENCY

Goalies Good To Go

Washington has their 1-2 combination of former Bears netminder Braden Holtby and Pheonix Copley, with Holtby shouldering the lion’s share of the load. Samsonov is back in the fold in Hershey, leaving Vanecek’s contract as the top priority at this position. Milner and Thompson would be the duo in South Carolina once Vanecek, a restricted free agent, is locked up. Easier said than done though as Vanecek has proven that he is worthy of a shot at being #1 in the AHL and potentially getting some time as an NHL back-up.

Defense, Defense, Defense!

Right now the Capitals have six defensemen on the roster with restricted free agent Christian Djoos, a necessary piece of the puzzle at left-defenseman. Brooks Orpik and his high dollar contract are gone, following his retirement announcement this past week. Lucas Johansen, Connor Hobbs and Tyler Lewington will all push the likes of Jonas Siegenthaler and Djoos for a roster spot, so camp will definitely be interesting. The three who come to Hershey will definitely have something to prove and will be the core of the blueline, which currently boasts eight names without Aaron Ness and Colby Williams.

Forwards Core Needs SCORERS

Flashbacks to a season ago? Notable scoring power from the 2017-2018 squad missing and tons of questions? Things can’t get worse than that, right? WRONG! Megna, Walker and Barber are potentially gone with Barber commenting that he did not expect their return to Hershey. Add in Ness and four of the top five scorers from a year ago are gone. Gasp! Once Washington settles on their final four forwards, Bears Nation is hopeful that the Capitals will address their biggest need - scoring.