Washington Capitals Prospects: Ready for the Hershey Bears
Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals will be sending a few of their prospects to the Hershey Bears. The Bears should get strong contributions from most of them.
If you’ve followed along with the Washington Capitals’ camp thus far, you’ve probably noticed a lot of prospects are filtering into the system. While most of them will not make the Capitals’ opening night roster this season, some will be making their pro debut with the Hershey Bears. Most will want to make a big impact in Hershey. Let’s take a look at the prospects and what they can bring to the Hershey Bears.
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Jakub Vrana
Jakub Vrana was with the Hershey Bears at the end of last season, and I was quite impressed with him. He has a great set of hands and great speed. He’s still pretty young, and I’m sure will still have to adapt to playing pro. His offensive prowess should certainly make an impact as a top forward with the Hershey Bears. He has impressed so far with the Washington Capitals in preseason action.
Madison Bowey
Besides Jakub Vrana, Madison Bowey is the prospect I’m most excited to watch this season. He is one of the highly touted Washington Capitals prospects. I’m anxious to see if all the hype is worth it. The first thing I noticed is his size. For how young he is, he’s already 6’2’’ and 209 pounds. He had 17 goals and 43 assists as captain of the Kelowna Rockets last year. I anticipate him throwing his body around while contributing to the offense.
Chandler Stephenson
Stephenson put in his first full pro season in 2014-15, and he really hit a stride with his fellow fourth liners, Garrett Mitchell and Liam O’Brien. I think Head Coach Troy Mann wanted him to play with a little more consistency last season, so hopefully he will bring that this year. He’s also very good on the PK and can create a lot of short handed opportunities, so I’d imagine he will see some time killing penalties. With the Washington Capitals, he has formed a forward line with Vrana and Riley Barber.
Riley Barber
Barber has a World Junior Championship gold medal under his belt, and has produced around 40 points for each one of his three season at Miami University (Ohio). Hopefully his consistency in point production will translate over to his first season as a professional hockey player.
Nathan Walker
Walker is a spitfire. He’s not a very big guy, but he isn’t afraid to mix it up big boys. He only played 28 games with Hershey last season before being re-assigned to the ECHL where he injured his knee and was out for the rest of the season. I hope he can find his game this season and put up some more points this season. The 2014 Washington Capitals draft pick hopes to become the first Australian to reach the NHL.
Travis Boyd
Boyd played two games with the Hershey Bears last season and tallied two points (1G, 1A). In his four seasons at the University of Minnesota, he increased his point totals achieving his best season with 41 points in 32 games last year. In the two games I watched him with Hershey, he seemed to have a good vision of the ice and set up a few plays.
Connor Carrick
Carrick was a staple at the point for the Hershey Bears power play. With 42 points last season, he was 8th amongst top scoring defensemen in the AHL. I’m sure he will continue to be an offensive defensemen this season as he begins his third pro season. The Washington Capitals were wrong to rush him back in 2013-2014, but allowing him to develop in Hershey has done wonders for his game.
Christian Djoos
Djoos wrapped up his fourth season in the SHL last year. He didn’t put up many points, but he is a defensemen. He got in one game with the Hershey Bears before the headed into the post season last year. He blended in to me. I didn’t really notice him, however I sometimes find that a likeable quality in a defensemen. To me, it means he was playing soundly and making good plays.
The official practices for the Hershey Bears training camp will being on Monday morning. The pre-season will wrap up with two games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Albany Devils. The prospects should try and make an impact early with lots of talented players trying to keep a spot in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.
What prospect are you excited to watch this season? Let us know on social media or in the comments below!