The Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears closed the book on their opening weekend, dropping a pair of games to the Syracuse Crunch to start their season. While obviously not ideal, there are still plenty of positive takeaways from the opening set of games for the Bears. 

Coming off the heels of a 3-2 OT loss to Syracuse on Sunday (which itself followed a 5-2 loss to the same team on Saturday), anyone who pays attention to the Capitals' AHL farm team will notice this team is vastly different from the previous few years. With the departure of several key players that helped win the Bears back to back Calder Cup championships in 2023 and 2024. Then there is the factor of a new Head Coach coming in with Derek King joining the team this season.

Suffice it to say, there is bound to be growing pains.

But there are reasons to be optimistic if you're a Bears fan, and equally as much if you strictly follow the Caps. While not all of the new Bears additions are likely NHL-bound, these players will all play a role in the development of some of Washington's NHL-projected prospects. 

Familiar Faces

Of the 32 rostered players for Hershey, 12 of them are returning players who played at least 20 games with the team last season. 

Returning for his fifth season in Hershey is Ethen Frank, a man who is no stranger to Capitals fans. After playing an integral role with the organization through their two Calder Cup championships, Frank played well enough last season to earn a call-up to the Capitals for 24 games, where he finished with four goals and three assists- his speed being his biggest asset. Back now with Hershey for the start of the new season, Frank scored both of Hershey's goals in the Saturday night loss. Perhaps equally as important was his noticeable leadership on the ice. While he and line mate Henrik Rybinski are not strangers to the team, he was also matched up with first-year prospect Andrew Cristall (who I'll circle back to), and Frank's poise in the face of a aggressive Syracuse team was noticeable. While I don't expect Frank to be long for Hershey (I believe he'll return to Washington at some point this season), his leadership for the AHL squad will be an asset while he is with the Bears.

Similarly, another player who stood out was Ivan Miroschnichenko, who also earned a call-up last season (albeit, a shorter 18 games earlier in the year). Miro was slotted on the second line with newbies Ilya Protas and Sheldon Rempal (we'll come back to them both as well). While Miro didn't score in either game, he was clearly the experienced presence on the ice for his line, and did well driving the play. I believe Miro will make his own case for a call up this season as well, provided he works on some of the shortcomings to his game. 

Other returning faces that made an impact over the weekend included Bogdan Trineyev (one goal on Sunday), captain Aaron Ness, and goaltender Clay Stevenson. Stevenson in particular played insanely well on Saturday, and would've been the clear first star, had Hershey held on for a win.

Newcomers

As I mentioned earlier, there were several new faces gracing the Bears lineup this season, and a few of these expect to make their own case for an NHL call up. 

Andrew Cristall may be one of the most prominent of the Capitals' prospect pool, who played well in the preseason for Washington, and may have made most NHL opening night rosters. Cristall notched assists on both of Frank's goals in the Saturday night game. Perhaps equally as impressive was Cristall's play when not scoring- he played with a tenacity and fire that surely impressed coach Derek King. 

Ilya Protas played well through both games, earning the starting center position on Sunday's game. Although he did not register any points, he registered a few shots between both games and looked good on the ice. 

But some of the most overlooked newcomers will likely be some of the most instrumental, even if they won't likely see much time with the Capitals via call ups. 

Hershey brought in several AHL veterans in the offseason, including Calle Rosen, Graeme Clarke,  Sheldon Rempal, and Louie Belpedio. In addition to providing points for the team (Belpedio notched an assist Saturday and Rempal on Sunday, and Clarke scored the second goal in Sunday's loss), the veteran leadership and mentorship to the younger players cannot be overlooked. Rempal in particular looked solid, led the team in shots on Saturday, and made his presence known when on the ice.

Belpedio mentioned in his post-game presser on Saturday that the Bears roster contained several young players, and several of them come from European leagues- the European game is generally speaking, much less physical than the North American game. As Belpedio noted, the AHL is (arguably) the second-best league in the world, and players like he and the other veterans will play no small role in the development of younger newcomers like Cristall and Protas.

What to Expect Going Forward

Developing younger players isn't the only goal in Hershey, but also the development of a winning culture. This is a team that expects to do well- they are on the heels of several excellent seasons and the roster that this team possesses has the talent to continue that trend. Even factoring in call ups to the Capitals (something every minor league team has to contend with), Hershey is poised to play well this year. 

The biggest factor this early on is how long it takes that team chemistry to develop, and the time-table for the players to begin working with the system that coach Derek King implements. 

Between the two games, there were plenty of mistakes, maybe the biggest of these was giving up a two-goal lead in both games over the weekend. King noted the team's lack of discipline, noting that the penalties were something that would have to be worked on. Likewise, the special teams (Hershey went 0-for-8 on the man advantage through the weekend, and surrendered three goals on the penalty kill, although they did score a short handed goal on Sunday) are something else that will need to be worked on. 

But we are only two games into this season and there is no cause for alarm for Bears or Capitals faithful. These are all part of the growing pains of many young teams, and especially those in the minor leagues where roster turnover tends to be greater than the NHL. There is a lot to like about this Bears roster, and that bodes well for both they and the Capitals in the future.