Two of the top prospects in the Washington Capitals organization are on their way to the Hershey Bears to begin their pro careers.
Washington assigned forwards Andrew Cristall and Ilya Protas to Hershey on Friday along with forward Eriks Mateiko along with defensemen Ryan Chesley and Leon Muggli.
Cristall led the WHL with 48-84-132 in splitting last season between the Kelowna Rockets and Spokane Chiefs. He then finished second in league playoff scoring with 21-20-41 in 19 games as Spokane reached the WHL Final. Washington took Cristall, now 20, as a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Protas, whose older brother, Aliaksei, played in Hershey before becoming a regular in Washington, had his own dominant season in the OHL. His 50-74-124 in 61 games for the Windsor Spitfires placed him second in league scoring. He went to the Capitals as a 2024 third-round pick and just turned 19 this past July. Cristall (2-0-2) and Protas (1-1-2) each played four season games for the Capitals before Friday’s reassignment.
Chesley, Mateiko, and Muggli are three other key prospects in the Washington system. Mateiko, who turns 20 in November, spent last season in the QMJHL between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Rimouski Oceanic (26-15-41 in 47 regular-season games). Chesley is a 21-year-old who turned pro late last season with the Bears following three seasons at the University of Minnesota. The Capitals made him a second-round pick in 2022. Muggli is only 19, but he brings the most pro experience of the five new additions with 82 regular-season games in the Swiss National League for EV Zug. Washington nabbed him in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
Forward Sheldon Rempel, who had 85 regular-season goals in three seasons between the Abbotsford Canucks and Henderson Silver Knights before a 31-goal campaign with Ufa Salavat Yulayev of the KHL last season, signed with the Capitals this summer. They also assigned him to Hershey on Friday, but he must first clear waivers. Washington still has 27 players on its roster, including prospects Vincent Iorio, Hendrix Lapierre, Ryan Leonard, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Clay Stevenson. The Capitals face the Columbus Blue Jackets in their preseason finale at Capital One Arena on Saturday night before the NHL roster deadline this Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
As is always the case in the AHL preseason, Hershey’s roster remains quite fluid. Playing for new head coach Derek King, Hershey dropped a 2-1 shootout decision on the road to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday morning. They visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday afternoon in their final preseason preparation before their regular-season opener at Giant Center against the Syracuse Crunch on Oct. 11.
Hershey fans will be seeing a much different – and younger – team for that opening game. Calder Cup champions in 2023 and 2024, the Hershey roster has undergone a dramatic transformation this summer. Head coach Todd Nelson departed to become an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ethan Bear, Pierrick Dubé, Brad Hunt, Alex Limoges, Jake Massie, Luke Philp, Chase Priskie, Mike Sgarbossa, Hunter Shepard, Riley Sutter, and Mike Vecchione all departed for opportunities elsewhere while utility forward Garrett Roe retired.
The Bears took the Atlantic Division regular-season title last season with a 44-20-7-1 record; however, the Charlotte Checkers swept them in the Atlantic Division Finals, ending the Bears’ bid to become the first three-peat Calder Cup champion since 1962.
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