Photo: Eric Lord
The development of a hockey player is different for each individual. Some players make an impact right away. Others take time to grow and improve, incrementally. Henrik Rybinski falls into the latter category. After being more of a role player during his first two seasons, Rybinski has emerged as an important cog for the Hershey Bears this season and is on the radar for his first National Hockey League (NHL) callup.
The center arrived in Hershey as a rookie prior to the 2022-23 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The Bears were a team with championship aspirations, while Rybinski found himself in and out of the lineup due to injuries, illness and a deep lineup. In the end, he skated in 51 games and totaled 18 points (five goals and 13 assists). Hershey wound up winning the Calder Cup that season, but Rybinski spent the entire run as a black ace and failed to appear in a single playoff game.
The sophomore campaign began in a similar fashion for the Vancouver, British Columbia native. He was a healthy scratch five times in October and then was sidelined for a month after a suffering an upper-body injury on November 15. Then, something clicked for Rybinski when the calendar flipped to 2024. He started January with a three-game goal streak, including a shorthanded game-winner against Charlotte on January 3. More importantly, the forward carved out a niche for himself on the penalty kill. He became one of the top options on the unit and gave head coach Todd Nelson a reason to keep him in the lineup every night. Rybinski finished the season with five goals and 11 assists in 51 games, but earned himself playing time for the playoff run.
The 2024 Calder Cup playoffs is where Rybinski started to break out. He was in the lineup for 19 of the 20 playoff games for the Bears. Much of that time was spent on Riley Sutter’s wing on the fourth line, but he moved up when needed. The one-time Seattle Thunderbird tallied in games one and two of the Atlantic Division semifinals with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In game one, Rybinski netted the game-winning marker when he slid a rebound by Cal Petersen to lift Hershey to a 2-1 win. He redirected a Bogdan Trineyev shot in the second period of game two, a 5-1 victory, for the Bears’ third goal. Rybinski added three more goals during the playoff run to equal his regular season total and also contributed four assists. The Chocolate and White captured their second straight Calder Cup and this time Rybinski was a big part of it.
Riding the momentum of a strong playoff run, the British Columbian had a strong training camp with the Washington Capitals. He did not make the Capitals, but he returned to Chocolate Town with even more belief. Rybinski kicked off his season strong, offensively, playing his natural position of center, with a goal and four assists in October. His lone tally was the decider in Providence on October 25. He commenced November with a three-game point streak. The stretch opened with an assist against Charlotte on November 2, followed by a goal a night later. On November 9, he brought Hershey even with a second period tally. Rybinski totaled five additional points in the month including his first multi-point game of the season against Laval on Thanksgiving eve where he had two helpers.
Entering December with 13 points, Rybinski came out with guns blazing in 2024’s final month. The first game on the docket was December 4 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and it proved to be the most productive game of the pivot’s professional career. He began with a secondary assist on Pierrick Dube’s first period goal and then threaded a pass to Trineyev on the back door for the third Hershey goal of the contest. Rybinski completed his night by one-timing a wrist shot under the right arm of Joel Blomqvist in the second period to record the first three-point game of his career. In his postgame comments, Bears bench boss Todd Nelson said of Rybinski’s effort, “He’s just playing with a lot more confidence and he’s taking his game to another level – that was probably the best game he’s played this year for sure.”
Rybinski continued his roll with a clutch marker in Allentown in the month’s second game. Hershey trailed by a goal with time running out in the third period and pulled Clay Stevenson for an extra attacker. Spencer Smallman threw a puck in front from the bottom left corner of the left circle. Rybinski redirected the feed past Cal Petersen from his knees to tie the game with 2.3 seconds left. The Bears would prevail in overtime. The next night, he set up Trineyev’s shorthanded goal. In four games played in December, Rybinski has amassed five points.
For the season, the center has found the back of the net six times, which is already a career high and has equaled his career high in points with 18, which is tied for third on the Bears. Rybinski has dished out 12 assists, two off a career best mark. Those 12 helpers are tied for the second most on the team. Of those 12 assists, 10 of them are primary assists.
The growth of Rybinski’s game has been a positive for first place Hershey, but he is not a finished product. He needs to improve in the faceoff circle, where he still loses more often than he wins. Rybinski also can shoot more. He has developed into a very good distributor and often looks to pass when he has an open shot. However, Rybinski is still just 23 years old and has shown that he has the work ethic to get better in the areas he needs to.
If he continues to play like he has, Rybinski undoubtedly will earn his first callup to the Washington Capitals. When he does, it will be a deserved NHL debut.
By Eric Lord