HERSHEY, Pa. – A balanced lineup at the American Hockey League level is like having a balanced breakfast. It all adds up to a successful hockey team (or a great start to the day in regards to breakfast) and a successful bid for a Calder Cup. The Hershey Bears had the perfect example of those contributions during the 2022-23 season, with rookies like Ethen Frank, Hendrix Lapierre, and Vincent Iorio leaving their mark on the team’s 12th championship. The latter two combined for the game-tying goal in Game Seven of the Calder Cup Finals, setting the stage for the first ever sudden-death Calder Cup win in league history. When the puck drops this fall, the Bears will be in a good position to defend their title with a new crop of rookies looking to follow that example.
The biggest prospect joining the Bears for the 2023-24 is no doubt Ivan Miroshnichenko, the first round selection of the Washington Capitals in 2022 (20th overall) who looks to make the jump to the AHL ranks at the young age of 19. It’s been a turbulent time for Miroshnichenko, who had a bout with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which led to a lot of weight loss due to chemotherapy, and had to add all that muscle back to add to an exciting skill set ahead of his North America debut. That strength was on full display during the Capitals’ annual development camp for prospects earlier this summer, where he showed his smooth skating and strong shooting.
Miroshnichenko figures to be a key player in Hershey’s plans for the 2023-24 season, but it’s safe to say there will be hurdles for the burgeoning young star. One of those is the language barrier, as the young Russian adapts to North America and learns the native language. During development camp, the drills were relayed to him on the fly by forward Bogdan Trineyev, who was an acting translator of sorts for Miroshnichenko. Trineyev was around the Bears during the latter portion of the season and lifted the Calder Cup as a black ace, but will be playing the 2023-24 campaign overseas in the Kontinental Hockey League. Adapting to the North American style of play in the AHL is the toughest task for any young player, making the challenge twofold for Miroshnichenko to adapt. He has the tools to succeed at this level but it will be a significant challenge for the young star in the making.
The Bears have another young talent entering into the professional ranks for the first time in forward Ryan Hofer, the younger brother of Springfield Thunderbirds backstop Joel Hofer. Ryan was selected in the sixth round, 181st overall, of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Kamloops Blazers as well as the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. Most recently, Hofer was part of the Blazers squad that went to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Final before being knocked off by the eventual champion Seattle Thunderbirds, and the Blazers took part in the Memorial Cup tournament in late May and early June, with Hofer’s squad losing a heartbreaker in overtime to the Peterborough Petes. Hofer tallied 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 14 playoff games, tied for 23rd amongst scorers.
Hofer was a point-per-game player in his last season in the WHL split between Everett and Kamloops, tallying a combined 40 goals and 28 assists for 68 points in 66 games played. As the video shows, Hofer has a deadly wrist shot in the slot that was highlighted by Elite Prospects’ draft guide in 2022, but a great shot is only part of his portfolio. Standing at 6’3 and weighing in at 192 pounds, size will be an asset to him in making the leap to the professional ranks and isn’t afraid to go to the dirty areas to score goals. Those are all the tools of a player who can have an immediate impact on Hershey’s lineup and a secret weapon that Bears fans will gravitate towards. It’ll be interesting to see how Bears head coach Todd Nelson utilizes the young forward, who seems to be a natural fit for the power play in a variety of roles as well as a potential fit on the fourth line that should add some more scoring potential. If he’s successful at adapting his game to the AHL level, it stands to reason he could play higher in the lineup as well.
It’s worth noting that the Bears have players who skated with the team in 2022-23 who are roaring for more in the new campaign. Henry Rybinski played his rookie season as a fairly regular fixture in Hershey’s lineup and chipped in 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 51 games played but was an extra in a beefed-up Bears lineup during the postseason. He played in a variety of roles, tallying a shorthanded goal and two game-winners in that stretch and will have the opportunity to compete for more this season. However, with more players on the roster comes more competition, which means Rybinski will need a strong training camp to get out of the gate on the right foot. Another player in a similar situation is forward Julian Napravnik, a decorated NCAA scorer who struggled a bit in his first full AHL season but caught fire down the stretch by tallying six points in his last seven games of the regular season. Like Rybinski, Napravnik was a victim of the numbers game in the postseason but has a lot of potential to grow into a strong pro player like Frank did but will have to earn the opportunity to do so.
There are a few other young players who don’t fit the traditional profile of being a first-year professional but are worth mentioning. Hardy Häman Aktell was signed to a one-year entry-level contract by the Capitals after playing the last three seasons in the Swedish Hockey League and is getting his first taste of the North American level. Only time will tell if he suits up with the Capitals or the Bears for the majority of the year as he battles for a spot in training camp, but acquitted himself nicely last season with 36 points (nine goals, 27 assists) in 51 games played with a plus-23 mark, a nice stat line for a blue liner. Pierrick Dubé enters into Hershey in his second full AHL season after signing his first NHL contract with Washington, having tallied 16 goals and 16 assists with the Laval Rocket a season ago. The Bears also have a pair of rookie netminders entering the mix with Garin Bjorklund playing his first full season following a major surgery that derailed his debut a year ago as well as Mitchell Gibson, two highly regarded goalie draft picks from 2020 and 2018, respectively. They’ll battle it out to be the top recall option with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2023-24 as Washington has all six goaltenders under NHL contracts.
Hershey has a couple players on their depth chart who could factor in when called upon. Defender Benton Maass has been around the organization for a little while, playing three total games for the Bears and 55 games for their ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. He skated as a black ace during the Bears’ Calder Cup win last season and has a solid set of skills, tallying his first AHL point on March 18 against the Rochester Americans and seems to need only an opportunity to demonstrate his skills. The Chocolate and White added a new element to their depth chart by signing Nick Leivermann to an AHL contract, a defenseman who turns pro after spending five seasons with Notre Dame and served as captain in 2022-23. The 24-year-old claimed Academic All-Big Ten honors for the fourth straight season and will most likely start in South Carolina.
It’s a nice mixture of a lineup for the Bears coming up in 2023-24, with these young players joining a healthy mix of AHL veterans and experienced players, many of whom are coming off of a Calder Cup win only a few short weeks ago. There will be a great deal of internal competition for playing time with the Bears this season as well as plenty of opportunity to seize bigger roles for returning players like Frank and Lapierre. The organization has created a strong, competitive roster that will be the envy of many teams in the Atlantic Division and playing for the Calder Cup in the spring once again.
