The Hershey Bears continued to add to their depth for the 2024-25 season, signing forward Erik Middendorf to a one-year AHL contract on Friday. We have signed forward Erik Middendorf to an AHL deal for the 2024-25 season. Welcome to the organization, Erik! ? https://t.co/31EQYRIdY5 pic.twitter.com/R6w4J0Oyvz — Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) July 26, 2024 The 24-year-old ..read more

Two former Washington Capitals players took part in a new program started by the NHL. Devante Smith-Pelly and Garnet Hathaway were two of nine past and present players who participated in the NHL’s inaugural Broadcast Training Camp. The event was held at the NHL offices in Manhattan a week ago on July 17. The other ..read more

Three weeks after Matvei Michkov signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, the Russian forward flew over to the United States where he was greeted by Keith Jones, the Flyers’ president of hockey operations, and Daniel Briere, the team’s general manager, at the airport. Michkov, wearing a Philadelphia Phillies hat, got the star treatment from Flyers’ social media as every part of his arrival was documented. “It was a very long flight,” Michkov said via a translation by Flyers consultant Slava Kuznetsov. “Big travel day.” View this post on Instagram Michkov took ..read more

Alex Ovechkin is just 41 goals away from a share of the NHL’s all-time, goal-scoring record currently held by Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin’s hot finish to the 2023-24 campaign gave him 853 career tallies with two years remaining on his contract with the Washington Capitals. The 19-year journey, now nearing its final stages, hasn’t been without its bumps in the road. Ovechkin recently discussed some of the challenges he’s faced during a Russian-language interview on Podcasts with Amiran Sardarov. The interview was then transcribed by sports.ru. “If there had been no lockout and no pandemic, I think ..read more

Beck Malenstyn is locked in with his new team. The former Capitals forward signed a two-year, $2.70 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres worth an annual average value of $1.35 million. Malenstyn was a restricted free agent who had elected for salary arbitration. With the two sides coming to an agreement on July 23, they now avoid that process completely. The Sabres now have Malenstyn under control through his final restricted free agency season and his first unrestricted free agency year in 2025-26 per Puck Pedia. We have agreed to terms with forward Beck Malenstyn on a two-year contract ..read more

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s closest friends in the hockey world are commenting on his impending move back to the KHL. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin called Kuznetsov’s next career decision a “difficult situation” on Saturday and now Dmitry Orlov is weighing in. Orlov has been a teammate of Kuznetsov in every single season of the Russian center’s career. The veteran blueliner first formed his tight bond with Kuznetsov through the 10 years they spent with the Capitals and then Kuznetsov joined back up with Orlov on the Carolina Hurricanes at last year’s trade deadline. “It’s all unofficial for ..read more

Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was in the house for several Hershey Bears’ games during the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs. Carbery was spotted at Giant Center for the Eastern Conference Finals and Calder Cup Finals, keeping a close eye on players he could potentially coach next season and beyond. The Bears would eventually repeat as champions and capture the franchise’s 13th Calder Cup after Matt Strome scored in overtime of Game 6 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Two weeks after the Bears lifted the Calder Cup, Carbery was asked who he thought had standout performances on th ..read more

Dylan Strome had a career year with the Washington Capitals last season. His 67 points (27g, 40a) led a team that limped into the 2024 postseason with the worst goal differential (minus-37) of any playoff team in the salary cap era. After being swept in the first round by the New York Rangers, Washington’s front office made a clear effort to update and improve their roster this summer. Strome, slotted again to be a major piece of the team’s offensive core, is thrilled to be getting quality reinforcements as the Capitals look to take a step past just qualifying for another postseason. “Lots of ..read more

The Washington Capitals have one advantage in their 2024-25 regular season schedule. The Caps will be one of the least-traveled teams in the NHL. According to @TJStats/X and shared by Bleacher Report, the Capitals will travel only 35,600 miles total for its 41 away games, the sixth easiest travel schedule in the league. Only five other teams, four of which are in the Metropolitan Division, will travel fewer miles including the Philadelphia Flyers (35,500), New York Rangers (35,300), Columbus Blue Jackets (33,400), Ottawa Senators (32,800), and Pittsburgh Penguins (31,700). The team that travel ..read more

Earlier in the offseason, we learned from Brian MacLellan that Alex Ovechkin is a “big emoji guy” as a texter. Now, Dylan Strome is painting a fuller picture of Ovi’s digital communication style. “He’s a big meme guy so he’s sending me memes lots,” Strome said to TSN of his summer conversations with Ovechkin. “I know he’s a big emoji guy. I’m sure you guys saw that with MacLellan. Just sending memes here and there, back and forth. He has a pretty good sense of humor so always fun to hear from him.” Capitals players have spoken in the past about having a team group chat. So now I’m imagining Ov ..read more