It all starts tonight. Nearly five months after the Bears 2025-26 season ended on home ice with a Game Four loss in the Atlantic Division Semifinals to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Hershey kicks off their 2026-27 season with the home opener against the Charlotte Checkers.

Unlike last year, there are more familiar faces on this team, with a bit more certainty and clarity, at least on paper, regarding how this team should perform. After what was a disappointing season, by the high standards in Chocolatetown, there is inert pressure on this group to perform back at the level this fanbase expects it to be at- and that’s near the top of the Atlantic Division and competing for a Calder Cup.

That doesn’t mean there are some key new faces that’ll take the ice, as well as some key losses. But this article will take you through all three cores of the team, plus behind the bench, as the Hershey Bears are set to start their 89th year of existence with another year of AHL hockey.

The Forwards

Last season had numerous problems. The injuries, the inconsistent play, the losing record at home. I could go on. But, at least in my personal opinion, the Bears struggles all came from one key area- a lack of true scoring depth.

The Bears certainly had a great first line last year, one you could argue was best in the league. The line of the two rookies- Andrew Cristall and Ilya Protas, plus Bogdan Trineyev, put up much of the offense for Hershey. We’ve talked long about the season Protas had last year and the many historical aspects of it. But one last reminder. At 19-years-old, Protas scored 29 goals (and he could have had 30 if not for a late season call-up to the Washington Capitals that saw him miss a few games) and put up 37 assists for 66 total points, garnering him AHL rookie of the year honors and recognition as one of the best players in the league last year all at just 19.

Hershey will not have Protas anymore. That historic season of his earned him a place on this season’s Washington Capitals, where he is currently centering a line with his brother (and fellow former Bear) Aliaksei and Jordan Kyrou. But his two line mates do return, as Cristall and Trineyev look to take another step forward and push for spots on the Capitals when injuries inevitably happen in Washington.

Of their top five forwards by points last year, Hershey lost three. There was Protas, but also Brett Leason and Ivan Miroshnichenko. Miroshnichenko was not perfect last season, but scored when healthy and since he is no longer waivers-exempt, Washington made the call to keep him in DC to start the year.

Leason was lost in free agency and to give him credit, he turned his very strong year in Hershey back into an NHL roster spot, making the San Jose Sharks out of camp.

This still puts Hershey in a better spot on paper compared to this time last season. Returning Cristall and Trineyev alone keeps two-thirds of one of the better lines in the AHL together and they will be supplemented by newcomers and returners.

First, in the returners. Critically, Spencer Smallman is back from injury. It was a tough year for Smallman, as he had two long stints on the IR last season, the latter of which kept him out for the season. He is back and will add leadership and a scoring touch to Hershey’s middle six. Along with him is the breakout player from the second half of last season in Alex Suzdalev.

In a year where Hershey struggled to get consistent offense out of it’s middle six, Suzdalev exploded in the back half of the season, becoming a consistent contributor and earning more minutes plus some power-play time. He will have heavier expectations on his shoulders, but is well set up to continue to be a key contributor to the Bears and show the potential we all saw from him in juniors.

In free agency, Washington answered the call to get Hershey some top line help. First up, let’s talk about Josh Dunne. You probably best remember Dunne from the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals, where he was both a pest and scored some big goals for the Cleveland Monsters. He spent the last two seasons splitting time between the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans, spending most of last season in Buffalo. Dunne both adds some grit and a scoring touch to Hershey’s top nine that was sorely lacking last season.

The Capitals also went and got the Bears some top of the lineup help as well. Coming in to likely replace Protas on the first line centering Cristall and Trineyev, Jonny Brodzinski is arguably the best free agent signing in Hershey in quite a while. The last three times Brodzinski has spent time in the AHL, he has been a point-per-game player or better, which is why he spent the last two and a half seasons playing in the NHL with the New York Rangers.

Ivan Miroshnichenko’s waiver status likely sent Brodzinski down to Hershey, even with a strong training camp from the 33-year-old center. He will bring an immediate offensive impact and slotting him in-between Cristall and Trineyev will only boost Hershey’s offensive firepower that much more.

Coming in from Sweden, Theodor Niederbach is maybe the biggest x-factor for Hershey as they start the season. A 2020 second round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, Niederbach never signed an ELC with Detroit and Washington has decided to give him his North America debut, signing him to a one-year contract in the spring. Neiderbach will likely center either the Bears second or third line this year, will provide some speed from the middle and can contribute on both the power play and penalty kill. If he comes good, the Bears will have a top six that will put them in place to compete at the top of this division and with the best in the AHL.

Rounding out the free agent adds, there was also the surprising late add of Joey Anderson on a PTO. Anderson still does not have a full contract with Hershey, but has made the opening-night roster. Anderson put up 33 points for Rockford last year and his 17 goals last season would’ve tied Bogdan Trineyev for third on the Bears last year. I’m not sure where he gets into this lineup consistently, but it speaks to Hershey’s improved depth that I’m asking where he fits rather than why he needs to contribute for the team to succeed.

Part of that is because of more key additions from Washington’s prospect group. Lynden Lakovic, the Capitals 2025 first round pick, stands out. Lakovic seemed primed to have an elite last season in juniors, as he was on track for 50+ goals before a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery took him out for the season. Lakovic is big, standing at 6’4, though he doesn’t skate like it. He looked fast on his feet in the preseason for Washington and is set to be the latest prospect to make an immediate impact in Hershey.

The Bears will also add another Capitals first round pick to their forward group in Capitals 2024 first rounder Terik Parascak. Parascak comes into camp looking to prove some doubters wrong. After a strong first year in juniors that vaulted his draft stock to being a first round pick, Parascak failed to truly improve on that season, though his playmaking ability from the wing still came through in his last two years in juniors. The biggest question mark on Parascak comes in his skating, though that was the question mark on both Ilya Protas and Andrew Cristall last season and see how that slowed them down. Either way, Parascak comes into his AHL rookie season with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove and will be an immediate add into the middle six.

Finally, rounding out the forward prospect additions, we have 2024 Capitals sixth round pick Petr Sikora. You usually don’t see sixth round picks making the roster in their first season in North America. However, Sikora has proven himself above his draft position these last two seasons. While not lighting the scoreboard on fire, he played the last two years as a teenager in the Czech first division, already competing against grown men compared to other prospects. And when he did compete against mostly players his age at the last two World Juniors, he excelled, not only producing points for his country, but also becoming public enemy number one in Canada, as he was a pest as the Czechs eliminated Canada in both 2025 and 2026.

Sikora is going to surprise a lot of people this year in my opinion and I could see him forcing Spencer Smallman back to the wing and get his shot centering Hershey’s third line.

There’s a lot of critical bottom six production back as well. Grant Cruikshank, Eriks Mateiko, Sam Bitten, Dalton Smith and yes, Matt Strome all make up a group that will share fourth line, and maybe some third line minutes this year. Jaylen Luypen also returns, this time on a full AHL contract with Hershey, plus new addition Tyler Kopff, a big 6’4 winger who came in a trade with Rochester, with Zac Funk going the other direction.

Overall, this is a forward group that looks much improved on paper compared to this time last year and the ceiling of this group feels higher than last seasons. After going through a year where there were questions about who could score outside the top three or four players, that hopefully should not be a question with this group. There are players who can contribute up and down the lineup this year and I expect that will give Derek King headaches as he tries to make roster decisions game by game.

The Defense

I would argue we did not give the Bears enough grace last season with how new the defense was compared to the prior seasons. None of the defensemen who played 60+ games in the 24-25 season came back to Hershey for 25-26, leaving Aaron Ness and Jon McDonald as the only real group of returners in what ended up being a rookie-heavy group last season.

That issue does not exist this season. While the loss of Ness hurts in the locker room and on the ice, plus the loss of Corey Schueneman’s two-way play to San Diego, Hershey has replaced both players with additions.

The return (and hopefully full seasons for) of Ryan Chesley, Jon McDonald, David Gucciardi, Leon Muggli, Cam Allen and new captain Louie Belpedio, already gives Hershey a solid, if not elite defensive corps. The two additions change that.

First, the veteran righty Justin Holl. Holl, who has over 400 games of NHL experience, provides both the veteran presence lost from Ness and a degree of grit and toughness that has been sorely missing from Hershey’s defense the last two seasons since Dylan McIlrath stayed up in Washington. Holl isn’t a fighter like Mac is, but standing at 6’4, he is a physical presence that will throw a huge hit and help clear out the front of the net when he’s on the ice. Please put him with either Ryan Chesley or Leon Muggli when he’s out there. I think he would help both of those players the most.

The other thing missing from the Bears last year was a true power-play quarterback. That problem has been solved as well with the addition of Jacob MacDonald. Now, we already have a JMac on defense, so we’ll have to come up with a new nickname for MacDonald, but he will add a critical offensive element to the blue line. A near point-per-game player when healthy the last two years, MacDonald scored 31 times from the blue line in the 24-25 season and has over 130 games of NHL experience himself.

That’s a combined 540 games of NHL experience added to Hershey’s defense this offseason, which will be huge not just for the play on the ice, but for the development of young players like Muggli, Chesley, Allen and Gucciardi. Both Holl and MacDonald will slot into the lineup right away and be critical to the Bears success.

The Goalies

This is where things get squirrelly. Two weeks ago, the projected goalie tandem in Hershey was Clay Stevenson and Mitch Gibson. Since then, Stevenson was claimed on waivers by the Winnipeg Jets and Gibson was hurt during the Bears first preseason game in Allentown, which is not season-ending, but he also has not returned from yet.

So to open the season, Hershey will instead see the tandem of newly-signed Cal Petersen and Garin Bjorklund. The interesting aspect is that both Petersen and Bjorklund are on AHL contracts, giving the Capitals only three goalies under NHL deals. The sleuth in me thinks that means Washington is still monitoring the goalie market, which may come into play if/when Connor Hellebuyck is traded by Winnipeg.

That discussion is for a future article though. Looking at the goalies themselves, Bjorklund struggled in Hershey last season after a hot first month in net. He eventually lost the backup role to Mitch Gibson 2/3rds of the way through the season and was sent back to South Carolina. To give Bjorklund credit, he performed well in his 8 games in South Carolina at the end of the season, putting up a .935 save %.

Then there’s Petersen. Petersen had the distinction of being the most expensive man in the AHL for a few seasons, when after acquiring him from Los Angeles, Philadelphia put Petersen in the AHL for two seasons. Petersen performed at league average in 23-24, before having a really rough 24-25 season for the Phantoms, putting up a .885 save % that season. He did rebound closer to league average last season with a .896 save % and while you’d like that to be above .900, he did play behind one of the more porous AHL teams last season in Iowa.

I do not like the general reaction to Petersen based off of the single preseason game he got playing behind a near entire AHL defense. The only defenseman who made the roster from that game was Jon McDonald and I don’t think he makes the starting six most nights when everyone is available. If he performs closer to his time in Iowa or his first season with the Phantoms, he will be an adequate starting goalie, if not the elite one Clay Stevenson would have been for Hershey.

I don’t think the final answer in net has been decided yet for the Bears. Not until Washington acquires another goalie on an NHL contract or signs Petersen to one. But for now, this is the hand Hershey was given in net.

Opening Night Projections.

For fun, here’s how I think the Bears will line up tonight:

– Cristall-Brodzinski-Trineyev – Lakovic-Neiderbach-Dunne – Suzdalev-Sikora-Parascak – Smallman-Cruikshank-Bitten

– MacDonald-Chesley – Muggli-Holl – Gucciardi-Belpedio

– Petersen – Bjorklund