The Washington Capitals (18-10-4) currently sit in third place in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division, one point behind the surprising New York Islanders and three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals have suffered from inconsistent play this season, with protracted losing streaks interrupted by periods of excellence when they appear to have regained their division-winning form they displayed last season.
The Capitals have had their share of injuries, losing Pierre-Luc Dubois for several months and missing Nic Dowd, Dylan Strome, Charlie Lindgren, and Ryan Leonard for extended periods at different points this season. The Capitals have relied on their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears, to provide players to jump into the roster. The Bears are stocked with veteran and prospect talent and provide a culture of winning for their parent club, having captured their most recent Calder Cups in 2023 and 2024.
Here is a look at some of the players who have been called up by the Capitals from the Bears so far this season.
Ethen Frank
Ethen Frank, a 27-year old undrafted product of Western Michigan University, appeared in 24 games for the Capitals last season, scoring four goals and adding three assists. The speedy winger led the Bears in goals for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. During the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic, Frank set a new record for fastest skater with a time of 12.915, which is even faster than Connor McDavid’s fastest lap speed in the NHL Fastest Skater competition.
Frank has played 21 games for the Capitals this season, recording four goals and six assists. He was called up for two games on Oct. 17, recording an assist against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 24, and again on Oct. 27 due to an injury to Dylan Strome. The next night, in a game against the Dallas Stars, he suffered an injury after a collision with Mikko Rantanen and was placed on the injured reserve (IR). He returned to action on Nov. 8 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Nov. 20, in an 8-4 Capitals win over the Montreal Canadiens, Frank recorded his first multi-goal game in the NHL, scoring two goals and two assists.
“I’m just getting more comfortable every day, feeling more like myself, and I’m starting to realize that I can do more and more each game to help this team win,” Frank said in November. “So I’m just doing what I can and controlling what I can control to make a positive impact on the game.”
Frank is currently in the second year of a two-year contract worth $1.55 million. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season when his contract expires.
Bogdan Trineyev
A fourth-round draft pick of the Capitals in 2020, Bogdan Trineyev is a six-foot-three Russian winger who came up in the Dynamo Moscow organization. The 23-year old made his NHL debut on Dec. 13 against the Winnipeg Jets. He received a little under 12 minutes of ice time skating on the fourth line with Dowd and Brandon Duhaime.
Prior to taking his bucket-less “rookie lap,” team captain Alex Ovechkin dubbed Trineyev “Bogdan Crosby” for sporting the no. 87 jersey like the slightly more famous Sidney Crosby.
Related: Washington Capitals Injury Updates: Leonard, Lindgren, and Carlson
“I thought he was really good,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “It’s hard, hard, hard to evaluate an individual in these games, but didn’t mind his game at all.”
This season in Hershey, Trineyev sits in fourth place for team scoring with six goals and six assists in 16 games and leads the team in plus-minus with a plus-7 rating. Last season, he appeared in 62 games for the Bears, posting 14 goals and eight assists, career highs for the big winger.
After playing for Moscow in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for the 2022-23 season, Trineyev made his way to Hershey. In 2023-24, he scored nine goals and added seven assists in 63 games, including three short-handed goals, helping the Bears capture the Calder Cup.
Spencer Smallman
Spencer Smallman was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The 29-year old Prince Edward Island native has been a steady AHL presence since the 2021-22 season, when he played in 65 games for the Chicago Wolves, scoring 10 goals and adding 17 assists. Those numbers have stayed consistent over the last four seasons, with a career high 13 goals in 2022-23 for the Colorado Eagles and 24 assists with Hershey last season. After eight seasons in the ECHL and AHL, Smallman is still waiting for his chance to skate in an NHL game.
“He never ended up being recalled (last year), but he was a point of discussion at various points… he’s done a good job in Hershey, and the coaches continually talk about if there’s one guy that should be considered when you’re talking about a call-up, here’s the list, and he’s on that list constantly,” Carbery said.
Smallman got called up from Hershey on Nov. 1 when Ethen Frank went down with an injury, and playing the role of reserve forward, he was a healthy scratch for three games. He did not see any NHL action and was reassigned to Hershey on Nov. 8.
Clay Stevenson
In March 2022, goaltender Clay Stevenson signed a two-year entry level contract as an undrafted free agent with the Capitals after an excellent season at Dartmouth College. He made his NHL in April last season against the Pittsburgh Penguins, allowing five goals on 38 shots in a 5-2 defeat.
“I thought he was fantastic all night,” Carbery said after the game. “Just laid it on the line for us. First start, to be put in that situation and playing that game, he was really, really proud of the way that he fought and how he competed and how he played. He was fantastic.”
Stevenson spent most of the 2022-23 season in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays. He finished the season 19–12–3 with a 2.54 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .916 save percentage (SV%). The 26-year old Alberta native was called up to the NHL for opening night of the 2023-24 season due to injuries but did not play. In Dec. 2023, the Capitals signed Stevenson to a three-year $2.325 million contract. In 2023-24, he posted a 24-10-2 record with a 2.06 GAA and .922 SV% as the Bears marched to their second-consecutive Calder Cup.
Stevenson has played 13 games for the Bears this season, earning a 7-6-0 record, a 2.70 GAA and a .910 SV%. He’s allowed 35 goals on 354 shots.
On Dec. 7, Stevenson was called up to the Capitals to back up Logan Thompson, filling in for the injured Lindgren, but was reassigned to Hershey the next night to avoid waiver issues. The Capitals can avoid having Stevenson clear waivers again if he doesn’t play 10-plus games or spend 30-plus days on the active NHL roster.
Garin Bjorklund
Garin Bjorklund is a 2020 sixth-round draft pick of the Capitals. The 23-year old goaltender was called up after Lindgren was placed on the IR. He has a record of 4-4-1 with a 3.01 GAA, a .895 SV% and one shutout in nine games played with Hershey this season.
Borklund played four seasons in the Western Hockey League for the Medicine Hat Tigers prior to turning pro. He played in 27 games with South Carolina in 2023-24, earning a 14-11-1 record. In 2024-25, Bjorklund earned an impressive 21-4-3 record with the Stingrays with a 2.02 GAA (second best in the league) and .927 SV% (third best in the league). Last season, he appeared in two games for the Bears.
Bjorklund was called up on Dec. 8 to serve as the backup to Thompson in Lindgren’s absence. He was reassigned to Hershey on Dec. 13 without seeing any NHL action.
The Capitals have a number of prospects in Hershey that could make the jump to the big club in the near future. At wing, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Andrew Cristall have been bubble players out of training camp the last two seasons. On defense, young Ryan Chesley, a University of Minnesota product, is gaining valuable professional experience in Hershey, but should get some chances in Washington soon. Capitals fans are excited at the prospect of Ilya Protas, the 19-year old brother of Aleksei Protas, getting a chance for a call-up sometime soon as well. The younger Protas currently leads the team with 11 goals and 10 assists, fifth best among rookies in the AHL. If the Capitals continue to get bit by the injury bug this season, look for some of these young players in your game day program.
