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Capitals send Alex Alexeyev to Hershey Bears after Salavat Yulaev’s season ends in KHL

By Ian Oland

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April 5, 2021 4:25 pm

The Washington Capitals re-assigned Alex Alexeyev, one of the team’s best defensive prospects, to the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears on Monday. The Capitals’ 2018 first-round pick spent the first part of his 2020-21 season on loan playing in Russia for the KHL’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

Alexeyev joins a stacked Hershey team that also features top prospects Connor McMichael (the Bears’ leading goalscorer), Martin Fehervary, and Aliaksei Protas.

Alexeyev scored 16 points (8g, 8a) in 55 games for Salavat Yulaev, finishing second among team defensemen in points and goals. Here are some of his best plays the past season.

In nine playoff games, Alexeyev chipped in one point. Salavat Yulaev was swept by Stan Galiev’s Ak Bars in the second round.

Alexeyev’s most fun moment of the season likely occurred in Game Five of Salavat Yulaev’s first-round series against Traktor Chelyabinsk. Markus Granlund scored on a penalty shot in the final minute of the game to give Salavat a 3-2 lead. Alexeyev could be seen jumping up and down celebrating on the bench.

This will mark Alexeyev’s second season with the Hershey Bears. In 58 games with the chocolate and white, Alexeyev scored 21 points (3g, 18a).

The full press release from the Capitals is below:

Capitals Re-assign Alexander Alexeyev to Hershey

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have re-assigned defenseman Alexander Alexeyev from Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

Alexeyev, the Capitals’ first-round choice, 31st overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft, recorded 16 points (8g, 8a) in 55 games with Salavat Yulaev Ufa this season. The St. Petersburg, Russia, native ranked second on the team in points and third in ice time (17:52) among defensemen. The 6’4″, 210-pound defenseman was named the KHL’s Rookie of the Month for January after recording seven points (4g, 3a) and a +6 plus/minus rating in 11 games. Additionally, Alexeyev recorded an assist in nine playoff games.

Alexeyev, 21, finished his first AHL season in 2019-20 with 21 points (3g, 18a) in 58 games with Hershey. Alexeyev ranked third among Hershey defensemen and 12th among all AHL rookie defensemen in points. Additionally, his 18 points at even strength tied for sixth among all AHL rookie defensemen. Alexeyev led Hershey defensemen in games played and ranked third in plus/minus (8).

In the 2018-19 season, Alexeyev recorded 43 points (10g, 33a) in 49 games with the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League (WHL), ranking eighth among defensemen in points per game (0.88). In 135 career games with Red Deer, Alexeyev recorded 101 points (21g, 80a).

Alexeyev has represented Russia at the 2019 World Junior Championship, the 2016 Under-18 World Championship and the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial. Alexeyev recorded six points (2g, 4a) in seven games en route to winning the bronze medal at the 2019 World Junior Championship.

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB

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