Home / News / Hershey Bears sign Capitals prospects Dru Krebs and Mitchell Gibson to amateur tryout agreements

Hershey Bears sign Capitals prospects Dru Krebs and Mitchell Gibson to amateur tryout agreements

By Chris Cerullo

 1 Comment

April 11, 2023 7:01 am

The Hershey Bears announced on Monday that they have signed Capitals prospects Dru Krebs and Mitchell Gibson to amateur tryout agreements. The deals will allow them to finish the 2022-23 season in the AHL.

They join European forward prospects Bogdan Trineyev and Ludwig Persson who were assigned to the Bears after their respective seasons in Russia and Sweden ended. They will all be, in effect, Hershey’s black aces for their upcoming Calder Cup Playoffs run.

Krebs, brother of current Buffalo Sabres forward Peyton Krebs, is a defenseman that was selected by the Caps in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He has spent the past four seasons in Canadian junior with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. This past season was his career-best as he recorded 41 points (8g, 33a) in 67 games — a team-high amongst Tigers defensemen.

Krebs also signed an amateur tryout agreement with Hershey a year ago but did not see any game action.

Gibson is a 23-year-old netminder who was a fourth-round draft pick of the Capitals in 2018 and has spent the last several years in the NCAA with Harvard University. This season, Gibson posted a record of 18-7-2 and ranked third among all Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) goaltenders in both save percentage (.919) and goals-against average (2.25). He served as Harvard’s starting goaltender for all three years of his college hockey career.

Gibson officially signed his entry-level contract with the Caps last week a few days after needing to serve as the team’s emergency backup at the NHL level due to Charlie Lindgren coming down with an illness.

The Bears have just three games left on their regular season schedule and currently sit both first in the Atlantic Division and Easter Conference with 95 standings points from 69 games played. They have already locked up a playoff spot and a first-round bye.

Here’s the full press release on the moves from the team:

BEARS INK KREBS AND GIBSON TO ATOS

The Hershey Bears announced today that the club has signed defenseman Dru Krebs and goaltender Mitchell Gibson to amateur tryout agreements (ATO).

Krebs, 20, collected 41 points (8g, 33a) in 67 games with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League this season. He finished tied for fifth on the team in scoring, and led all defensemen in points. His 33 assists ranked third on the team.

The 6′, 175-pound native of Okotoks, Alberta signed an ATO with Hershey last April but did not see game action. He was selected in the sixth round, 176th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft by Washington.

Gibson, 23, appeared in 27 games for Harvard University (NCAA) this season, posting a record of 18-7-2 with a 2.25 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, and three shutouts. The 6’1”, 187-pound goaltender ranked third among ECAC goaltenders in goals-against average and save percentage. Gibson, who helped guide Harvard to its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, was named to the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team.

The Phoenixville, Pennsylvania native posted a record of 47-25-6 with six shutouts, a 2.32 goals-against average, and a .918 save percentage in 80 career games at Harvard. He was selected in the fourth round, 124th overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft by the Capitals. Last week, Gibson signed a one-year, entry-level deal with the Capitals that begins in the 2023-24 season.

Krebs will wear #44 for Hershey while Gibson will wear #50.

Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Chocolate and White face the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday, April 11 at 7 p.m. The first 4,000 fans in attendance will receive a Bears logo chip, courtesy of Fairview Golf Course. Tuesday’s game is also a TRULY Takeover Tuesday – fans can come to Section 110 for $16 TRULY and empanada specials, samplings, giveaways, and a chance to win TRULY-branded hockey gear.

Headline photo courtesy of @TheHersheyBears/Twitter

, ,