The Washington Capitals announced they signed Prince George Cougars forward Zac Funk to a three-year, entry-level contract on Friday. Funk currently leads the WHL with 56 goals and ranks third overall in total scoring with 99 points from 58 games.
Funk went undrafted in his draft-eligible years and is about to age out of Canadian major junior. The Coldstream, British Columbia native was the fourth-ranked prospect on Elite Prospects’ CHL Free Agency Guide.
NEWS | The Washington Capitals have signed forward Zac Funk to a three-year entry-level contract. Funk's contract will carry an average annual value of $810,000 (NHL) and $82,500 in the AHL.#ALLCAPS
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 1, 2024
“I am very grateful and honoured for this opportunity with the Washington Capitals and am looking forward to the next chapter of my hockey career,” Funk said in a Prince George press release. “I want to thank my family, my billet families, my coaches, staff, my agency, and my friends for all of their support and their help throughout my life.”
The Athletic’s NHL prospect reporter, Scott Wheeler, said Funk instantly jumps into the Capitals’ top 10 prospect rankings with the signing.
Well deserved for a big part of one of the best lines in junior hockey this season. Very good junior player. Would have ranked 8-10 somewhere on my Capitals pool ranking had he been signed a month ago. https://t.co/9CacR0ev8R
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) March 1, 2024
Funk has seen his stock raise dramatically in his age-20 season. Before this year, his career-high in goals was 26 which he scored across 64 games with Cougars and Calgary Hitmen during the 2022-23 campaign. He has already doubled that total this year in fewer games.
His 56 goals are a new, all-time franchise-high for the Cougars, besting a record set by Quinn Hancock (54) back during the 1997-98 WHL season. Funk has an outrageous eight hat tricks this season after coming into the year with zero in his career.
Funk also has recorded three or more points in 16 games for Prince George. The Cougars are the top team in the WHL’s Western Conference with a 40-15-3 record and have already clinched the BC Division title.
Here’s the press release from the Capitals:
Capitals Sign Zac Funk
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have signed forward Zac Funk to a three-year entry-level contract, president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. Funk’s contract will carry an average annual value of $810,000 (NHL) and $82,500 in the AHL.
Funk, 20, has recorded 99 points (56g, 43a) in 58 games with the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL) this season. The 6’0”, 210-pound forward leads the WHL in goals, power-play goals (25), plus/minus (+44) and ranks third in points and fourth in shots (279). Funk, who was named the WHL Player of the Week for the week ending September 24, 2023, recently established new Prince George franchise single-season records in goals and power-play goals.
The Coldstream, British Columbia native recorded 58 points (26g, 32a) in 64 games with Prince George and the Calgary Hitmen in 2022-23. Funk, who was traded from Calgary to Prince George on Jan. 10, 2023, ranked tied for first on the Cougars in playoff scoring with eight points (5g, 3a) in 10 games. In 218 career WHL games with Prince George and Calgary, Funk has recorded 203 points (108g, 95a).
