While the Washington Capitals finished the 2024-25 regular season with the second-most goals in the NHL (288), they still have some serious firepower waiting in the wings.
Capitals’ 2022 first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko had a career year with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, notching his first professional 20-goal season despite spending a month and a half with the Capitals.
The Russian winger finished the year on a tear, too, scoring three goals in his final two games — all at five-on-five. The flurry of tallies on consecutive days gave him 23 goals, passing Ethen Frank (20) for the team lead in the category. Notably, Frank was called up on January 10 and remained with the Capitals for the rest of the season.
Miroshnichenko’s first goal of Easter weekend came in the Bears’ 4-2 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, which clinched them the Atlantic Division. Miro opened the scoring 9:41 into the first period, sending a rebound past Penguins netminder Joel Blomqvist.
On Saturday, Miroshnichenko followed that performance up with his fourth multi-goal game of the season. His first tally of the evening came 12:25 into the first period, tying Hershey with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 1-1. On a two-on-one break with fellow countryman Bogdan Trineyev, Miroshnicheko, skating down the left wing, sent a wrist shot toward Phantoms goaltender Parker Gahagen that barely squeaked over the goal line.
In the second period, Miroshnichenko lit the lamp for the 23rd time of the season to again tie the game at 3-3. The young star, camping out near the crease, found a loose puck and quickly whacked it past Gahagen. The Bears would go on to fall to the Phantoms 4-3.
The 21-year-old, who is oozing with talent, set single-season career highs in goals (23), assists (19), points (42), power-play goals (7), game-winning goals (4), shots (146), and shooting percentage (15.8 percent). Miro, whose aim was to score 30 times at the NHL level this season, would have hit 31 goals with the Bears if he had played all 72 games this season. He also recorded four points (1g, 3a) in 18 games with the Capitals.
Now, as Hershey turns their attention to the postseason and a potential three-peat, Miroshnichenko will try to win a second straight Calder Cup himself with a bigger role than last season.
