ARLINGTON, VA — The last time brothers Dylan and Matt Strome played together, they were competing for their hometown’s Mini Stanley Cup.
Dylan, six years old at the time, had been the team’s star player for much of the season, but it was four-year-old Matt who stole the show in that final game. Even as adults, the story was still fresh in their minds — in part because of Matt’s frequent reminders.
“He didn’t outscore me in the game that whole year, and our last game together, we won the championship 6-2: he had four goals and I had two,” Dylan recounted. “He definitely reminds me of that all the time.”
“The whole year, every team was, ‘Watch out for Dylan, watch out for Dylan,’” Matt said Thursday morning. “Then, in the finals, I think they had two guys shadowing him. And I had four goals in that game, and he had two. That’s one thing I don’t let him live down.”
More than two decades later, Dylan and Matt will get their on-ice reunion. Both brothers are set to suit up in Hershey, Pennsylvania on Thursday night for the Capitals’ second game of the preseason, joining Aliaksei and Ilya Protas for a sibling-heavy affair.
“It’s special,” Matt said. “I know it’s just preseason, but to be wearing the same jersey as my brother, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now. To get that chance in such a good organization that’s been so huge for Dyl and I, it’s just surreal.”
The Strome household was plenty rambunctious when Dylan, Matt, and their eldest brother, Ryan, were growing up in Mississauga, Ontario. As the two brothers closest in age, Dylan and Matt were usually going at it together, whether their excess energy boiled over into arguments or turned into games where they honed each other’s skills.
“(There was) a lot of fighting for sure,” Dylan said with a laugh. “Three boys. But Ryan was four years older than me and six years older than Matt, so not as much between myself and Ryan, or Matt and Ryan. More (that) me and Matt would go at it pretty good — almost every day, I think my parents would say. But we played road hockey, mini sticks, roller hockey, whatever it was, every day.”
All three brothers would go on to become professional hockey players, but their careers took vastly different paths. Ryan went fifth overall in the 2011 NHL draft and has played for four teams over his 12-season career in the league, now serving as an alternate captain for the Anaheim Ducks. Dylan, the third overall pick in 2015, was the Capitals’ leading scorer in 2024-25 and has centered two generational talents in Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane.
Matt, too, was drafted as a fourth-round pick by the Flyers in 2017, but has yet to crack the NHL and has spent the last six seasons in the minors. He joined the Capitals organization in 2022, inking an AHL deal with the Hershey Bears just a month after Dylan signed with Washington, and has established himself as a reliable checking-line forward.
While Matt may not have his brothers’ pedigrees, he’ll arguably be the bigger celebrity when the Capitals arrive in Hershey. He cemented his place in Bears history on June 24, 2024 with one of the team’s biggest goals in recent memory, scoring the Calder Cup-winning overtime goal in Game 6 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Dylan, who hadn’t travelled to Hershey for the game, is still kicking himself that he didn’t make the trip.
“My recollections are that I was really pissed I wasn’t there,” he said. “We were planning on going down for Game 7, my brother (Ryan Strome) and I, if there was a Game 7….I think it was me that said before that, ‘Matt’s got kind of a little knack for scoring some big goals.’ He scored an OHL Cup-winning goal — which is the biggest tournament in minor hockey when you were a kid — and he scored the overtime winner to win that.
“And sure enough, whatever it was: his first shift, the third shift of overtime. We jumped and went crazy and screamed and yelled, and it was awesome. It was a cool moment to watch. A proud brother moment for sure.”
Since then, Matt has become what Dylan called a “Hershey legend” and has taken on a more regular role on Hershey’s roster, playing at least 50 games each of the last two seasons. In 2024-25, he recorded 22 points (9g, 13a) in 59 games, adding another three assists in eight playoff games.
Matt has attended DC’s training camp every year since 2022, but Thursday will mark the first time he makes it into a preseason game. He could barely contain himself after getting the news.
“John (Carlson) actually came and talked to me and joked about it, saying that me and Dyl were playing together, and then first practice, Carbs came over to me and said, ‘Tell your dad to get to Hershey,’” Matt said. “I was so happy, so excited. I couldn’t wait to get off the ice and call my parents and let them know.”
Besides the chance to play with his brother, Matt was also excited for the opportunity to play for the Capitals in Hershey, donning an NHL uniform in front of fans who have long cheered him on with the Bears.
“They’re the best fans in the American Hockey League, so to get a preseason game there for them and see some guys that were there in the past and going to be there in the future, it’s pretty special,” he said.
Thursday’s game will be a family affair off the ice as well, with the Strome parents, Chris and Trish, watching from the stands at Giant Center. Matt’s billet family from his time with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs will also be in attendance.
The trip wasn’t an easy one for the Stromes’ parents to make: Chris is less than two weeks removed from knee replacement surgery and didn’t know until the last minute whether he’d be cleared to travel in time, but Dylan and Matt were both insistent that they wanted him there.
“The last couple of days he wasn’t sure if he was going to come, but me and Dyl said there’s no way he’s going to miss this,” Matt said. “So they got in the car yesterday, and they’re actually staying at my place in Hershey. (They’re) going to come to the game and then head back home tomorrow. It’s pretty awesome.”
While the brothers’ bond took center stage, Dylan made sure to highlight what his little brother has done as an individual as well. Thursday night will mark Matt’s preseason debut eight years after his draft day, a significant milestone in a career spent largely out of the spotlight. The opportunity to celebrate with his brother only made the achievement sweeter.
“It’s something I don’t take for granted, for sure,” Dylan said of the chance to play together again. “He’s worked really hard to get to this point, and he’s never played a preseason game before. That doesn’t usually happen in someone’s [seventh] year pro, I would say.
“It’s rare. It’s definitely a cool moment, one that I’m going to remember for a long time, and I’m excited for it.”
Puck drop for the game between the Capitals and Flyers is set for 7 pm.
