HERSHEY, PA. — The Hershey Bears will be a much younger team than in years past when the puck drops on their new season at Giant Center, Saturday night.
Most of Hershey’s core from its back-to-back championship teams in 2023 and 2024 is gone after their quest to three-peat ended early in the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs. The Bears’ ROAR Era head coach, a likely future AHL Hall of Famer in Todd Nelson, also took on a new opportunity, graduating back to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
When the Bears take the ice for their home opener against the Syracuse Crunch, they will be led on the ice by captain Aaron Ness and behind the bench by new head coach Derek King, a soft-spoken 58-year-old former NHL forward who has spent nearly 20 years coaching in the AHL. King’s last job came with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he spent the previous four NHL seasons as an interim head coach and an assistant.
“I’m excited,” King said to RMNB. “I’ll probably be nervous the first game, but I’ll settle in. I’m excited to get going here. Enough with the practices. I think the players are feeling that, too.”
Goaltender Clay Stevenson replaces Hunter Shepard, who signed with the Ottawa Senators over the offseason, as the Bears’ starting goaltender while Ethen Frank and Ivan Miroshnichenko — the team’s leading goal-scorers over the last three seasons — are back. They will join fellow returnees Matt Strome, Bogdan Trineyev, Spencer Smallman, and Henrik Rybinski as important players in the lineup. But a large majority of the skaters thereafter are either newly-acquired, young, or unproven.
To regain their status as a vaunted juggernaut, the Bears will need their prospects to develop and gel with the team’s veterans quickly. Two prospects, in particular, could ultimately determine the ceiling for this year’s team and potentially beyond: Andrew Cristall and Ilya Protas, the younger brother of Capitals star Aliaksei.
“I got to keep going,” Protas said. “It’s a lot of work ahead to be in the (National Hockey) League.”
Getting acclimated in Hershey
Cristall and Protas, despite neither being first-round picks, seem destined to reach the next level, though, and their junior careers suggest they were steals in their respective drafts.
Cristall, a Capitals’ 2023 second-round pick, led the WHL in points last season, recording 132 points (48g, 84a) in 57 games with the Spokane Chiefs and Kelowna Rockets. Protas, a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, scored 50 goals in 61 games during his rookie season with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And, the previously unheralded Belarusian did so out of nowhere in his age-18 season.
Despite their age, both prospects were among the final cuts of the Washington Capitals’ training camp roster. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said both players “had really good camps” and their opportunity in Hershey will “be huge” for their careers.
“They’re known for developing guys who are on the Caps right now and doing super well,” Cristall said. “I think it’s a great spot.”
“It’s not about stats,” countered Protas. “It’s just to keep develop my game and improve my game, the areas I need to work on. It’s basically everything. It’s AHL, it’s a great league to be in, and a huge opportunity to be here. I’m going to work and develop myself and get ready to get a big step.”
Heading into game one of their rookie seasons, the two were placed on lines Thursday that could prove beneficial to their development and also be electric on the ice.
Practice forward lines, 10/9
The playmaking Cristall was paired with two-way centerman Henrik Rybinski and Ethen Frank, the fastest player in hockey, who scored 20 goals in 35 AHL games last season. Protas centered rising prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hershey’s leading goal-scorer during the 2024-25 campaign, and Sheldon Rempal, a prolific shooter who had the fourth-most points (61) in the KHL last season.
“They’re both great players,” Cristall said of Frank and Rybinski. “I know them both pretty well, so it’s a lot of fun. Franky, obviously, can fly. I think I kind of just got to pass him the puck, and he’ll find the back of the net. And Ryby’s super smart. He works super hard and definitely [has] underrated skill, and he’s super good and a great guy as well. So, it’s a lot of fun to kind of be with those two right now.”
“If it stays like this, I’m going to be so excited,” Protas added of Miroshnichenko and Rempal. “They’re great players and it’s a huge opportunity and I’m really looking forward for it.”
While King admitted he wasn’t sure if he’d stick with the lines as constructed — “I’ll put Protas up top with Cristall and see how that works (on Friday)” — he seemed focused on pairing the rookies with more experienced players.
“In a perfect world, especially in the American League, and trying to get these players the best opportunity to play their game, a veteran with two young guys or a young guy with two veterans, that would be helpful,” King said.
A leader in Ethen Frank
Frank, who three years ago was mentored out of college by Mike Sgarbossa and Mike Vecchione on his way to a 30-goal rookie season, has now seen his role flip and is being looked up to by many of the younger Bears as a leader and star of the team.
“It’ll be exciting,” Frank said. “I think it’ll be good to kind of take things from years past and be able to pass that on to the younger kids. It’ll be a special treat, I think, for me. Being one of the younger guys that kind of got things passed on to me, I think it’ll be good to kind of return the favor.”
Frank made his NHL debut last season for the Capitals, registering 7 points (4g, 3a) in 24 games. After receiving his first NHL call-up in January, he stuck with the Caps for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
While Frank performed well in the preseason, he was ultimately cut the day before the Capitals submitted their Opening Night roster and placed on waivers.
“They didn’t really say a whole lot, gave me a few things to work on,” Frank said. “They said it was just really nitpicky at that point. There’s such a tight gap between the guys that were fighting for a spot. They just gave me a few things to work on and said that they liked my game. I’ll just keep working on those things and hopefully go back up.”
While Frank might have reason to feel disappointed, King has been proud of the attitude he’s brought to the team.
“He’s taken it well,” King said. “I had a conversation with him to see how he’s doing. He’s excited to be here and play, which I think is huge for us. Obviously, you get a player like that caliber to come down and stay with us. The biggest thing for me would be just his leadership and being consistent on the ice in his game. That will get him back up. Somebody will take notice. You know, there’s always other teams watching.”
King added of Frank, “He’s got a little swag, but he’s a pro. He’s the perfect guy for us right now that comes down and helps those young kids. But he’s also going to be a good player for us.”
Frank seemed to be already taking his newfound leadership role seriously.
When asked what one piece of advice he’d give the younger players on the team, Frank said, “It’s a small town, and word travels fast. So make sure that you’re representing yourself and the team in the right manner.”
Pro debuts
Cristall’s debut for the Bears comes after being a black ace for the team in two consecutive playoffs. He’ll have special guests in town for the moment, too.
“My parents are going to come watch, so that’ll be nice for the weekend,” Cristall said. “So just those two for now, and hopefully some more family down the line. But yeah, to get from Vancouver all the way here, it’s a little bit of a lengthy trip, but yeah, they’re going to make the trek and come watch.”
Protas, however, will not have anyone in Hershey after being bedeviled by the NHL schedule; the Capitals and his older brother play the New York Islanders at the same time at UBS Arena.
“They can’t come, but if they will have an opportunity, they’re going to come for sure,” Protas said.
Cristall and Protas both now have housing in Hershey and have become more acclimated with their new teammates over the last week, especially members of the team’s youth movement — many of whom have been skating together since Capitals Rookie Camp in September.
“I’ve got a house right now with Ryan Chesley and Ludwig Persson,” Cristall said. “Ryan Hofer, Henrik Rybinski, Alex Suzdalev, Ilya Protas, David Gucciardi, Cam Allen – we’re a close group, so it’ll be great.”
While King has only been around the players for the last month, their strengths have already become evident to him.
“Obviously, [Cristall’s] got skill,” King said. “He can score. He can shoot. I think the biggest thing is that he’s consistent. I watch him in practice. He works hard. He does his reps hard. Washington camp, when I got to see him, he looked good that way, too. He was consistently working on his game during practice or off the ice. He’s just got to continue to do that. When he gets the chance, he’s got to be ready.”
As for Protas, “Obviously, the size, you can’t teach that. Size, skating, he’s got good hands. He’s smart.”
What the two players lack is something Hershey has proven in years past that it can deliver in spades: experience in big moments, resources to build their bodies, and maturity.
“It’s just learning to play the game, be a pro, doing your laundry, knowing what to eat,” King said. “It’s the little things like that away from the rink, too, that these guys need to work on. Hockey-wise, these guys they’re good players now.”
He looked at me and then smiled, “Hopefully I don’t ruin them, and I just make them better.”
