Sheldon Rempal was one of the roster casualties after a very competitive Washington Capitals training camp last fall. He impressed during the preseason, with Caps head coach Spencer Carbery even saying that Rempal “had every argument to say that he could play in the NHL tomorrow.”
Rempal, however, was cut from the Capitals’ training camp roster in early October. After passing through waivers, he was assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears, where he played just four games before returning to the KHL. Rempal had played the 2024-25 season with the league’s Salavat Yulaev and returned to the club after his brief stint back in North America.
The Calgary native recently sat down with Championat’s Vladimir Laevsky to discuss why he originally signed with the Capitals last July and then why he decided not to stick it out in the AHL with the Bears.
“I simply thought it would be my best chance to make an NHL team, that I’d have a chance to prove myself in Washington,” Rempal said, per a translation by Google Translate. “But after training camp, it became clear it wouldn’t work out. Then I thought the best solution would be to return to Salavat.
“I think they wanted to give younger players a chance. I thought I had a good training camp. But, unfortunately, Washington had other plans, which involved other players. But I don’t regret anything. I was happy to return to the KHL.”
The Bears have regularly allowed players to pursue high-paying overseas opportunities if they don’t want to stay and play in the AHL. Bryan Helmer, Hershey’s VP of Hockey Operations, spoke to RMNB’s Ian Oland about the policy earlier this year.
“If you don’t want to be in Hershey, and you have an opportunity to go over to the KHL and make a ton of money, and it’s kind of a game changer, I’m not going to hold anyone back,” Helmer said. “Obviously, Remps is a tough loss. He’s a veteran guy. He’s put up numbers in the past. But I wasn’t going to hold a guy back like that if he just didn’t want to be here. It was just one of those things that I would never do because obviously, then, if I force him to stay here, it’s not a good look. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked out.
“So, yeah, we let him go. Obviously, we’ve got young guys that at the time were playing well, so we’re like, ‘Okay, maybe we should be all right with him going.’ And then it gives us an opportunity to bring in a guy like (Brett) Leason. Washington feels the same as I do. If a guy doesn’t want to be here and he can sign over there and make a ton of money, good for him. If I were a player and I had an opportunity like that, I wouldn’t expect that a team would hold me back either.”
Rempal was part of a round of cuts from the Capitals that also included top prospects Ilya Protas and Andrew Cristall. The forwards that beat him out to stay in DC included Justin Sourdif, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank, and Sonny Milano.
“We had a meeting after training camp, when I was sent to the AHL,” Rempal said. “They simply said, ‘You worked hard in training camp. But we’ve decided to start the season with different players. However, be prepared to be called up to the main team when the opportunity arises. Just be ready.’
“But I thought that at my age, I just wanted to take a different path, to return to the city where they love me. So, as I already said, I don’t regret any of the decisions I made. I was happy to sign with Salavat, to come back, and to help the team.”
During his brief stint with the Capitals, Rempal had the opportunity to meet and skate with the club’s legendary captain, Alex Ovechkin. Rempal says the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer took interest in his prior experience in the KHL.
“I met Ovi when I arrived in America,” Rempal said. “He knew I came from the KHL and was proud that I played in that league. Alex has a lot of respect for Russia and the KHL. It was great to talk to him and spend time with him on the ice. Ovechkin is obviously a hockey legend; he’s highly respected all over the world. It was a really cool experience to meet him, one I will definitely remember forever.”
Rempal was one of the KHL’s top players this past season, finishing third in points per game (1.21), behind two other forwards with past-Capitals ties: Sam Anas (1.33) and Daniel Sprong (1.23). Overall, he notched 46 points (15g, 31a) in 38 games and became teammates later in the year with former Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov.
