Posts by Faith Harris

How Ethen Frank’s rookie season in Hershey put him on the map and earned him a dream contract in the NHL

HERSHEY, PA — Nearly a half hour after the Hershey Bears defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-3 in a shootout Saturday, AHL rookie sensation Ethen Frank walked into the team’s interview room, wearing a wheat colored trenchcoat over a black suit and tie. That night, Frank extended his point-scoring streak to three after assisting on a Mike Sgarbossa goal in the third period. Frank sat down in a fold-out Hershey Bears’ 2011 All-Star Game chair across from me, as I conducted my first interview during my first credentialed professional hockey game.

At that moment, both of us were new to situations like this, but both of us seemed to know we would be doing more of it in the future.

Signed to an AHL-only deal, Frank had been in the news lately as a prospect many teams were interested in signing for the 2023-24 season. Going into the chat, I wanted to know more about the potential deals he might have had coming, but Frank proved to be elusive on contract talks, only saying “I just let my game speak for myself.” He did say though, that his dream would be to eventually sign an NHL contract.

The following week, hidden within the chaos of the trade deadline, was the March 1st date, where NHL teams were permitted to begin handing out contracts for the next season. Before this date, any contract signed would only be applicable to the current season. Frank would have his NHL dream fulfilled when the Capitals signed him to a one year, two-way contract worth $775k at the NHL level and $205k in the AHL.

The deal gives Frank an opportunity to make the Capitals out of Training Camp during the 2023-24 season.

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