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Capitals Reassign Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson, Mitchell Gibson

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Since being eliminated from the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Washington Capitals could stand to lose a few players on their postseason roster. In an attempt to help their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, the Capitals announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Ethan Bear, and netminders Clay Stevenson and Mitchell Gibson.

Bear will be the most important piece for the Bears’ Division Finals matchup against the Charlotte Checkers. In his first full AHL season since 2018-19, Bear was impressive in Hershey, scoring 10 goals and 46 points in 62 games with a +33 rating. He led the entire Bears roster in scoring and finished tied for eighth among AHL defensemen. Fortunately, Hershey was able to eliminate their division rival, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, in five games without their top scorer.

After debuting in the NHL on the last game of the regular season, Stevenson was recalled by the Capitals yesterday in case Charlie Lindgren couldn’t participate. As it would turn out, Lindgren managed to serve in a backup role, and Stevenson will return to the AHL to help the Bears win their third consecutive Calder Cup championship. He appeared in one postseason game against the Phantoms, stopping 28 of 32 shots in Game 4, which allowed the Bears to extend the series.

Gibson is the only member of the trio who has spent little time on either team’s roster. He spent much of the 2025-26 season with the Capitals’ ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays, managing a 12-1-0 record in 14 games with a .933 SV% and 1.75 GAA. Depending on what Washington does with pending unrestricted free agent Hunter Shepard this offseason, Gibson could be in line to share the crease with Stevenson in southeast Pennsylvania next season.

Capitals Recall Clay Stevenson, Charlie Lindgren Questionable

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10:00 AM: The Capitals’ optional morning skate revealed a bit more about their call-up of Stevenson. Expected Game 5 backup Charlie Lindgren is dealing with a personal matter that could hinder his ability to suit up on Thursday, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. If that’s the case, Washington will run with Thompson starting and one of Stevenson or Mitchell Gibson in the backup role.

9:00 AM: The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Clay Stevenson from the AHL in preparation for Thursday’s Game 5 matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. Washington is one loss away from being eliminated. With the Hershey Bears not playing until Friday, AHL backup Stevenson will join the Capitals as an emergency third-string goalie for the must-win contest.

It’s unlikely that Stevenson will get near the lineup with Logan Thompson holding a firm grip over the starting role. Thompson is expected to receive his 10th-straight playoff start on Thursday. He was red-hot against the Montreal Canadiens in Round One, posting a 0.923 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against-average as Washington bounced Montreal in five games. Thompson’s numbers have slipped slightly against Carolina – down to a .913 and 2.75 goals-against-average, even despite only allowing three goals on 61 shots through the first two games of the series. But even with the dip, Thompson’s numbers are strong – and will keep him unwavering in the starter’s crease.

Stevenson has served behind Hunter Shepard through the start of the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs. He posted a .875 save percentage and 6-4 win in the sole appearance he’s made so far – though hasn’t been able to get over the .850 save percentage and 2-2 record of Shepard. Stevenson posted an 18-8-5 record, .888 save percentage, and 2.94 goals-against-average through the AHL regular season. He also made his NHL debut this season – and recorded five goals on 33 shots and a loss. Stevenson will likely be reassigned before Hershey’s next game on Friday, though that could change should Washington hold onto their season for one more game.

Capitals Recall Mitchell Gibson, Assign Clay Stevenson To AHL

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With the next few days off, the Capitals have made a couple of moves on the goalie front.  The team announced that they’ve recalled Mitchell Gibson from AHL Hershey while assigning Clay Stevenson to the Bears.

Gibson is in his second full professional season and spent the bulk of the year with ECHL South Carolina.  In 14 games with the Stingrays, he played quite well, putting up a 1.75 GAA and a .933 SV% while winning his only start with Hershey.  However, he has played just three times for the Bears over the last two years which might not help his cause heading into restricted free agency this summer.

As for Stevenson, he made his NHL debut in the final game of the regular season but otherwise has played exclusively with the Bears in each of the last two years.  In 33 games with Hershey this season, he posted a 2.94 GAA along with a .888 SV%, numbers that were considerably worse compared to a year ago when those checked in at 2.06 and .922, respectively.

The move will essentially serve as a swap of third-string goaltenders, allowing Stevenson to potentially see game action with Hershey during their second-round series against Lehigh Valley.  Before their series against Carolina gets underway, there’s a good chance this move will be reversed.

Capitals Recall Clay Stevenson

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The Capitals announced they’ve recalled goaltender Clay Stevenson from AHL Hershey. Fellow netminder Hunter Shepard is headed back to the minors in a corresponding move.

The transaction amounts to a temporary backup swap for Washington over the season’s final two games while Logan Thompson nears a return from his upper-body injury. Shepard was recalled as Charlie Lindgren’s temporary No. 2 option and has been rostered for the Caps’ last five games. He only made one start, a fateful 7-0 loss against the Blue Jackets in which he stopped 19 of 26 shots for a subpar .731 SV%.

That was the 29-year-old Shepard’s fifth career NHL start. The other four came last season with Washington, posting a 2-1-1 record with a .894 SV% and 3.19 GAA. The spot start against Columbus was emblematic of a disappointing season for the Minnesota native in the minors. Coming off back-to-back Calder Cup championships with Hershey and AHL Best Goaltender honors in 2023-24, he’s floundered with a .891 SV% and 2.81 GAA in 37 appearances for the Bears. That’s still good enough for a 22-11-3 record behind one of the league’s strongest skater corps, but a disappointing result nonetheless on an individual level.

Now, the 26-year-old Stevenson gets a chance to start one of Washington’s final two games to allow Lindgren some rest in case he’s needed for Game 1 of their first-round series against either the Canadiens or Blue Jackets. While he was rostered briefly last season, he didn’t get into a game, so a start would mean his NHL debut. Like Shepard, his 2024-25 campaign with Hershey has been marred by individual regression. He’s posted a .888 SV% in 33 games after logging a .922 mark in his first full AHL season last year, adding a 2.94 GAA and two shutouts with an 18-8-5 record.

Shepard is a pending unrestricted free agent, although Stevenson is under contract for another two years after signing a three-year, $2.33MM extension midway through the 2023-24 campaign. He earns a one-way salary of $775K next year and in 2026-27, indicating the Caps had high hopes for him to assume an NHL roster spot. This year’s numbers plus extensions for Lindgren and Thompson have thrown a wrench into that plan, though, so he’ll instead serve as an expensive AHL option for the remainder of his deal.

Washington Capitals Sign Clay Stevenson To Three-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals have signed netminder Clay Stevenson to a three-year, $775k AAV contract extension.

According to the team release, the financial structure of the contract is as follows:

2024-25: two-way, $775k NHL salary, $200k AHL Salary
2025-26: one-way, $775k salary
2026-27: one-way, $775k salary

This contract provides Stevenson, 24, with a significant amount of financial security as he enters his mid-twenties. The six-foot-four undrafted goaltender played one season of college hockey at Dartmouth, where he was named to the ECAC Third All-Star team and All-Rookie team, before joining the pro ranks with the Capitals organization.

The Capitals signed Stevenson to a two-year entry-level contract and then stashed him with their ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. He had a strong 2022-23 in South Carolina, posting a .916 save percentage in 36 games played. Stevenson also got into three AHL games last year, posting a 3-0-0 record and .924 save percentage.

That strong form in his debut pro year meant the Capitals could go into 2023-24 with confidence that Stevenson could be part of a strong tandem with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

He’s done more than form a strong tandem, though, he’s surged to the best start of any goalie in the AHL and has firmly supplanted Calder Cup-winning goalie Hunter Shepard as the team’s most reliable option, at least at this early point in the season.

In 13 AHL games, Stevenson has a 1.70 goals-against-average and a stellar .934 save percentage. He’s looked utterly dominant at times, and he has already posted four shutouts in his relatively small sample of games played.

By signing him to this contract extension, the Capitals have accomplished a few things. First and foremost, they now have assured cost certainty for Stevenson for the next three seasons after this one.

Should he continue to play like one of the top goalies in the AHL, Stevenson could very well become the Capitals’ number-two goalie by the time Charlie Lindgren hits unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025. He’s slated to cost the bare minimum cap hit for the next three seasons, meaning if he can reach the NHL he’ll likely provide the Capitals with a solid bargain.

So given how many positives there are in this extension for Washington from a salary cap perspective, it’s fair to question why Stevenson, such a fast-rising goalie, would lock himself into such an affordable deal for the next three years after this one.

Just as the Capitals have gotten financial certainty, so has Stevenson. Although his NHL cap hit on his entry-level deal was $855k, Stevenson has not yet made the NHL. His salary in the minors has been $80k, meaning a $200k minors salary as soon as next season and then $775k for the following two years, regardless of what level he plays at, is an attractive financial package.

For as strong as Stevenson has played so far, his resume of AHL success consists of just 16 total games. While Stevenson is surely confident that he’ll continue being a strong AHL netminder, sustaining his push towards NHL call-up consideration, it’s also worth noting that sports can be extremely fickle.

By signing this contract, Stevenson financially protects himself in the case that he suffers an injury or some unforeseen steep decline in form. Could he have risked things, signed only a one-year extension, and then been in a strong position to cash in if he sustained league-best statistics for a full AHL campaign? Probably, but that’s an immense risk to take.

And in any case, if Stevenson can continue his rise he’ll nonetheless be in a position to cash in when he’s still in his twenties, which is far from old for a goaltender.

Capitals Recall Hunter Shepard, Loan Clay Stevenson To AHL

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The Capitals announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the AHL’s Hershey Bears and returned netminder Clay Stevenson to Hershey in a corresponding transaction.

This amounts to a backup swap behind starter Darcy Kuemper while normal backup Charlie Lindgren remains on IR. He is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has not played since starting the team’s season opener while Kuemper was away on paternal leave.

Shepard, who guided Hershey to a Calder Cup championship last season, would have been Washington’s first recall choice knowing Lindgren would be out for a while. However, Shepard himself was sidelined with an illness – now that he’s healthy, he finds himself on Washington’s roster, likely until Lindgren can return. The 27-year-old was named MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs last season after posting a .914 SV%, 2.27 GAA and three shutouts in 20 contests. All that came in his first season as a full-time AHL netminder, spending the majority of the two previous seasons with Washington’s ECHL affiliate in South Carolina. The two-time national champion with the University of Minnesota-Duluth is undefeated with Hershey this season, going 2-0-0 with a 2.88 GAA and.885 SV%. If he makes an appearance for the Caps on this recall, it will be his NHL debut.

Stevenson, 24, made back-to-back starts in Hershey’s first two contests of the season while Shepard was on the shelf. He, too, has yet to make an NHL appearance, with Kuemper starting all three games in Lindgren’s absence. He will serve as the Bears’ starter while Shepard is up on the NHL roster.

Capitals Assign Clay Stevenson, Recall Aliaksei Protas From AHL

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Saturday: With Kuemper back, the Capitals have reversed this transaction, sending Stevenson back to Hershey while recalling Protas.

Friday: The Washington Capitals today recalled netminder Clay Stevenson from the AHL’s Hershey Bears, as starter Darcy Kuemper will miss tonight’s season-opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins after welcoming a son last night. Forward Aliaksei Protas was loaned to Hershey to allow Washington the cap space to recall Stevenson.

Stevenson will backup Charlie Lindgren, who will start opening night for the Caps after recording a .899 save percentage in a career-high 31 games last season. The 24-year-old Stevenson has yet to make his NHL debut after signing with Washington as an undrafted free agent in 2022. In his first pro campaign last season, the former Dartmouth standout assumed the starting role for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. He appeared in 36 games there, recording a 2.54 goals-against average, .916 save percentage, three shutouts, and a 19-12-3 record. He also made three appearances for Hershey, going undefeated and posting a sparkling .924 save percentage and 1.96 goals-against average.

In 2023-24, Stevenson will be the primary AHL backup to Hunter Shepard, who broke out for Hershey en route to a Calder Cup win last season and captured the playoff MVP award.

Protas, meanwhile, still does not require waivers to head to the minors and was the odd man out with 2019 first-round pick Connor McMichael locking down a top-six role for opening night. The 22-year-old Belarusian was also a member of the Capitals’ 2019 class and stuck mostly in the NHL last season, notching 15 points in 58 contests. He’ll likely get recalled back to the Capitals’ NHL roster once Kuemper has rejoined the team and Stevenson is returned to Hershey.

Washington Capitals Extend Affiliation Agreement With South Carolina Stingrays

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The Washington Capitals and the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays have extended their affiliation agreement through the 2025-26 season, per a team release Thursday morning.

The upcoming 2023-24 season will be the 10th consecutive campaign the Capitals and Stingrays have been affiliated with each other. The Capitals were also previously affiliated with South Carolina from 2004 to 2012.

In the combined 17 seasons of affiliation, the Stingrays have only missed the playoffs twice. Considering Washington’s prioritization of minor league success with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, South Carolina’s strong play at the ECHL level comes as little surprise.

Their success includes winning the Kelly Cup in 2009 and clinching three conference championships since 2015. The Stingrays achieved a record of 45-22-4-1 this season, finishing first in the ECHL’s South Division and second in the Eastern Conference.

Capitals senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan issued the following statement:

We are pleased to renew our partnership with the South Carolina Stingrays. For several seasons, the Stingrays have provided our prospects a winning environment in which they can develop, and we are looking forward to continuing our affiliation.

While it’s rare for any high-end NHL prospects to see ECHL time, aside from the occasional goaltender, ECHL teams still directly influence organizational success. AHL and ECHL teams maintain tight relationships, and a winning culture at one level tends to bleed through to the other. These affiliates can also prove vital in developing more raw prospects not quite ready for extended AHL time, something the Capitals exhibited this season.

Five players who participated in games for South Carolina this season attended the Capitals’ 2022 training camp. Among them were forward Bear Hughes, defensemen Martin Has and Benton Maass, and goaltenders Garin Bjorklund and Clay Stevenson.

Hughes, the Capitals’ fifth-round draft pick in 2020, proved himself a valuable asset for the Stingrays with 36 assists and 59 points this season. However, Washington no longer holds his exclusive signing rights. Stevenson, who joined the Capitals as a free agent in March 2022, seamlessly transitioned to pro hockey ECHL, ranking among the league leaders in various statistical categories, and showing he may be a potential call-up option for Washington in 2023-24.

Afternoon Notes: Schedule, Stone, Sabres, Team Canada Captains, Hershey Bears

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More hockey? You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want it. Earlier this week, there had been some discussions about the NHL potentially expanding the season back to an 84 game schedule for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on those rumors with an idea of what that schedule might look like, and how the league could get there.

In effect, the schedule would be expanded an additional two games to promote intra-division rivalries, such as the one between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers or the one between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both of which have seen their head-to-head matchups drop off in recent years. As Friedman details, the schedule would consist of four games against each of the other teams within the division, three games each against each team in the opposing division, and two against each team in the opposite conference. To balance things out, each team’s slate of preseasons games could be cut down. It doesn’t appear that any change is imminent, however Friedman adds that there is a willingness to discuss the change between the league and the NHLPA, however there hasn’t been much dialogue on the subject recently.

  • Things didn’t look good for Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone last night when he went down in obvious pain during the third period of the team’s game against the New York Islanders. The winger struggled to get off the ice with the assistance of his teammates, but surprisingly was able to come back and join them in the final moments of the game. Unsurprisingly, after the game, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the status of his star forward, telling The Athletic’s Jesse Granger that the hope is Stone’s injury is “just a stinger,” but he wouldn’t know much more until today. Cassidy added that Stone was not 100% when he rejoined the team late in the game. So far, no additional information has come out about Stone’s status. Vegas next plays at home on Monday against the Sabres.
  • Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres were able to get forward Kyle Okposo back from injury and Jeff Skinner back from suspension, but were without defensemen Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The team didn’t have much information on Power or Bryson, and the same holds true today, however according to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ilya Lyubushkin is set to return tomorrow against Vegas. Noticeably absent from the ice this morning were defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, but as Harrington adds, both were absent simply for rest purposes.
  • With the World Junior Championship just eight days away, Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for this year’s World Juniors team. Captaining the group will be Seattle Kraken forward and fourth-overall pick in 2022, Shane Wright. Assisting him will be Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, Dallas Stars draft pick and current Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven, Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Quebec Remparts forward Nathan Gaucher, as well as Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and Mississauga Steelheads defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Canada will kick things off against Czechia on December 26th.
  • Many don’t necessarily think about when an NHL team chooses to recall a player from their affiliate, it could set off a chain reaction of needs within their system, and that’s just what happened with the Washington Capitals and their goaltenders. When Darcy Kuemper went down a couple of weeks ago, the team recalled Hunter Shepard, which Hershey was able to cope with by recalling Clay Stevenson from the ECHL. No problem. But, when Washington also recalled Zachary Fucale yesterday in the wake of Shepard’s upper-body injury, Hershey was forced to sign an emergency back-up to a PTO for their game last night. Today, the Bears were able to smooth things out in net prior to their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon, bringing up netminder Tyler Wall from the South Carolina Stingrays, Hershey and Washington’s ECHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, defenseman Martin Has has been sent to South Carolina. While this is a relatively minor move, it does give context for the transactions NHL teams make that sometimes seem to be done just for the sake of doing them.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Krejci, Stevenson

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Connor McDavid taking the top spot. The Edmonton Oilers superstar had eight points which, incredibly, all came on goals that either tied the game or gave his team the lead. McDavid seems poised to win the Art Ross once again as the league’s top scorer, and the Rocket Richard is now well within his reach after such an outstanding start.

Second and third went to Jesper Bratt and Marc-Andre Fleury respectively, after their own strong performances. Bratt continues to be one of the most underrated offensive players in the league and now has 15 points in nine games this season. Fleury, meanwhile, rebounded from an iffy start and had a .927 in three appearances last week. His numbers aren’t very inspiring, but Fleury has gone 4-1-1 to start the year.

  • Boston Bruins forward David Krejci will miss at least the next few days with an upper-body injury. He now appears on the Bruins injured reserve list, meaning he’ll miss seven days since his last game. Still, head coach Jim Montgomery said that his veteran center will be traveling with the club and shouldn’t be out too long.
  • The Washington Capitals have assigned Clay Stevenson to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, suggesting he has recovered enough to start getting back into game action. The 23-year-old was a free agent signing out of Dartmouth and underwent hand surgery at the beginning of October. Given a timeline of four to six weeks from then, his recovery seems to be right on track.

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