FILED TO SPORTSJOURNEY/ ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have signed forward Garrett Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract, assistant general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
Mitchell, 22, registered two assists and 44 penalty minutes in 17 games with the Hershey Bears (AHL) in 2013-14. The Regina, Saskatchewan, native has earned 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 160 career AHL games with Hershey. Mitchell recorded 112 points (51 goals, 61 assists) in 264 games with the Regina Pats (WHL) from 2006-11, and served as the team’s captain during the 2010-11 season. The 5’11”, 186-pound forward was drafted by the Capitals in the sixth round, 175th overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
In addition to signing Garret, the team supplemented its draft picks on May 1st when it acquired a fourth-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft from the New York Islanders in exchange for the rights to goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The NHL draft will take place on June 27-28 in Philadelphia, Pa.
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The Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) have extended their affiliation agreement through the 2014-15 seasons, Capitals president Dick Patrick and Hershey president and general manager Doug Yingst announced today.
The Bears, one of the AHL’s elite franchises, recently completed their ninth season as Washington’s AHL affiliate under the current agreement. Hershey has qualified for the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons and won the Calder Cup in back-to-back seasons as the champions of the AHL in 2009 and 2010 as well as in 2006. Hershey has reached the Calder Cup final in four of the nine seasons it has been affiliated with Washington under the current agreement.
“We are excited to extend our affiliation with the Hershey Bears,” said Patrick. “The Bears are a great franchise and we look forward to working together again to develop our prospects in Hershey.”
Seventeen players skated for both Washington and Hershey during the 2013-14 season: Julien Brouillette, Chris Brown, Connor Carrick, Nicolas Deschamps, Philipp Grubauer, Jack Hillen, Michael Latta, Peter LeBlanc, Michal Neuvirth, Steven Oleksy, Dmitry Orlov, Cameron Schilling, Nate Schmidt, Ryan Stoa, Tyson Strachan, Casey Wellman and Patrick Wey.
“The success of the Hershey Bears as the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals has been unmatched for nearly a decade,” Yingst said. “The affiliation makes perfect sense geographically and logistically, and we are excited to work together again to produce two quality teams for our fans.”
The Bears visited Verizon Center in each of the last two seasons for a regular-season AHL game. The Bears played the Syracuse Crunch on February 23, 2014, and the Norfolk Admirals on December 6, 2012.
For the eighth consecutive season, the Hershey Bears boasted the AHL’s top attendance with 367,238 fans visiting the GIANT Center in 2013-14, an average of 9,664 fans per game. The team also welcomed a new regular-season record crowd of 10,995 on March 15 when the Bears hosted the Adirondack Phantoms. Giant Center seats 10,500 for hockey and is located less than 140 miles from Verizon Center.
The Capitals and Bears were previously affiliated for seven seasons from 1977 to 1984, including the Bears’ 1980 Calder Cup championship.
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The 2014 IIHF World Championship got going in Minsk (Belarus) on May 9th and nine members of the Caps franchise will be playing for their countries once the tournament begins. Among the nine, right wing Alex Ovechkin, defensive teammate Dmitry Orlov and fellow winger Evgeny Kuznetsov also will be playing for Russia. Left wingman Jason Chimera and right wingmen Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer will represent Canada. Hershey Bears teammate David Leggio will represent the United States and goaltender Philipp Grubauer will play for Germany.
Selecting Ovechkin paid off for the Russian team on Friday as the Capitals’ captain scored a power-play goal and added an assist in Russia’s 5-0 win over Switzerland. Ovechkin, who is also serving as captain for Russia, led the team in ice time (21:16) and logged four shots. The Moscow native has registered 48 points (28g, 20a) in 57 career games at the World Championship.
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While no new head coach has been signed yet, former Nashville Predators leader Barry Trotz has been reportedly been contacted by the teams and appears enthusiastic about talking to the organization.
Trotz is a highly respected hockey coach and Washington could have competition from the Florida Panthers, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vancouver Canucks (who are also in need of a general manager.
Rock the Red.