WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Hershey Bears forward Beck Malenstyn will miss some time after undergoing surgery to repair his Achilles tendon. The surgery was a success and Malenstyn is now expected to miss six to eight months in recovery. Malenstyn sustained the injury training at home in Vancouver, and it’s the first time he has missed a significant amount of time to injury since he arrived in Hershey.

The announcement came via a tweet from the Washington Capitals PR page.

Forward Beck Malenstyn underwent a successful surgery to repair an Achilles tendon. Malenstyn sustained his injury while training in Vancouver. Based on the nature of this injury, Malenstyn is expected to miss 6-8 months.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 6, 2020

Although the 2021 AHL season is still very much up in the air, losing Malenstyn for that amount of time would put him as a likely candidate to join the Bears at the tail end or possibly in the postseason should Hershey advance that far and he recovers well. Malenstyn has been a key part of Hershey’s forward group in his first two professional seasons, with his hard-hitting style and ability to score earning him the nickname Beck “The Check” during his time with the Bears. He earned a brief call-up to Washington last season and has 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 120 regular-season games in Hershey over two seasons.

Losing Malenstyn is a big loss for the Bears, and leaves a void in the lineup for one of the many hopefuls looking to crack the roster when play resumes in Hershey. A number of players the Bears signed to AHL contracts are competing to impress the Hershey brass in South Carolina, who open their season on Friday night.

The AHL season is still tentatively slated to begin play on February 5 until further guidance is issued.

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