WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Capitals made another signing on Sunday that likely has a huge impact for the Hershey Bears by adding former AHL MVP Daniel Carr to a one-year, two-way contract.
Carr, 28, is currently playing for Lugano of the Swiss-A league while hockey in North America remains on hold, and brings an impressive resume to Chocolatetown. The contract is worth $700,000 at the NHL level and $415,000 at the AHL level.
Carr was the leading scorer for the Milwaukee Admirals last season, tallying 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points in 47 games played as the team sat atop the Central Division with 90 points and a 41-14-5-3 record. He was the recipient of the AHL’s Les Cunningham Award as the league’s most valuable player a year prior as a member of the Chicago Wolves, scoring 71 points (30 goals, 41 assists) in just 52 games played during the 2018-19 season. He had 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 15 postseason games, helping the Wolves to a berth in the 2019 Calder Cup Finals.
Daniel Carr’s third goal of the night. What a toe drag. pic.twitter.com/SmdR7BWoIo
— Andrew Rinaldi (@FPHWolves) October 27, 2018
Carr has 111 games of NHL experience, and it stands to reason he will be among the forwards contending for a spot with the Washington Capitals this season. He played most of his NHL time with the Montreal Canadiens, spending parts of three seasons with the team as well as parts of the last two seasons with Vegas and Nashville. In that span, he has scored 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 total points. Carr can be recalled to North America upon the commencement of the Capitals’ training camp.
Hype levels are through the roof. What a huge signing for Hershey! https://t.co/YbqhPyUUS5
— Bears Hockey Nation (@HBHNationBlog) October 11, 2020
Carr has spent time with the Laval Rocket, St. John’s IceCaps, and Hamilton Bulldogs at the AHL level. He previously played four seasons with Union College prior to turning pro, winning an NCAA title in 2014 along with other future NHL players like Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. Carr has had three different seasons of scoring at least 20 goals in his career at the AHL level.
The signing of Carr is a huge boost to the Bears should he play in Hershey. It’s not every day that a player of his caliber at the AHL level joins the roster, and having that scoring helps to account for a major loss in the possibility of seeing Daniel Sprong go up to Washington as a bottom-six forward or possibly more, depending on what group the Capitals bring to training camp.
As of this point, the Caps have 11 forwards under contract, and have typically carried 13 forwards around during the regular season in recent years. It’s possible the Bears could lose more than Sprong, depending on if the Capitals have any other signings up their sleeves. There could be a battle for those spots depending on if the Capitals bring in any other forwards to the group.
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