Five Bears set for restricted free agency after career years

As members of the Hershey Bears packed their equipment before heading home for the summer, five players prepared for free agency for the first time in their careers.

Travis Boyd, Nathan Walker, Liam O’Brien, Chandler Stephenson, and Christian Djoos are all set to become restricted free agents this summer. While typically restricted free agents are locks to be re-signed, due to the current standing of the Washington Capitals organization, no qualifying offer is promised this offseason.

Boyd, who could request arbitration, has played in every game over the last two seasons and is coming off of a career year where he scored 63 points for Hershey. “First time going through it so I don’t know,” said Boyd. “I guess just play it by ear. Now that the season is over start looking into it more and see if I can get a read on what’s going to happen or not. I’m restricted, so it’s not like I get to go around and talk to all of the teams.”

The 23-year-old center did earn one recall to Washington this season but was scratched for the only game he was up there. “I was only up there for two days, and I’ve been around those guys before in training camps, but just seeing how big and strong everyone up there is – not that they’re not down here – but we still got some kids, to say that least, who are still maturing. Everyone’s fully grown up there. For me, I need to put on some more weight; I think I need to add 10-15 pounds and continue to get faster and stronger, and hopefully I get a chance and hopefully I can take advantage of a chance.”

Walker was close to getting a chance, but an injury at the end of January had him miss out on a recall. But that didn’t stop the forward from coming back strong, scoring a goal and an assist in his first weekend back. But he struggled to find the scoresheet after that, scoring the same amount in the final 12 games of the season.

Now, he looks towards free agency at a make or break time in his career. “It’s kind of scary not having a job for next year,” said Walker. “I mean we’ll see how we go, I’ll talk to my agent in the next two or three weeks or so and try and go from there.”

The Sydney, Australia native will head home for the summer before returning to the states as he hopes to make an NHL roster right out of training camp. “We didn’t have much of a summer last season, so spend some time with the family, a little holiday, get away from everything, then right back to work. Right back to getting ready for the season and just go home and relax for the first month or so.”

One of Walker’s consistent linemates, Chander Stephenson, also finds himself in this group of restricted free agents. The center from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan had career highs in every statistic but had a stretch at the end of the season where he went goalless in 25 games. “That’s kind of every player ever season,” he said about the scoring drought. “They’ll hit a little bump, but you just gotta stay with it, as cliche as it sounds. You gotta grind through it as much as you can. One’s going to eventually go in whether it’s a shot off your head, off your butt, anything like that, you just gotta stay with it.”

Another player who had to stay with it was Liam O’Brien, who had a career year of his own. Before this season, O’Brien never finished a year with more than 16 points in one year. O’Brien almost doubled that with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists). The 22-year-old was held scoreless in his first nine games of the season but found a groove midway through November. During an 18-game stretch, O’Brien scored five goals and 13 assists for 18 points.

“It was nice to have a good year,” said O’Brien. “I felt like I developed a lot this year. I’ve gotten a lot of help from my teammates and the coaching staff. But at the same time, it’s not about points or anything like that; it’s about winning.”

That stretch earned him a recall to Washington at the start of January, playing one game for the Caps. But almost immediately after his re-assignment, the scoring dried up. Following two games with an assist in each, the forward went scoreless in six and only had five goals and five assists in his final 34 games, including going scoreless in six playoff games. Those struggles found him sitting with the scratches to end the year. “That was frustrating, but at the same time, it’s a team. You gotta leave your ego at the door.”

As for free agency, that’s not a focus of O’Brien’s at this time. “People have been asking me ‘how do you feel, how do you feel?’ And I feel just like last year; I’m disappointed right now. At the same time, I’m going to go home, relax, be with my family.”

Another player with highs in goals, assists, and points was Christian Djoos, who had a breakout year for the Bears. The Swedish defenseman had 58 points and 13 goals for the Chocolate and White, good for third best in the league amongst defensemen. “I had a good year, a little bit better than I expected when I came here at the start of the season,” said Djoos. “I’m happy now, but it’s too bad we didn’t make it long into the playoffs.”

His only recall to Washington came to practice with the team over the all-star break, but the 22-year-old would like to stay in Capitals’ system. “I would like to stay in the organization. It’s a great organization for a young guy. We’ll see what happens, it’s a big summer coming up, and hopefully I can come back.”