GOALTENDERS GARIN BJORKLUND AND SETH EISELE JOIN HERSHEY BEARS

Tuesday, May 13th

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Washington Capitals and AHL's Hershey Bears, announced today that goaltenders Garin Bjorklund and Seth Eisele have joined the Hershey Bears. The Bears are currently competing in the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs.

Bjorklund, 22, has been reassigned by Washington from South Carolina to Hershey. He is in his third season of professional hockey and the final year of an entry-level NHL contract with the Capitals. He spent the final three weeks of the 2024-25 regular season in Hershey, where he played in the first two AHL games of his career. Bjorklund went 2-0 as a Bear and posted an impressive 1.49 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.

A native of Calgary, AB, Bjorklund finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 21-4-3 record as a Stingray in 29 appearances. The 6-2 174-pound netminder had a 2.02 goals against average and a .927 save percentage for South Carolina this season. Bjorklund won his first professional playoff start on April 18 against the Orlando Solar Bears. The Capitals selected Bjorklund in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Before turning pro, Bjorklund spent parts of four seasons with the Western Hockey League's Medicine Hat Tigers, appearing in 96 career WHL games.

The Bears have recalled Eisele, 26, who signed an AHL contract with them on November 12 after beginning the 2024-25 season on an ECHL deal with South Carolina. Eisele is in his first season of professional hockey and made his AHL debut for the Bears on April 19, stopping 16 of 20 shots in a 4-3 loss against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The 6-5 201-pound goaltender appeared in 31 games for the Stingrays this regular season and compiled a 19-10-1 record in the regular season. The Stillwater, Minnesota native had a shutout sequence of 155 minutes and 17 seconds to begin his professional career and earned three shutouts for the Stingrays this season. Eisele went 1-1 in two playoff starts for South Carolina and led all Stingray netminders with a .929 save percentage and a 2.35 goals against average in this year's ECHL playoffs.

Before turning pro, Eisele played 42 games of NCAA hockey over five seasons, split between Lake Superior State University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. In 2023-24, Eisele helped Omaha qualify for the 16-team NCAA Division I national tournament.