Hershey is an interesting franchise -- always has been. Arguably the most successful franchise in the history of the AHL, they are usually built not on emerging prospects, but on career AHL'ers who are never going to get more than brief tastes of the NHL as emergency callups (current example: Lucas Johansen). The relatively few legitimate emerging prospects, or potential emerging prospects, that the Caps have playing in the US will play roles in Hershey of course. But those roles will be what they earn, and when crunch time comes Hershey won't hesitate to go to the more experienced players if they think that they provide the best chance for success. Part of that is probably the relative dearth of prospects that the Caps have playing in the U.S.
Right now, the Caps probably have 4 legitimate skater prospects at Hershey: Forwards McMichael, LaPierre, Protas, and defenseman Iorio, all 20-22 years of age. Hershey is rolling in the playoffs, and doing so with the first three as the # 1/2/3 Centers. But I noticed that Iorio started the first two games against current opponent Rochester, and then was replaced by a 26-year-old journeyman (Jake Massie) for games 3 and 4. Now quite possibly there is an injury situation I'm not aware of. But I thought it interesting that this was the one change that Hershey made in the series so far.
Another item to note is that Hunter Shepard is the playoff goalie - he's had virtually all the action. Fucale is nowhere to be seen. I wonder if the Caps are grooming him to be the backup goalie, and maybe thinking of moving on from Lindgren. FWIW, Shepard is age 27, Fucale 28.
