MVP goaltender Hunter Shepard's KHL move is really a Hershey reunion
Photo credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
Hunter Shepard is bound for the KHL's Barys Astana, yet the real story sits in a dressing room far removed from the Montreal Canadiens.
Russian outlet Sila Sporta reported the 30-year-old goaltender is close to a one-year deal to become the Kazakhstan club's starter.
Shepard spent last season in the Canadiens organization, mostly with the Laval Rocket, after a March trade brought him over from Ottawa.
His NHL time never stuck. He has five career games with Washington and one relief outing for Ottawa, a January loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
The goodbyes are already rolling in for a player fans in two countries came to know.
The Hershey band is getting back together
Shepard was the starting goaltender for the Hershey Bears during their back-to-back Calder Cup titles in 2023 and 2024.
He earned playoff MVP honors in 2023 and the Baz Bastien Award as the AHL's top goaltender in 2024.
His 2024 numbers were absurd, a 1.76 goals-against average and .929 save percentage across 34 games, both league bests.
Now he walks into a Barys Astana room stocked with former teammates.
Jake Massie was on both title teams and Mason Morelli won the 2023 Cup, while Chase Priskie, Logan Day and Garrett Pilon all logged time in Hershey too.
A dynasty rebuilt in Kazakhstan
The clustering is no accident.
Barys and Dinamo Minsk sit outside Russia, so they can carry more import players than KHL clubs based inside it.
That loophole has let Barys quietly collect Hershey's championship core over two summers, and Shepard is the goaltender who anchored it.
Fellow Cup winner Mike Vecchione already spent last season in Astana, laying the groundwork.
For Montreal, losing a fringe NHL netminder barely registers.
For the KHL, an entire AHL dynasty is reassembling in Astana, with its Cup-winning goalie completing the set.
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