Photo: Tori Hartman
We continue our prospect review and forecast series with a review and forecast for goaltender Parker Milner. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page on the top menu or right here.)
VITALS
Parker Milner, 6’-1”, 196 pounds, is a 28-year-old goalie who has primarily played in the ECHL, mostly with the South Carolina Stingrays. He has also played in a few games for the Hershey Bears during the last three years. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native was never drafted and signed with the Hershey Bears as a free agent on July 6, 2016. On February 24, 2019, he signed his first contract with the Caps and was basically signed to provide organizational depth for them. It is a two-way contract, for $650,000, when playing in the NHL and $60,000 if he plays in the minors. Milner will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2020.
CAREER
Milner played one season for the Waterloo Black Hawks in the United States Hockey League, a junior hockey league in the USA. He played four seasons for Boston College before graduating in 2013. As previously noted, Milner was never drafted and started his professional career with the Stockton Thunder for the 2013-14 season. He played a few games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the AHL that season as well.
In 2014-15, he played with another ECHL team, the Quad City Mallards, and one game for the Iowa Wild. In 2015-16, he played for the Missouri Mavericks in the ECHL and a few games with Bridgeport.
In 2016-17, he joined the Caps organization, playing primarily with the South Carolina Stingrays, but played in a few games with the Bears as well. The 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons were similar, as he primarily played with South Carolina, but got into a few games with the Bears.
In the 2017-18 season, Milner was named the ECHL goaltender of the year following a 28-7-3 record with a 1.86 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.
2018-2019 SEASON SUMMARY
Milner played in 40 games for the South Carolina Stingrays during the 2018-19, had a 2.95 GAA, a save percentage of .912 and a 19-17-3 record. He played three games for the Hershey Bears and was 2-1-0 with a GAA of 2.28 and a save percentage of .931. He played in 5 playoff games for the Stingrays and was 1-3-1, with a GAA of 2.74 and a save percentage of .914.
2018-2018 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS
The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Parker Milner during the 2018-2019 season. You can find all of our monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.
October
Parker Milner was released from Capitals training camp on September 22 and reported to Hershey. He was later re-assigned to South Carolina to start the season, but was recalled by the Bears on October 18 (here) for two days to provide a backup roll while Ilya Samsonov was dealing with a minor injury. Milner finished the month of October with a 3-2-0 record, a 3.85 goals-against and a .880 save percentage. Milner was re-called by Hershey on October 31 to back up Samsonov after it was reported that Vitek Vanecek was dealing with an injury.
Trending: Same
November
Milner had a very busy but very productive month of November. He was recalled by the Bears on on 10/31 (here) due to an injury to Vitek Vanecek. In his first game against Hartford on November 4, he stopped 32 of 33 shots he faced (more here). In his next game against the Cleveland Monsters he stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced. He played in three games for the Bears and did very well, going 2-1-0 with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Milner was re-assigned to the South Carolina Stingrays on November 20. Milner is 5-4-0 with a 3.26 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage in nine games played with the South Carolina Stingrays this season.
Trending: Up
December
It was announced on December 16 that Milner suffered an injury and would be out 2-6 weeks. In 13 games played so far this season for the Stingrays, Milner is 8-5-0 with a .900 save percentage.
Trending: Same
January
Milner spent most of January dealing with an injury. In his first game action since December 8, Milner stopped 36 shots in his return to action on January 27 and helped the Stingrays hold off their in-state rival, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits by a score of 2-1. On the season, Milner is 9-5-0 with a 3.00 GAA average and a .909 save percentage.
Trending: Same
February
Milner signed a contract with the Washington Capitals on February 24, for the league minimum of $650,000, good through the end of the season. He was previously under contract with the Hershey Bears. Milner continues to be the primary starter for the Stingrays, since returning from injury in January. On the season, he is 11-13-2, with a 3.07 Goals-Against Average and a .908 save percentage.
Trending: Same
March
Milner signed a contract with the Washington Capitals on February 24, for the league minimum of $650,000, good through the end of the season. He was previously under contract with the Hershey Bears. Milner continues to be the primary starter for the Stingrays, since returning from injury in January. On the season, he is 11-13-2, with a 2.97 Goals-Against Average and a .910 save percentage, both up a tick since February.
Trending: Same
April
Milner finished out the regular season with a record of 19-17-3 in 40 games. He had a save percentage of .912 and a Goals Against Average of 2.95.
He played in 5 games in the first round of the ECHL playoffs where the team won 1 game, lost 3 games in regulation and 1 game in overtime with a GAA of 2.74 and a save percentage of .914.
HIGHLIGHTS
PLAYER FORECAST
Milner will likely play for the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL, with occasional callups with either Vanecek or Samsonov are injured or have been called up to the Caps. He would likely not be called up to the Caps unless there were numerous injuries to goalies.
RELATED ARTICLES
Hershey Bears Beat Hartford Wolf Pack 2-1 (SO), Parker Milner Shines In Goal
Bears Recall Parker Milner From Hershey
Capitals Recall Parker Milner, Re-assign Samsonov To Hershey
By Diane Doyle
