The Medicine Hat News is reporting that Washington Capitals prospects Dru Krebs and Garin Bjorklund will leave for Hershey following the Medicine Hat Tigers final game on Friday.

Goaltender Garin Bjorklund and defenseman Dru Krebs will join the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League this weekend after playing against the Edmonton Oil Kings, game 68 of the Tigers season.

The Capitals drafted Bjorklund 179th overall in 2020 and took Krebs 176th overall in 2021. Both attended training camp last September with the Capitals before returning to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Krebs said it will be a really fun experience and said he hasn’t been promised a lineup spot or anything, but is looking forward to potentially playing some professional hockey.

“Just practice, kind of be around the guys and see what they’re doing and kind of get a new breath of fresh air,” Krebs said. “So it’s gonna be really cool to see, it’s my dream to play professional hockey, then to be able to practice with those guys is really an eye opener and kind of see what I need to do to get to the next level.”

Krebs said he’s excited to have the chance to experience pro hockey with Bjorklund by his side as they did in the fall. Bjorklund agreed and said he and “Dru-ster” have been good buddies for the past few years and have leaned on one another.

“It’s nice to go down there with a buddy and check things out, check out Hershey,” Bjorklund said. “When we were in Washington we checked out Washington and the White House. It was nice to kind of have a buddy down there and enjoy it, enjoy the experience with someone.”

It’s been a tough season for the Medicine Hat Tigers. They sit in last place in the Eastern Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL) with a record of 11-52-3-1.

Bjorklund has been the number one starter for the Tigers this season and taken the brunt of the Tigers’ sub-par performance, going 8-35-1 with a .876 save percentage and a 4.29 goals against average.

Krebs has four goals and 15 assists in 65 games played this season for the Tigers.

The Bears have five more games on the regular season schedule after Friday and are in a position to head to the playoffs, sitting fourth in their division. The change of scenery will be huge for the pair of Tigers.

By JonSorensen