Capitals re-assign forward prospect Zac Funk to ECHL South Carolina Stingrays

Washington Capitals forward prospect Zac Funk was re-assigned to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays on Tuesday.

Funk, who began the 2024-25 season in the AHL, hasn’t suited up in a game with the Hershey Bears since December 22 and was without a point in his last five appearances.

Funk, playing in his rookie season professionally, was scratched in Hershey’s first seven games of the year before carving out a regular spot in the lineup in November and December. The 21-year-old winger played in 13 games and scored his first AHL goal and registered his first AHL point on November 16 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Funk registered only one other point, an assist, on November 30 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before eventually being subbed out of the lineup.

“Every player has to show us as an organization that you are gonna earn a spot on this team,” Todd Nelson said earlier in the season. “We’re the Hershey Bears. You have to earn your spot here. It’s just the way it is. We have to let the chips fall as they may.”

Funk will join fellow Capitals forward prospect Alexander Suzdalev in the ECHL. Suzdalev, who was sent to the Stingrays on October 31, has 18 points (7g, 11a) in his first 19 games with South Carolina.

Funk is in the Capitals organization after leading the entire CHL in goals during his final season in junior hockey. Funk scored 67 goals as he played on the same line with Capitals’ 2024 first-round pick Terik Parascak with the Prince George Cougars.

Funk signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Capitals on March 1.

Here’s the press release from the Hershey Bears:

ZAC FUNK RE-ASSIGNED TO SOUTH CAROLINA

Rookie has three points in 13 games with Hershey

(Hershey, PA–Jan. 7, 2025) – The Washington Capitals, the National Hockey League affiliate of the Hershey Bears, announced today that the club has re-assigned forward Zac Funk to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. The announcement was made by Washington senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick.

Funk, 21, has skated in 13 games with Hershey this season, posting three points (1g, 2a). He tallied his first career AHL points on Nov. 16 at Lehigh Valley, scoring a goal and an assist in a 6-3 win.

He recorded 123 points (67g, 56a) in 68 games with the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL) last season. Funk led the WHL in goals, power-play goals (31), plus/minus (+56) and ranked second in points and fourth in shots (323). He had eight hat tricks while serving as an alternate captain for Prince George, and he was named a finalist for WHL Player of the Year. In the playoffs, Funk posted 18 points (8g, 10a) in 15 games with the Cougars.

Funk was signed by the Capitals on March 1, 2024 to a three-year, entry-level contract.