South Carolina Stingrays Begin to Finalize Their Roster as They Prepare For Upcoming Season

Stingrays Media

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. –  The South Carolina Stingrays, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Washington Capitals and AHL's Hershey Bears, announced today the following roster updates:

Defensemen Jon McDonald, Michael Kim, and Benton Maass, and forward Tyson Empey have been loaned from Hershey to South Carolina.

Goaltender Garin Bjorklund has been reassigned by Washington from South Carolina to Hershey. McDonald initially signed an ECHL contract for the 2023-24 season with the Stingrays in August, but his contract was upgraded to an AHL deal with Hershey following impressive showings at the Capitals’ Rookie and Training Camps. In 2023,

McDonald skated in 10 games for the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye immediately following a five-year college hockey career. The 6’, 181-pound defenseman tallied 62 points (10 goals, 52 assists) in 145 NCAA games for the UMass Lowell River Hawks.

Kim and Maass return to South Carolina after anchoring the Stingrays blue line last season. Kim accumulated 41 points (9 goals, 32 assists) in 59 ECHL games last season, while Maass posted 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 60 ECHL games. 

Empey produced three points (one goal, two assists) in 16 AHL games with the Tucson Roadrunners during the 2022-23 season and added nine points (four goals, five assists) in 20 ECHL games with the Atlanta Gladiators. The 6’2”, 205-pound forward has logged 220 penalty minutes in 162 career professional hockey games split between the ECHL and AHL.

The Stingrays will open the 2023-24 season on October 21 at the North Charleston Coliseum against the Orlando Solar Bears at 6:05 p.m.2023-24 Single Game tickets are on sale now! Tickets to all 36 regular-season home games are available at the following link. Save money with group tickets! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248. For ticket information visit https://stingrayshockey.com/tickets