Bears Re-sign Matt Strome for 2026-27 Season

August 11, 2026

The Hershey Bears have announced that the club has re-signed forward Matt Strome to an American Hockey League contract for the 2026-27 season. The announcement was made by Hershey Bears vice president of hockey operations Bryan Helmer.

Strome, 27, is forever part of the history books in Hershey as he scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals vs. Coachella Valley to give Hershey its 13th Calder Cup title. Strome is set to enter his fifth season with the Bears in 2026-27, and in his tenure with the club, he's helped Hershey to back-to-back Calder Cup titles in 2023 and 2024, a regular-season championship, and two Atlantic Division titles.

The native of Mississauga, Ontario posted 23 points (8g, 15a) in 55 games last season with the Bears. Strome set new career highs in game-winning goals (2), assists, and points while serving as one of the club's alternate captains. Strome skated in his 300th professional game on Nov. 7 vs. Toronto, and overall, the Bears posted a 14-4-1-0 record when he recorded a point in the 2025-26 campaign. He also added one assist in six playoff games.

Strome has improved his stat line in each of his four seasons with Hershey, and he recorded 20-plus points in each of his past three campaigns. He has played a large role in the club's penalty kill, which was the best in the AHL during the 2023-24 campaign (87.7%), and earned a top-10 finish in 2024-25 (83.6%, 8th).

The veteran forward has appeared in 198 career games with Hershey, collecting 70 points (25g, 45a). After serving as a Black Ace during Hershey's run to the Calder Cup title in 2023, he has gone on to appear in 29 playoff games with the Bears, adding nine points (2g, 7a). Prior to joining the Bears, Strome spent parts of four seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In his AHL career, he has tallied 93 points (33g, 60a) in 289 games.

The 6'4", 206-pound forward has also appeared in 57 career ECHL contests with the Reading Royals and Greenville Swamp Rabbits, accumulating 34 points (15g, 19a).

Strome was selected in the fourth round, 106th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2017 NHL Draft. He made his NHL preseason debut with the Capitals on Sept. 25, 2025 in a game versus the Flyers that was played in Hershey at GIANT Center. Strome skated alongside his brother Dylan, while the Capitals also dressed Aliaksei and Ilya Protas, giving Washington's lineup two sets of brothers, something the NHL hasn't seen in the regular season since 2002.

The Bears open the 2026-27 season, presented by Penn State Health, at GIANT Center on Saturday, Oct. 3. The puck drops on the club's 89th season in the AHL at 6 p.m. that evening as they host the Charlotte Checkers. For season ticket information, visit HersheyBears.com.