- Goaltender Hunter Shepard signed a one-year deal with KHL club Barys Astana
- The move reunites him with five former Hershey Bears teammates in Kazakhstan
- Read below for the full breakdown on Shepard’s overseas move
Hunter Shepard is taking his career overseas.
Barys Astana of the KHL announced it signed the 30-year-old goaltender to a one-year contract, per Pro Hockey Rumors. The deal had been reported as close for the better part of a week before Astana made it official, and it closes the book on a two-year stretch that dropped Shepard from an elite AHL starter to a third-string depth piece.
He won’t be short on familiar faces in Kazakhstan. Five former Hershey Bears already sit on Astana’s roster for 2026-27: Logan Day, Jake Massie, Chase Priskie, Mason Morelli, and Garrett Pilon.
Hershey is where Shepard did his best work. He won back-to-back Calder Cups in 2022-23 and 2023-24, adding a playoff MVP and a Goalie of the Year award along the way.
The last two seasons went the other direction. Shepard made just one NHL appearance in 2024-25 and spent most of the year buried as a third-stringer with AHL Belleville. Montreal grabbed him after the trade deadline for depth at AHL Laval, where he again saw little action.
His numbers told the story. Shepard posted a 3.42 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage across 19 games, well off his career marks of 2.38 and .910 in 137 outings.
Undrafted out of Minnesota-Duluth, Shepard signed with Washington’s farm team in 2020 and earned an NHL contract the next year, though he barely dressed for the Capitals.
Steady playing time in Astana isn’t a guarantee either. Two of the club’s three goalies from last season are back, and Shepard steps in as the import netminder in place of former Dallas prospect Adam Scheel. A strong run in the KHL could put him back on the North American radar next summer.
