Hershey adds two defensemen to bolster blue line depth for 2026-27

Hershey kept building its 2026-27 roster by signing defensemen Jérémie Biakabutuka and Rhett Parsons to American Hockey League contracts, a two-for-one move that adds depth where contenders can least afford gaps. The Bears did not need a splash to make the point: the back end still matters, and Hershey wanted more than one answer waiting in the pipeline.

The pairing says a lot about how the Bears want to defend their season before it starts. In the AHL, blue-line depth is not just about surviving injuries. It is about absorbing the churn that comes with NHL recalls, keeping penalty-kill roles covered, and making sure a team can still move pucks cleanly when pairings change. Signing two defensemen together gives Hershey more competition for ice time and more flexibility if the organization needs to shift responsibilities during the year.

It also fits the way Hershey has handled the offseason overall. The club has tracked its 2026 moves on an offseason player tracker, and the Biakabutuka and Parsons additions sit alongside other roster decisions that have shaped the 2026-27 picture for months. Hershey re-signed forward Grant Cruikshank on March 9, then brought back forward Sam Bitten on April 10. Before that, on Nov. 3, 2025, the Bears announced a pair of transactions that involved defenseman Corey Schueneman and Bitten.

That pattern matters because Hershey has not waited to patch holes later. It has been stacking pieces early, which usually tells you the front office wants the camp roster to look close to finished before the season gets serious. On a team that expects to contend, that kind of planning is as important as any single signing: it reduces the risk that one promotion or one injury turns into a scramble.

Bears Hockey Nation described Biakabutuka and Parsons as giving the club “some great size” and depth options, which fits the way Hershey has built around structure rather than star power. The Bears already know what the AHL grind looks like. This move gives them more bodies, more balance, and fewer reasons to panic when the blue line starts getting tested.