Hershey Bears Re-sign Forward Grant Cruikshank to AHL Contract

Grant Cruikshank is back under contract with Hershey, though published records differ on which season the deal covers. “The Hershey Bears announced on Tuesday that the club has re-signed former South Carolina Stingrays forward Grant Cruikshank to an American Hockey League contract for the 2025-26 season,” reads a June 17, 2025 report that also notes “The announcement was made by Hershey vice president of hockey operations Bryan Helmer.” A separate club release fragment distributed via OurSportsCentral is dated March 9, 2026 and states the Bears “have re‑signed forward Grant Cruikshank to an American Hockey League contract for the 2026‑27 season,” though that fragment is truncated and lacks full context.

The numbers that made Cruikshank interesting to Hershey are explicit. The 26-year-old, a left-shot center listed at 5-foot-11 and 193 pounds and a native of Delafield, Wisconsin, finished his NCAA career at St. Cloud State in 2022-23 leading the Huskies with 23 goals, a total that “ranked tied for third in the nation.” In the 2024-25 campaign he started with the South Carolina Stingrays and, before a recall, “led the club with 13 points (6-7-13) in 12 games,” prompting Hershey to bring him up.

Cruikshank’s AHL timeline in 2024-25 is spelled out in the reporting: he was recalled on Nov. 19, made his Hershey debut on Nov. 22 at Rochester against the Americans, and “scored his first goal as a Bear the next night at Syracuse against the Crunch.” He also “notched his first career AHL shorthanded tally on Jan. 7 versus Lehigh Valley and finished with a pair of game-winning goals for the Chocolate and White,” closing that season with Hershey totals of 31 games and seven points, a 5-2-7 line.

Career totals cited in the June 17, 2025 report give further context for his role: Cruikshank “has skated in 53 career AHL games with Toronto and Hershey, recording 11 points (6-5-11). He's posted 56 points (27-29-56) in 47 career ECHL games with Newfoundland and South Carolina.” Those figures underline why Hershey would lock down a 26-year-old who combines goal scoring at the ECHL level and situational AHL production, including shorthanded and game-winning strikes.

The reporting as supplied leaves one clear task: reconcile the June 17, 2025 re-signing that names 2025-26 and the March 9, 2026 club release fragment that names 2026-27. The June 17 piece attributes the announcement to Bryan Helmer; the March 9 fragment references a club release distributed via OurSportsCentral and points to Cruikshank’s 2025-26 contributions as the rationale, but the full release text is not included in the supplied materials. Until the Hershey transaction log or the full club release is produced, the roster impact is concrete: Cruikshank’s 5 goals, his shorthanded marker, and two game-winning goals in 31 AHL games are the reasons Hershey has continued to carry him on AHL contracts.