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Beck Malenstyn

Beck Malenstyn Loaned To AHL

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After explaining that Beck Malenstyn is close to a return yesterday, the Washington Capitals have loaned the young forward to the AHL today. Malenstyn will join the Hershey Bears, now that he has recovered from a finger injury.

Selected 145th overall in 2016, few would have been surprised if Malenstyn never made it to the NHL. After all, he wasn’t a dynamic offensive player in junior, reaching a career-high of 56 points. But the 6’3″ forward did make it, debuting for the Capitals in the 2019-20 season thanks to a hard-working, physical playstyle.

Now a few years later and the 24-year-old has 20 games under his belt, including five this season with the Capitals. He had two points in those five, before leaving a game at the beginning of November and sitting out ever since. He’ll now have to get back up to speed in the minor leagues but could be a potential call-up down the road for the Capitals.

With Tom Wilson nearing a return, Washington is starting to get healthy again and is already one of the hottest teams in the league. The club has won five straight and nine of ten as they climb up the Metropolitan Division standings.

Injury Notes: Avalanche, Gallagher, Moore, Malenstyn

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Although the Colorado Avalanche are comfortably in the Western Conference’s playoff picture at this point in the season, their 2022-23 campaign has been far from easy. Ravaged by a flood of injuries, we have rarely gotten to see an Avalanche squad hit the ice that closely resembles the team that won the Stanley Cup in the summer. Today, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar issued some injury updates on players to the media, including Altitude Sports’ Marc Moser.

According to Bednar, Gabriel Landeskog, Bowen Byram, and Josh Manson are unfortunately not close to returning from their injuries. He did deliver some good news as well, though, noting that franchise center Nathan MacKinnon is nearing a return, and that penalty-killing specialist Andrew Cogliano would be returning to the lineup. While the Avalanche still won’t be near 100% anytime soon, the positive developments regarding a few players are certainly encouraging.

Some other injury news:

  • The Montreal Canadiens are dealing with their own rash of injuries, currently missing veterans such as Brendan Gallagher, Mike Matheson, Sean Monahan, and David Savard. The Canadiens have said, via Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, that Gallagher is the only one of that group that will be joining the team for their trip to Florida, meaning Montreal could be getting a crucial veteran leader back in their lineup in the near future.
  • Trevor Moore will be out for tonight’s game as his Los Angeles Kings take on the Vegas Golden Knights, per LA Kings Insider’s Zach Dooley. Dooley also notes that Moore, who has 19 points in 37 games this season, could be out for the team’s game against Colorado as well.
  • Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters, including The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, that forward Beck Malenstyn is “close” to a return from his finger injury. The 24-year-old 2016 fifth-rounder has played in five NHL games so far this year and could be in a position to pass his career-high of 12 NHL games played in a season, a high he set last year.

Beck Malenstyn Undergoes Hand Surgery

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Washington Capitals forward Beck Malenstyn underwent surgery to stabilize a left-hand finger fracture, the team announced Friday afternoon. Malenstyn will be out of the lineup for six to eight weeks

Malenstyn sustained the injury three days ago in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The team placed him on injured reserve the following day, clearing some room for a group of AHL recalls. At this juncture, Malenstyn is eligible to be placed on long-term injured reserve if the team needs some additional salary cap wiggle room.

Projected to be a regular in AHL Hershey this season, Malenstyn got the call-up to the NHL in mid-October when forward Connor Brown suffered a potential season-ending ACL injury. A Capitals fifth-round draft selection in 2016, Malenstyn signed a two-year extension with the team this past offseason.

In five games up with Washington his season, Malenstyn registered a goal (his second in the NHL) and an assist. The 24-year-old has defied a good amount of adversity to even make it to the NHL as a semi-regular after missing the entire 2020-21 campaign due to injury.

Malenstyn is one of six Capitals forwards currently on IR or LTIR.

Washington Capitals Recall Sonny Milano, Place Three On Injured Reserve

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As announced in a team release today, the Washington Capitals have recalled forward Sonny Milano, forward Garrett Pilon, and defenseman Lucas Johansen from the Hershey Bears of the AHL. All three players will travel with the team to Detroit for the team’s game tomorrow against the Red Wings.

In a corresponding move, the team has also placed forward T.J. Oshie, defenseman John Carlson, and forward Beck Malenstyn on injured reserve. Forward Connor Brown was also moved to long-term injured reserve (LTIR) after undergoing potentially season-ending ACL surgery earlier this week.

Oshie is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury suffered last Saturday. He is technically eligible to return for Saturday’s home game against Arizona, but without a timeline, there’s no telling when he’ll be back. The fact that he was not moved to LTIR along with Brown is somewhat promising, suggesting that he may not be out for more than a few weeks.

Carlson also left the same game Saturday with a lower-body injury, although his status remains day-to-day. Assuming his injured reserve placement is retroactive, he could return Saturday against Arizona, but the IR placement is confirmation that he’ll miss his third straight game tomorrow against Detroit.

Malenstyn left last night’s overtime loss against Vegas with an upper-body injury. He was recalled to the team in mid-October in the absence of Brown.

After notching 34 points in 66 games last year as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, it was rather shocking that no team signed Milano before training camps started, and it was nearly as surprising when he cleared waivers when Washington signed him. In five games in the AHL, Milano’s notched two goals, an assist, and three points. He could potentially draw into the lineup in Malenstyn’s absence, although the team also had Connor McMichael as a healthy extra.

Pilon, 24, has five points in seven games to start the AHL season, his fifth with Hershey. Johansen, the 28th overall selection in 2016, missed the majority of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons due to injury and has a goal in six games with Hershey in 2022-23. The team had no extra healthy defensemen with Carlson out.

Connor Brown Out Long-Term; Washington Capitals Recall Beck Malenstyn

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With Evgeny Kuznetsov serving a suspension and Connor Brown unavailable due to injury, the Washington Capitals were forced to recall a forward. They have chosen Beck Malenstyn, who played 12 games for the team last season.

It is not clear yet how long Brown will be out, but the team told reporters including Samantha Pell of the Washington Post that it will be long-term. That isn’t an ideal situation for the team to be in, especially after losing Axel Jonsson Fjallby and Brett Leason to a roster crunch just a few days ago. That was a lot of the team’s depth, though they did add Sonny Milano on a one-year deal to help fill the cupboard back up.

Malenstyn, 24, has just 15 NHL appearances to his name and isn’t exactly an offensive force. The fifth-round pick scored just ten goals and 16 points in 65 games with the Hershey Bears last season but does offer a big body for the bottom-six. As everyone slides up, the Capitals have inserted Connor McMichael into the third-line center role for tomorrow’s game, while Conor Sheary jumps up to the top unit across from Alex Ovechkin and beside Lars Eller.

The team knows Kuznetsov will be back after his one-game suspension, but Brown’s absence will be noticeable. The versatile winger had averaged over 18 minutes through his first three games, most importantly as the team’s top penalty-killing forward. In fact, Kuznetsov was second on that list, meaning others will have to pick up the slack tomorrow night.

Washington Capitals Extend Beck Malenstyn

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A few minutes after announcing a contract for Brett Leason, the Washington Capitals have wrapped up another negotiation. This time it’s Beck Malenstyn signing a two-year extension. His deal will come in at a slightly lower average annual value of $762.5K, as Malenstyn will receive $750K in 2022-23 and $775K in 2023-24 at the NHL level. The other difference is that the first year of this contract is a two-way deal, which carries an AHL salary of $110K.

Malenstyn, 24, played 12 games for the Capitals this season, scoring his first NHL goal in the process. The 2016 fifth-round pick has 15 games total at that level and has spent the majority of his pro career to this point with the Hershey Bears. In 65 games there this season, he had ten goals and 16 points.

With a new contract in hand, Malenstyn will be another young forward fighting for minutes at training camp, while the Capitals try to sort out their lineup without Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom. The 6’3″ winger represents a big, physical presence for the bottom six but lacks much offensive upside, meaning his role with Washington will likely remain as a depth option.

Still, Capitals’ general manager Brian MacLellan is getting some offseason work done ahead of time and now has just five pending restricted free agents in the whole organization. Malenstyn would not have been eligible for arbitration and had basically no leverage, though landing some security in a two-year deal is a nice reward for the Hershey favorite.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Beck Malenstyn

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed one of their depth forwards, inking Beck Malenstyn to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K and pay Malenstyn $90K in the AHL.

For Malenstyn, just getting back on the ice will be a triumph after missing the entire season. The 23-year-old forward tore his Achilles tendon in December during offseason training, and was given a recovery timeline of six to eight months. That means he’ll be competing for a spot next season following a very long layoff and likely will need some time in the AHL to really get his game back on track.

That track had him in the Capitals lineup for three games during the 2019-20 season, though he did not register a point. The 6’3″ winger is likely going to top out as a fourth-line option in the NHL thanks to a lack of real scoring upside, but for the league minimum, he’ll be in consideration for a spot. Selected 145th overall in 2016, he scored 15 points in 46 AHL games the last time he was healthy enough to play.

Capitals Winger Beck Malenstyn Out Six To Eight Months

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With the Capitals needing to keep some low-priced players at the end of their roster, winger Beck Malenstyn was expected to push for a spot with Washington in training camp.  That won’t be the case now as the team announced (Twitter link) over the weekend that he will miss the next six-to-eight months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon.  The injury was sustained during offseason training.

The 22-year-old made his NHL debut last season, getting into three games with the Caps.  He was held off the scoresheet while collecting five hits but was invited back as part of their reserves for the postseason this past summer.  Malenstyn spent most of the season with AHL Hershey, putting up seven goals and eight assists in 46 games while playing an energy and penalty killing role which is what Washington will need from their depth options.  However, this timeline basically takes out his entire 2020-21 campaign before it even gets started.

Even with defenseman Michal Kempny out long-term after undergoing Achilles tendon surgery of his own which makes him LTIR-eligible, the Capitals will still have very limited cap space to work with to round out their roster.  As things stand, wingers Daniel Sprong, Shane Gersich, and Daniel Carr plus center Michael Sgarbossa are all likely in the mix for the 12th and 13th forward positions due to their low price tag and the fact they’ve had some NHL experience although GM Brian MacLellan could opt to add a veteran free agent to that mix as well.

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