Capitals Activate Charlie Lindgren From Injured Reserve
The Capitals announced Monday that they’ve activated goaltender Charlie Lindgren from injured reserve. Washington loaned goaltender Garin Bjorklund to AHL Hershey in the corresponding move, keeping their active roster at the 23-player limit.
After injury troubles derailed both Lindgren and starter Logan Thompson before the Olympic break, the Caps will have both of their NHL options on hand coming out of it. Lindgren was banged up in a Jan. 29 win over the Red Wings and sat out the following four games with a lower-body injury.
His play has experienced a steep decline since making a career-high 50 starts in 2023-24, leading Washington to an unexpected playoff berth. He was still used virtually in tandem with Thompson last season, even as his save percentage fell to a .896 mark. Further decline here in 2025-26 has bumped him back into a traditional backup role behind a Vezina Trophy candidate in Thompson, though. He’s made 17 starts compared to Thompson’s 39 while churning out a career-worst .884 SV% and 3.37 GAA. While he’s faced a more difficult workload than Thompson in terms of expected goals against, his GSAx is still in the red at -2.0, per MoneyPuck.
With two more years left on a still pretty fresh extension at a $3MM cap hit, though, the Caps are committed. That’s especially considering the lack of inspiring minor-league options or prospects waiting to take a job from him. That includes Bjorklund, who sits fourth on Washington’s depth chart behind Thompson, Lindgren, and veteran AHL starter Clay Stevenson. Bjorklund, 23, was a sixth-round pick by the Caps in 2020 and has put up great ECHL numbers the past two years, but has struggled up a level in Hershey. In 12 games this season, he’s put up a 3.47 GAA, .881 SV%, and a 4-5-3 record with one shutout.
Capitals Announce Several Roster Moves
The Capitals will be without a key forward for the next little while. Head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News that center Connor McMichael is out week-to-week due to an upper-body injury, keeping him out through next month’s Olympic break. The team subsequently announced that he has been placed on injured reserve and in a corresponding move, forward Bogdan Trineyev has been recalled from AHL Hershey. Additionally, goaltender Charlie Lindgren has also been placed on IR with netminder Garin Bjorklund also being recalled from Hershey.
The 25-year-old had played in all 55 games this season before today’s news. McMichael isn’t producing at the same level as he was last season when he had a career-best 26 goals and 57 points but he was on pace to set a new personal best in assists. Overall, he has eight goals and 23 assists while moving back to playing center regularly after spending most of last season on the wing.
This is certainly an important season for McMichael, who is in the final year of his bridge deal that carries a $2.1MM cap charge, a number that also serves as his qualifying offer. With arbitration rights for the first time, he’ll be looking to land a long-term contract so getting healthy and bouncing back for the stretch run will be crucial, especially with Washington on the outside looking in at a playoff spot.
Meanwhile, Silber also relays that defenseman Matt Roy remains listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He was also moved to injured reserve today, creating the roster opening to keep goaltender Clay Stevenson up with the team as they used their last 48-hour emergency goaltender exemption to bring him up on Thursday. Roy last suited up last Saturday, meaning that if the Caps backdated his placement, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Tuesday when they’re set to take on the Islanders.
As for Trineyev, this is his third recall of the season. The 23-year-old got into two games with Washington during his first two stints and is still looking for his first career NHL point. However, he has done well with the Bears, notching nine goals and 12 assists in 32 games, putting him one point shy of last year’s total in 30 fewer games. That was enough to earn him a two-year extension from the Capitals earlier this month. Either he or Sonny Milano will take McMichael’s place in the lineup today versus Carolina.
When it comes to the goaltenders, Lindgren was able to get through Thursday’s game against Detroit but needed assistance to get off the ice following the shootout. While there’s no word on how long he’ll be out, the placement means he’ll be out until after the Olympic break. Through 18 games this season, Lindgren has struggled, putting up a 3.37 GAA along with a .884 SV%, both well below the league average.
With Logan Thompson’s availability for tonight also in question, Bjorklund will serve as insurance if Thompson is unable to suit up. The 23-year-old has split his season between Hershey and ECHL South Carolina. In 11 games with the former, he has a 3.43 GAA and a .879 SV%. However, his numbers in seven contests with the Stingrays are much better, checking in at 2.37 and .929, respectively.
Following these five roster moves, Washington’s roster now stands at the maximum of 23.
Capitals Activate Charlie Lindgren, Assign Garin Bjorklund To AHL
The Capitals have made a pair of roster moves between the pipes heading into tonight’s game against Winnipeg. The team announced that goaltender Charlie Lindgren has been activated off injured reserve. To make room on the active roster, Garin Bjorklund has been assigned back to AHL Hershey; the roster remains full at 23 players.
Lindgren was placed on injured reserve back on Sunday, retroactive to December 5th so he winds up missing just the minimum amount of action. The 31-year-old has played in 10 games so far this season, putting up a 2.90 GAA and a .893 SV%, numbers that are slightly worse compared to a year ago. His best season came back in 2023-24 when he had a 2.67 GAA, a .911 SV%, and a league-best six shutouts in 50 games but was relegated to backup status when Washington acquired Logan Thompson at the 2024 draft.
As for Bjorklund, he received his first NHL recall on Monday but ultimately didn’t see any game action. The 23-year-old is in his fourth professional season with the first three primarily being spent with ECHL South Carolina. That hasn’t been the case this year, however, as he has only played for Hershey so far, posting a 3.01 GAA along with a .895 SV% in nine games.
Capitals Place Ryan Leonard And Charlie Lindgren On IR, Recall Two
12/11/2025: The Capitals issued an official update to Leonard’s status today, writing that Leonard “sustained a shoulder injury” during the Dec. 5 game against the Ducks, and that “his projected recovery time is approximately 3-4 weeks.” The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber called it a “positive update” for the Capitals, due to the fact that it does not appear Leonard will need surgery.
12/7/2025: The Washington Capitals this morning announced a series of transactions: they have placed forward Ryan Leonard and netminder Charlie Lindgren on IR, and recalled forward Bogdan Trineyev and goalie Clay Stevenson from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
Both IR placements are retroactive to Friday, meaning the earliest they’ll be able to return is Dec. 12.
The biggest name in these transactions is that of Leonard, the No. 8 overall pick at the 2023 draft and one of the Capitals’ top young players. Leonard was on the wrong end of a hit from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba in the team’s game Dec. 5, and appears to have suffered an upper-body injury as a result. Head coach Spencer Carbery said today that Leonard will miss “an extended period of time” with his injury.
Since the game, members of the Capitals, including Carbery and star forward Tom Wilson, have expressed frustration at Trouba’s hit on Leonard. Carbery said today of the hit: “it looks old school to me, like hunting a player that’s in a vulnerable spot.”
Wilson was critical of Trouba, saying the Ducks veteran “knows exactly what he was doing” and adding that Leonard was “in a vulnerable spot” when he was hit. Wilson has himself been suspended multiple times in the past for illegal checks, including a 20-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head delivered in a 2018 preseason contest.
Losing Leonard to IR as a result of Trouba’s hit is an unfortunate development for the Capitals. The rookie has impressed to start 2025-26, scoring 18 points in 29 games. His blend of competitiveness and skill is one many teams covet, and a combination of traits the Capitals have benefited from greatly whenever he’s been on the ice.
The forward the Capitals recalled to fill Leonard’s spot on the roster, Trineyev, isn’t likely going to be able to match what Leonard is able to contribute on a nightly basis. The 23-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut. He scored 22 points in 62 AHL games last season, but has seen his production tick upward so far this year. Trineyev has 12 points in 16 games for Hershey so far in 2025-26. Standing 6’3″, 206 pounds, Trineyev may at least be able to replace some of the physical edge Leonard provides, even if he is less likely to match Leonard’s offense.
Lindgren last played Dec. 3 and has been dealing with an upper-body injury. The 31-year-old is in his fourth season in Washington, and has established himself as a quality full-time NHLer in the American capital. He played a career-high 50 games in 2023-24, posting a .911 save percentage. His performance that season earned him a third-place Vezina Trophy vote and a fifth-place Hart Trophy vote, coming from The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber who covers the Capitals.
Lindgren hasn’t been quite as good since that point, ceding the No. 1 role in Washington to Logan Thompson. Lindgren has a .893 save percentage in 10 games this season and posted an .896 in 39 games last year. Lindgren’s replacement on the NHL roster while he’s on IR is Stevenson. Stevenson is part of a tandem with Garin Bjorklund in Hershey, and has impressed thus far in his AHL career.
He has a .910 save percentage in 11 games this season, and while he was not as good in 2024-25, he had a .922 in 36 starts as an AHL rookie in 2023-24. Stevenson has played in one career NHL game to this point, an April 17 contest last season where he made 33 saves in a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Capitals Sign EBUG Parker Milner To PTO For Friday’s Game
The Capitals won’t have backup Charlie Lindgren available for their road game tonight against the Ducks due to an upper-body injury, the team announced. Due to the late nature of the development and the inability to get a netminder from AHL Hershey to the West Coast in time for the game, they’ve signed retired netminder Parker Milner to a professional tryout to dress as the backup to Logan Thompson.
Milner isn’t nearly as inexperienced as recent EBUG folk heroes like David Ayres or Scott Foster. The new CBA introduced legislation that mandated teams must now employ an emergency backup as a team employee, rather than the previous system of the league having one name sit at the arena every night to enter action for either team if necessary. These can’t be names with NHL experience, nor can they have played pro hockey in the last three years, but they can be relatively fresh names who routinely serve as extra practice goalies for the club to stay fresh.
Milner, 35, last played in the 2019-20 season but is a familiar face to the Capitals organization. He spent the last four years of his career as a minor-league farmhand, splitting time between Hershey and ECHL South Carolina, and was even signed to an NHL contract in the latter half of the 2018-19 campaign so that he could serve as the Caps’ emergency third goalie for that year’s playoffs.
The Pittsburgh native was an accomplished collegiate netminder, logging a .919 SV%, 2.23 GAA, six shutouts, and a 64-20-5 record in 93 appearances across four seasons for Boston College from 2009 to 2013. He was the backup when they won the national championship in 2010 and helped them to three consecutive Hockey East titles. In his junior season in 2012, his first as the starter, he took them back to the national championship and was named tournament MVP.
While he never reached the NHL, he did have a successful pro career. He was a two-time ECHL All-Star and won the league’s Goalie of the Year honors while with South Carolina in 2018. He wrapped up his pro career with a .916 SV%, 2.44 GAA, 19 shutouts, and a 143-79-17 record in 245 ECHL appearances. He also got in 30 reps in the AHL, logging a .902 SV% and 3.02 GAA with a 13-12-2 record.
Metro Notes: Chinakhov, Capitals, Brunicke, Kindel
Yegor Chinakhov was vocal in his disapproval of head coach Dean Evason’s deployment of him earlier this preseason, and now it appears Chinakhov’s disapproval has extended to the player’s off-ice situation. According to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Chinakhov has fired his longtime agent, Shumi Babaev and hired Rick Komarow of Maverick Sports Management. Portzline noted that Komarow is the agent of Chinakhov’s teammate and fellow Russian Dmitry Voronkov, and also represents four other Russians on NHL contracts: Pavel Dorofeyev, Danila Yurov, Sergei Murashov, and Nikita Novikov.
Whether this change in representation will include a retraction of Chinakhov’s offseason trade request is unclear, though the core reasoning behind the trade request (Chinakhov’s lack of ice time under coach Evason) has not changed. Per Portzline, Chinakhov spent most of the last week of practice “skating as the extra forward” and therefore appears to be unlikely to have a lineup spot for the team’s season-opening game against the Nashville Predators. The 2020 first-round pick scored a career-high 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games under former coach Pascal Vincent in 2023-24, but saw his ice time decline under Evason. It’s worth noting that the Blue Jackets’ fortunes as a team have improved markedly since Evason’s hire, meaning there is unlikely to be much organizational pressure for Evason’s apparent stance on the player to change, making an eventual trade appear to be, at this point, potentially the most suitable outcome for all parties involved. It remains to be seen whether Chinakhov’s swap in representation changes things.
More notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- The Washington Capitals defensemen Matt Roy and Dylan McIlrath suffered injuries, head coach Spencer Carbery said yesterday. (via NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti) According to Carbery, the pair of blueliners is not believed to have suffered “super significant” or long-term injuries, though their ailments (upper-body for Roy, lower-body for McIlrath) could keep them out for a week or two. The two players are still being evaluated, but should they end up missing a week or two of the season, Washington would need to find a player to fill Roy’s second-pairing slot in the meantime – 25-year-old Declan Chisholm, who has some experience playing the right side, appears the likeliest candidate.
- The Athletic’s Josh Yohe wrote yesterday that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ bevy of roster moves indicates that teenagers Benjamin Kindel and Harrison Brunicke are set to make the team’s season-opening NHL roster. While a potential waiver claim could change things, it does appear as things stand that the pair of top Penguins prospects will make their NHL debuts on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. As Brunicke’s brilliance this preseason has been covered extensively, the bigger surprise is Kindel, the team’s top pick from the 2025 draft. It now appears as though the Penguins will get the chance to see how Kindel’s game holds up against the physicality of NHL regular-season competition, though it remains unlikely he’ll remain on the team’s roster for the full season. A handful of games before being reassigned to the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen remains the likeliest outcome here, which would still, of course, be a valuable and positive step in Kindel’s development.
Charlie Lindgren Expected To Start Game Four For Capitals
Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery didn’t provide an injury update on Logan Thompson today, but did seem to clear a path for Charlie Lindgren to start game four against the Canadiens on Sunday, per NHL.com reporter Dan Rosen.
Thompson had a rough game three in multiple ways. He not only let in five goals but also collided with teammate Dylan Strome in the third period that resulted in his exit from the game. While his exact injury isn’t known, it appeared Thompson may have suffered a leg injury (though he also seemed to hold his head following the collision). And while Carbery didn’t provide an update on Thompson’s status, he did seem to clarify who would be between the pipes for game four. As Rosen notes, Carbery told reporters, “It’ll be next man up for us and we know ‘Chucky’ Lindgren. He’s done a great job. He’s a great goaltender.”
While Lingren provides a solid veteran option for Washinton for the short term, his .894 save percentage this past season, in addition to his lack of playoff experience (four career starts), probably isn’t inspiring many within the organization if Thompson does miss significant time.
And while Thompson also doesn’t own a lot of playoff experience (seven career starts), he is coming off of a Vezina-candidate regular season where we produced a 31-6-6 record to go along with a .910 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average. His return to health, as well as efficiency, will be key to Washington’s Stanley Cup aspirations. The 27-year-old owns a career .912 save percentage and a 137-87-38 record.
Capitals Sign Charlie Lindgren To Three-Year Extension
The Washington Capitals have both halves of their goaltending tandem signed beyond this season. According to a team announcement, the Capitals have signed netminder Charlie Lindgren to a three-year, $9MM contract extension.
Although Lindgren’s salary will nearly triple on this deal, it appears to be a solid bit of work from Capitals’ general manager, Chris Patrick. Washington will pay a combined $8.85MM to Lindgren and Logan Thompson next season, equating to 9.26% of the 2025-26 salary cap ceiling.
However, it’s reasonable to assume Lindgren missed a bigger payday. His first season with the Capitals was fairly generic, sporting a 13-11-3 record in 26 starts with a .899 SV% and 3.05 GAA. According to MoneyPuck, his -3.9 goals saved above average was good for 80th in the league, while his goaltending partner at the time, Darcy Kuemper, ranked 16th in the NHL with an 8.8. 
Due to injuries and poor play from Kuemper last season, Lindgren became the de facto starting netminder in Washington. In one of the most unprecedented seasons from a goaltender in recent memory, Lindgren managed a 25-16-7 record through 48 starts with a .911 SV%, a 2.67 GAA, and a league-leading six shutouts. His 10.5 GSAA ranked 16th in the NHL, helping Lindgren to an eighth-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting and a 12th-place finish as the league’s MVP.
Still, the Capitals desired to lighten Lindgren’s load this season by acquiring Thompson from the Vegas Golden Knights last summer. His 48 starts from the 2023-24 campaign nearly matched his total starts from the previous seven years combined, split between the Capitals, Montreal Canadiens, and St. Louis Blues.
Returning to a share of the crease this year, Lindgren’s production more closely resembles his output from two years ago rather than last year. The Lakeville, MN native has a 13-10-3 record through 27 starts with a .896 SV%, 2.70 GAA, and a -2.2 GSAA. Washington’s patience in signing Lindgren to an extension likely saved the organization a few million dollars compared to pursuing an extension in the summer months after his incredible 2023-24 campaign.
Photo courtesy of USA Sports Images.
Capitals Working On Extension With Charlie Lindgren
After getting a six-year, $35.1MM contract done with pending UFA netminder Logan Thompson on Monday, the Capitals are looking to keep the other half of their goaltending tandem from reaching the open market. Washington is working on an extension with Charlie Lindgren with a cap hit between $3.5MM and $4MM, Kevin Weekes of ESPN said Thursday night.
If past reports indicate, we’ll likely see the official word on a Lindgren extension within the next week. Things moved quickly after Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported last Friday that the Caps were increasing their efforts to reach a deal with Thompson. LeBrun said earlier in the month that the Capitals were wary of disrupting team chemistry by leaving one without an extension for too long, so it’s not surprising that Washington general manager Chris Patrick is quickly looking to get business wrapped up with Lindgren.
Lindgren is now set to earn more in a single season on his next deal than the total value of any of his previous NHL contracts, putting him in the same company as Thompson. Both began their professional careers as undrafted free-agent signings, but it took much longer for Lindgren to establish himself as an everyday NHL option. Now 31, Lindgren was a standout netminder at St. Cloud State University over a three-year run from 2013 to 2016 and landed an entry-level contract with the Canadiens as his junior year ended.
The Minnesota native made his NHL debut for the Habs to close out the year before spending most of the next five seasons as their No. 3 option, logging significant time in the AHL for their affiliates in St. John’s and Laval. His numbers started strong – he put up a .914 SV% in 48 games in his first AHL season and earned an All-Star Game appearance as a rookie. Things quickly went downhill from there, though. Lindgren failed to record a save percentage above .900 in each of the subsequent four campaigns, at least at the minor-league level. He’d gotten call-ups to Montreal every year and had a decent but unimpressive for the time .907 SV% and 3.00 GAA in 24 starts, paired with a 10-12-2 record over parts of five seasons.
Lindgren spent most of the shortened 2020-21 campaign on the Canadiens’ taxi squad, only making three AHL appearances for Laval. But after failing to land an everyday NHL role over the life of a three-year, $2.25MM extension he signed in 2018, he understandably opted not to return to Montreal upon reaching unrestricted free agency that summer. He headed west on his next deal, landing a two-way offer from the Blues on the open market.
St. Louis breathed new life into Lindgren’s game. It was more the organization at large – he spent most of his time on assignment to their AHL affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he exploded as one of the league’s top netminders with a 2.21 GAA, .925 SV%, three shutouts, and a 24-7-1 record in 34 games. He was also lights out in his few call-ups to the Blues, allowing just five goals on 118 shots (.958 SV%) in four starts and one relief appearance while compiling a spotless 5-0-0 record.
That led to renewed optimism that Lindgren could be an everyday NHL option, and the Capitals gave him a three-year, $3.3MM commitment to prove it in Washington. His first year was unimpressive, posting a .899 SV% and 3.05 GAA in 31 appearances as Darcy Kuemper‘s backup as the Caps missed the playoffs for the second time since 2007. However, the 2023-24 season amounted to Lindgren’s big break. He stole the starter’s crease from Kuemper midseason, tying for the league lead with six shutouts and complementing that with a .911 SV% and 2.67 GAA in 48 games. He finished eighth in Vezina Trophy voting and 12th in Hart Trophy voting as Washington snuck into the playoffs. Although they were quickly dispatched in four games by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers, he started all of them over Kuemper, who had won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche two years prior.
While Lindgren won’t be in Vezina consideration this season after firmly slipping behind Thompson on the depth chart, he’s still been an above-average tandem option. His .904 SV% and 2.51 GAA through 23 games are the exact numbers you’d expect from the median netminder given the defense in front of him, per MoneyPuck. Last season’s numbers were more than likely a flash in the pan. Still, he’s given the Capitals enough sample to prove he can be a reliable 1B option with Thompson, who’s quietly put up numbers akin to some of the league’s most highly-touted netminders over the last three seasons.
The Caps will have their goalies locked in for the next few seasons at a combined cap hit in the $9MM range, less than what elite established starters are beginning to earn on their own per season. That’s good business from Patrick as he now turns his attention toward the team’s extensive slate of other pending UFAs, including defenseman Jakob Chychrun and reliable depth center Nic Dowd.
Capitals Activate Charlie Lindgren, Assign Hunter Shepard To Minors
The Capitals will welcome back part of their goalie tandem tonight against Pittsburgh. The team announced that they have activated Charlie Lindgren off injured reserve and assigned Hunter Shepard to AHL Hershey.
The move effectively reverses the one made last weekend. At that time, Lindgren had just suffered an upper-body injury and the placement meant he’d miss at least a week. Fortunately for Washington, he’ll wind up only missing the minimum amount of time though he’ll serve as the backup and not the starter tonight.
Lindgren has been in a platoon with Logan Thompson this season and had a decent first half. Through his first 21 starts, he has a 2.65 GAA (down slightly from last year) along with a .900 SV%, numbers that are better than the NHL average. The 31-year-old is in the final season of his contract, one that carries a bargain $1.1MM price tag. He’s well-positioned to more than double that on the open market this summer barring a significant collapse in the second half.
As for Shepard, he didn’t see any action with Washington while on recall with Thompson shouldering the workload in Lindgren’s absence. The 29-year-old made his first NHL appearances last season, getting into four games while winning the Most Outstanding Goaltender award in the AHL. However, he didn’t play to that same level in the first half of this season as Shepard has a 2.68 GAA and a .898 SV% in 23 outings with the Bears so far.