Martin Fehervary

Martin Fehervary Trending Toward Playing In Preseason

September 23, 2025 at 1:02 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment

It’s looking highly likely that the Capitals will have defenseman Martin Fehervary available for their opening night lineup. Head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters today, including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, that he’s an option to play preseason contests as soon as this week .

Fehervary has been present at camp but skating in a non-contact jersey as he deals with some inflammation in his knee, the final remnants from season-ending meniscus surgery he underwent back in April. The 25-year-old regular in the Caps’ top six group of defenders sustained the corresponding injury in Washington’s penultimate game of the regular season, keeping him sidelined for their playoff run that came to an end in the second round against the Hurricanes. After spending the vast majority of the regular season as either John Carlson or Matt Roy’s left-hand man in Washington’s top four, his absence meant a regular role for former first-rounder Alexander Alexeyev, who subsequently left for the Penguins in free agency.

His health is an important storyline for the Caps, who have one of the deepest everyday defense lineups in the league but are lacking an excess of organizational depth past their top six. Fehervary’s absence lingering would have meant Washington was one injury away from having to give veteran minor-league mainstays Dylan McIlrath or Calle Rosen regular minutes, or giving another chance to still-developing prospects like Vincent Iorio. The Caps did make a move this summer to give themselves a more capable two-way option to have in their press box with everyone healthy, picking up Declan Chisholm from the Wild via trade.

But with Fehervary in the mix, he won’t be much of a factor, at least to start. His presence gives the Caps one of the more well-rounded left sides in the league with Jakob Chychrun and Rasmus Sandin manning the other two pairs. As far as Fehervary’s value goes, the 2018 second-rounder has been a quietly rock-solid top-four piece for a few years now. He recorded a career-high 25 points and a +18 rating in 2024-25, averaging 19 minutes per game while logging 150 blocks and 139 hits to rank second and third on the team, respectively. He’s arguably Washington’s most physically involved defender and signed a seven-year, $42MM extension at the beginning of free agency.

Snapshots: Capitals, Schmidt, Buium, Celebrini

September 21, 2025 at 11:46 am CDT | by Gabriel Foley Leave a Comment

Training camp updates are rolling in as many teams approach their first round of cuts. The most pertinent updates came for the Washington ahead of an early-morning scrimmage. Superstar Alex Ovechkin didn’t take the ice with the team as he continues to face a day-to-day, lower-body injury per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Silber also reported that forward Justin Sourdif and defenseman Martin Fehervary continue to not take contact during practice, and thus didn’t take part in Washington’s scrimmage.

None of Washington’s updates are cause for much concern. Ovechkin is expected to continue progressing towards a return, and be held out of action as a precaution. Ovechkin will return to his perennial role on top of Washington’s lineup when the regular season kicks off. Fehervary is also still on an expected track, continuing to work his way back from a torn meniscus suffered late last season. He underwent surgery on the knee during the off-season, but has since been unable to kick minor inflammation. Once that goes down, he’ll return to a solid role in Washington’s daily lineup. Sourdif was facing illness, and should work back to full speed after taking a few laps with the non-playing group on Sunday.

Other notes from around the NHL:

Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt was absent from the team’s Saturday practice. He was designated as day-to-day due to maintenance by head coach Andre Tourigny, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. That designation makes Schmidt’s availability over the next few days difficult, though it doesn’t seem the Mammoth are concerned about the long-term availability of their summer signing. Schmidt played a bottom-pair role on the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers last season, working his way up to 19 points in 80 games. He’ll likely fill a similar role in Utah, though brings the experience of a 741-game veteran and one-time Cup-winner to the NHL’s newest club.
Continuing the list of absences was top Minnesota Wild prospect Zeev Buium, who missed his third-consecutive practice on Sunday per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Russo pointed out that Buium did skate with Jonas Brodin before practice started. Again, Buium’s ailment isn’t expected to be a serious issue, head coach John Hynes told Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports. Buium will be pushing for a starring role on the Wild roster this season, after playing the first four games of his NHL career in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. He recorded one assist and four penalty minutes in those outings. An extended absence will make a run to the NHL a bit tougher, but the one-time NCAA National Champion should have no problem convincing the Wild brass when he’s back to full health.
In a positive swing, San Jose Sharks star centerman Macklin Celebrini returned to the team’s practices after missing multiple days to illness, per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Celebrini won’t take part in San Jose’s first preseason game, though he’ll otherwise be fully on track to return to the role of San Jose’s top forward when the season kicks off. Celebrini scored 63 points in 70 games as a rookie last season, marking a franchise record in San Jose.

Metro Notes: Devils, Ovechkin, Capitals, Hart, Foerster, Bonk

September 18, 2025 at 2:45 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 3 Comments

Before taking the ice for the first session of training camp, the New Jersey Devils shared several updates on absent players. Netminder Jacob Markström, defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, forward Stefan Noesen, and prospects Shane Lachance and Lenni Hämeenaho were all absent from today’s skate.

Fortunately, Markström’s absence isn’t linked to an injury, as the Devils announced he’s dealing with a family matter. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Noesen and Kovacevic. As expected, New Jersey stated that Kovacevic is still recovering from offseason knee surgery and that he’s out indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Noesen continues to deal with a nagging groin issue, which required a procedure this summer. However, unlike Kovacevic’s timeline, the Devils didn’t indicate how long Noesen would miss or his status for the start of the regular season. Lachance and Hämeenaho were injured in the team’s rookie camp, though they’re each expected to begin the year with the AHL Utica Comets, regardless of their health status.

Other updates from the Metropolitan Division:

The Washington Capitals got a brief scare this morning when captain Alex Ovechkin left the team’s skate early, failing to return. Fortunately, it’s nothing serious, as Sammi Silber of DC Backcheck shared an update from head coach Spencer Carbery saying that Ovechkin is dealing with a mild lower-body injury, and his recovery timeline is day-to-day.
Unfortunately, a few more members of the Capitals’ roster are dealing with mild injuries. Earlier today, Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reported that defenseman Martin Fehérváry and Justin Sourdif are skating in non-contact jerseys for today’s skate. Still, El-Bashir, nor anyone within the Capitals organization, has indicated that the injuries will affect either of their regular-season availability.
If the Pittsburgh Penguins want prospect Joel Blomqvist to have more seasoning in the AHL, and Arturs Silovs doesn’t build on his excellent AHL campaign last year, the Penguins have little else behind Tristan Jarry, if he’s even capable of handling a majority of the workload. Regardless, they won’t be seeking outside help from a former top-prospect netminder who was recently allowed back into the NHL. Earlier today, Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported that Pittsburgh wouldn’t be one of the teams targeting Carter Hart over the next couple of weeks.
Philadelphia Flyers forward Tyson Foerster continues his speedy recovery from elbow surgery. Providing an update in today’s media availability (via Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia), Foerster remains hopeful he could shed his non-contact jersey during training camp and is still expecting to be ready for the start of the regular season.
Another member of the Flyers is dealing with an injury, albeit a mild one. Philadelphia announced that defenseman Oliver Bonk is dealing with an upper-body injury, and he’ll miss the next few days. Bonk is entering his first year of professional hockey, likely with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, after spending the last three years with the OHL’s London Knights.

Metro Notes: Hart, Laperrière, Fehérváry

September 2, 2025 at 5:06 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 1 Comment

In late July, after the non-guilty verdict was announced, the NHL shared that none of the five players acquitted in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial would be permitted back into the league upon further investigation. Still, that hasn’t negated interest from some teams, especially around Carter Hart.

According to a new article from The Fourth Period, David Pagnotta reports that the Philadelphia Flyers and several other teams are interested in signing Hart, awaiting the NHL’s decision on his eligibility. Regardless of the NHL’s eventual ruling, it is notable that nearly two years have passed since Hart and the other four players participated in competitive hockey, making it almost impossible to project their future value.

Before stepping away from the Flyers during the 2023-24 season, Hart had enjoyed a relatively successful career at the NHL level. The former 48th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft had spent six years in Philadelphia before that point, managing a 96-93-29 record in 218 starts with a .906 SV% and 2.94 GAA. Meanwhile, despite being outed in Round Two by the New York Islanders, Hart’s first trip through the postseason in 2020 was a bright spot in his career, collecting a 9-5-0 record in 14 games with a .926 SV% and 2.23 GAA.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

After spending the last 16 years within the Flyers organization as both player and coach, Ian Laperrière is finally moving on. Earlier today, Anthony Di Marco of the DailyFaceoff reported that Laperrière is joining the Islanders as a professional scout. Seeking the head coaching position of the Flyers this summer, Laperrière was removed from his post as head coach of the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but retained by the Flyers as an advisor. Regardless, Laperrière has finally decided to leave the organization altogether.
In late April, the Washington Capitals lost defenseman Martin Fehérváry for their entire playoff run on the last game of the regular season due to knee surgery. There were concerns at the time that Fehérváry may miss a few games of the 2025-26 season, but that no longer appears to be the case. Sammi Silber of the DC Backcheck reported that Fehérváry skated today, but was still donning a non-contact jersey. The Capitals are taking his recovery slowly, which is fairly typical for the summer months, with the hope that he’ll return on time for the upcoming campaign.

Metropolitan Notes: Fehervary, Bratt, Penguins

August 23, 2025 at 10:38 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

After missing all of the playoffs following knee surgery, the hope was that Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary would be ready to start the season. However, he recently told Sportnet in Slovakia (video link) that he is still dealing with some inflammation and that the knee is still hurting him. As a result, he hasn’t been able to get onto the ice yet when he was supposed to resume skating about a month ago. It’s unclear if Fehervary – who signed a seven-year extension last month – will be ready for training camp or the start of the upcoming season since he is now well behind in his recovery.

Capitals Sign Martin Fehervary To Seven-Year Extension

July 1, 2025 at 6:48 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Today marks the beginning of a new league year which means players in the final season of their contracts are now eligible to sign a contract extension. It appears one of those players is Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the blueliner is expected to sign a seven-year, $42MM extension. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the deal will break down as follows:

2025-26: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2026-27: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2027-28: $4.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2028-29: $4MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2029-30: $3.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
2030-31: $2.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
2031-32: $2.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC

The 25-year-old was a second-round pick by Washington back in 2018, going 46th overall. While he got a taste of NHL action the following year, it took him three seasons to establish himself as a regular for the Caps.

Fehervary has largely played the same role over his four full NHL seasons. He has averaged between 19 and 20 minutes a night of playing time while chipping in with some secondary scoring. He is actually coming off a career-high in points offensively as last season, he notched five goals and a career-best 20 assists while his best goal total (eight) game in his rookie year back in 2021-22.

Of course, it’s not the offensive production that has Fehervary set to sign this contract. He has been the defensive anchor for the Capitals in recent years and led the team in shorthanded ice time last season at just over three minutes per game. Fehervary is also typically among the team leaders in blocked shots and hits; he notched a career-best 150 in the former category in 2024-25.

Fehervary had one RFA-eligible year left and will be spending next season on a contract that carries a $2.675MM cap charge. He’ll get to more than double that starting in 2026-27 while Washington picks up an additional six seasons of team control and secures Fehervary through the prime of his career.

The deal also ensures that Washington will have one of the pricier back ends for the foreseeable future. While Fehervary’s contract won’t start until 2026-27, the Capitals are set to spend more than $35MM on their defense corps for the upcoming season, per PuckPedia. This contract will put their 2026-27 spending on the position over $27.5MM, with veteran John Carlson also in need of a new deal at some point. In that season, Fehervary is currently set to carry the second-highest cap charge among Capitals blueliners, checking in behind Jakob Chychrun ($9MM).

Photo courtesy of Peter Casey-Imagn Images.

Capitals Notes: Alexeyev, Free Agents, Fehervary, Sourdif

June 28, 2025 at 8:25 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

Following the end of the draft today, Capitals GM Chris Patrick met with the media (video link) and provided updates on several players. While not going out and confirming that the team won’t be tendering Alexander Alexeyev a qualifying offer on Monday, he stated that the team is “going to be as helpful as we can to him to get him the best opportunity to play in the NHL next year.” Alexeyev was limited to just eight games during the regular season with Washington and with their addition of Declan Chisholm earlier today, it’s harder to see a pathway to playing time if he remains with the Capitals. Knowing that a qualifying offer would also carry arbitration rights, the likeliest outcome is that he’s cut loose.

Capitals’ Martin Fehérváry Out For Season After Knee Surgery

April 22, 2025 at 9:57 am CDT | by Gabriel Foley 2 Comments

The Washington Capitals have announced that defenseman Martin Fehérváry will miss the entirety of the postseason after undergoing surgery to address a meniscus injury in his right knee. Fehérváry sustained the injury in the final game of Washington’s regular season. The injury held him out of Washington’s playoff opener on Monday. In his place, the Capitals utilized depth defenseman Alexander Alexeyev – who only appeared in eight regular season games this season.

Fehérváry was getting run as a top-pair defenseman in Washington’s final few games. He averaged just under 20 minutes of ice time through his final 10 games of the season, bringing his season long average up to an even 19 minutes per game. Fehérváry showed well in his middling role in the lineup, with 25 points and a plus-18 in 81 games – all career-highs. He’s proven to be an effective defender on his own side of the blue line, with a long reach and strong physical play that made him the set-back match for aggressive partners like Matt Roy and John Carlson. Fehérváry was set to be leaned on heavily through the postseason, on a left-hand side that would have made the Capitals absolutely formidable – behind Jakob Chychrun and Rasmus Sandin.

Instead, the Capitals will have to turn towards the untested Alexeyev in their must-win matchups. Unforutnately, even that plan may be knocked awry after Alexeyev lost some teeth in the third period of Game 1. He was hit in the mouth by the skate of Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans and had to leave the game, only to return during the overtime period. Head coach Spencer Carbery shared postgame that Alexeyev would need some “significant dental work” after the incident, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.

It’s unclear if Alexeyev will need to sit out of Game 2. If he does, the absence will be another pile on the string of injuries and absences that held Alexeyev to just 11 games combined between the NHL and AHL this season. He underwent shoulder surgery at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, with a rehab that dragged into the summer. Alexeyev went on to miss time due to personal reasons and routine healthy scratches throughout this season. He managed no scoring in eight NHL games, but did have two assists in three AHL games – production that Washington will need to tap into this Spring. If Alexeyev is forced to miss time, the Capitals will have to turn towards extra defenseman Ethan Bear. Bear was the star of the AHL’s Hershey Bears this season, with a team-leading 46 points in 62 games. He is the only extra defenseman on Washington’s roster, though they could also recall Vincent Iorio or Brad Hunt from the minor leagues.

Metro Notes: Sullivan, Penguins Goaltending, Fehervary

April 21, 2025 at 8:47 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 8 Comments

The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be among the few teams looking for a new bench boss this summer. In an article from Wes Crosby of NHL.com, the Penguins will retain head coach Mike Sullivan through the 2025-26 NHL season.

Sullivan’s tenure as the longest-serving coach in franchise history is a story of two distinct coaching periods. He guided Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, and into the playoffs for another five years after.

Unfortunately, the dream ended in 2022-23, as the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season. Throughout his first 507 games behind the bench, he coached Pittsburgh to a 297-156-54 record. Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the Penguins have only mustered a 112-99-35 in the last 246 games under Sullivan’s tutelage.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

In a separate article from Michelle Crechiolo, General Manager Kyle Dubas indicated that netminders Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic would compete for the spot they wanted in training camp. Indirectly, that confirms that the Penguins intend to keep both netminders on the team throughout the summer, and that won’t be an area they’ll look to improve externally. Both goalies showed flashes of quality play throughout the 2024-25 season. Still, Pittsburgh finished the year with a 30th-ranked 3.50 GA/G and a 27th-ranked .884 SV%.
Defenseman Martin Fehérváry isn’t in the lineup for the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their opening-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, as alluded to by Sammi Silber of The Hockey News this morning. Fehérváry continues to recover from an ankle injury suffered in Washington’s penultimate game of the season. Still, it granted an opportunity for Alexander Alexeyev, who’s taken Fehérváry’s spot in the lineup for tonight’s contest.

Capitals Notes: Fehervary, Protas, Chychrun

April 20, 2025 at 2:21 pm CDT | by Paul Griser Leave a Comment

Martin Fehervary and Aliaksei Protas did not practice for the Capitals today, per NHL.com reporter Tom Gulitti. He adds that defender Jakob Chychrun did practice despite a puck deflecting into his face at practice yesterday.

Fehervary appeared in 81 games in the regular season but missed the final game of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an ankle injury. The 25-year-old defender scored 25 points on the year to go along with a plus-18 rating, 150 blocked shots and 139 hits. He also averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game, so his return will play a major factor in the team’s Stanley Cup aspirations. The same can be said for Protas, who burst on the season this year and produced 30 goals, 66 points, and an incredible plus-40 rating. He’s been out since April 4 with a foot injury.

Head coach Spencer Carbery was vague in discussing the potential return of Fehervary and Protas, recently stating: “I’m just going to leave it as we’ve got a bunch of guys working through some things, progressing, potentially playing on Monday, potentially not. Once we get going in the series, I can give you more updates as guys are obviously warming up and in the lineup or not.”

Chychrun has appeared to avoid any serious injury after being struck with a puck in practice yesterday. His return to practice today is obviously a great sign for the Capitals, especially considering the unknown return of Fehervary. Chychrun produced 20 goals and 47 points from the blueline on the season and serves as a key member of the team’s top power play unit.

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