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Rasmus Sandin

Injury Notes: Jensen, Sandin, Coleman, Hanley

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As expected, the Washington Capitals will be holding out defenseman Nick Jensen for the final two games of the regular season according to Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post. In a positive development, however, Johnson also reports that Jensen was at the team facility today, indicating that the injury sustained last night is not as serious as previously expected.

Joining Jensen in the press box for the final two games will be defenseman Rasmus Sandin, who has been out since April 8th with an upper-body injury. With their eyes on the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Capitals will have to defeat the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers without two of their top-four defensemen.

Now that both Lucas Johansen and Dylan McIlrath are on the roster due to two separate emergency loans, one of them will have to draw into the lineup for the final two games of the regular season. Johansen has already suited up in six games for the Capitals earlier this season but may opt to go with McIlrath on the right side to keep some continuity within their defensive pairings.

Other injury notes:

  • At the team’s skate this morning, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet reported that Calgary Flames defenseman Joel Hanley has returned to practice after missing the last five games due to an undisclosed injury. As expected, the Flames organization thinned out their defensive core at this year’s trade deadline, bringing in Hanley via waivers from the Dallas Stars to keep quality depth within their system. In 10 games since being claimed by Calgary, Hanley has scored one goal and two points in total, averaging 14:32 of ice time per night.
  • Staying in Calgary, in the same report from Steinberg, he reported that forward Blake Coleman also returned to the ice for practice, but not as a full participant. Coleman has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, and may not be able to hit the 30-goal threshold for the first time in his career. Nevertheless, Coleman has had an impressive offensive season based on his previous years, scoring 29 goals and 52 points over 77 games for the Flames this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Dobson, Sandin, Nybeck

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The Islanders were without Noah Dobson for most of Thursday’s victory over Montreal and he will miss at least one more as the team announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury; he wasn’t in uniform this afternoon against the Rangers.  Dobson is in the middle of a breakout year as he sits second on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 60 assists in 79 appearances; his assist total is tied for fifth among all NHL rearguards.  On top of the offensive production, the 24-year-old is also logging a career-high 24:31 per night so his absence is a crucial one with the Isles right in the thick of the battle for a playoff spot.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin didn’t skate on Friday due to his upper-body injury and it’s possible he won’t return before the end of the season next week, notes Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was injured on Sunday against Ottawa.  Sandin has had a good first full season with the Caps, recording 23 points in 68 games while averaging a career-best 21:07 per night.  That helped earn Sandin a five-year, $23MM extension last month.
  • Hurricanes prospect Zion Nybeck has changed teams in Sweden as Oskarshamn in Sweden’s Allsvenskan announced that they’ve signed the forward to a one-year deal. The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick back in 2020 (115th overall) but the majority of his time professionally has been spent in the second division.  This past season, Nybeck had 17 goals and 27 assists in 52 games with AIK, good for second on the team in scoring.  Carolina has until June 1st to sign Nybeck and the fact he’s staying in Sweden suggests that the Hurricanes won’t be doing so.

Capitals Recall Lucas Johansen

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The Capitals have recalled defenseman Lucas Johansen from AHL Hershey, GM Brian MacLellan announced today. His recall comes after Rasmus Sandin sustained an upper-body injury yesterday against the Senators – he’s now been ruled out for their upcoming two-game road trip, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com). Carbery added that Sandin isn’t guaranteed to return by the end of the regular season.

Johansen, 26, remains in the Caps organization eight years after they selected him in the first round of the 2016 draft. He’s spent nearly all that time in the minors, only skating in nine NHL games.

A career-high six of them came earlier this season when he recorded an assist and a +1 rating while blocking seven shots and averaging 14:16 per game. The younger brother of injured Flyers center Ryan Johansen is still looking for his first NHL goal, a chance he could get if he draws into the lineup down the stretch and plays for the first time since November.

Johansen’s possession metrics when given NHL minutes have been quite poor, however, and have prevented him from having any chance of sticking in the lineup. He’s logged a 35.4 CF% and a 32.3 xGF%, the worst of any Caps skater to suit up this season. Injuries have taken him out of a solid chunk of action with Hershey this year, too, but he’s managed 12 points and a sky-high +18 rating in just 22 games when healthy.

He could draw into the lineup tomorrow in an essentially do-or-die game against the Red Wings. Without Johansen, the Caps would only have two left-shot defenders in the lineup, so he could dress if Carbery doesn’t want to play Trevor van Riemsdyk or rookie Vincent Iorio on their off-side. Washington’s playoff odds would drop to just 10% with a regulation loss to Detroit tomorrow after sitting third in the Metropolitan Division not too long ago, per MoneyPuck.

Losing Sandin at such a crucial point in the season is a tough break for Washington, losers of seven of their last 10 games. He’s the only other Caps defender to average over 20 minutes per game outside of John Carlson this season and has 23 points in 68 games with a -13 rating.

Injury Notes: Barabanov, Sandin, Kostin, Bryson

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Winger Alexander Barabanov has reportedly played his last game with the San Jose Sharks, with a lower-body injury expected to end his season and the Sharks not likely to re-sign him this summer, per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Web link). Barabanov suffered the injury from a blocked shot on March 26th and hasn’t played since, missing San Jose’s last five games.

This is an abrupt and quiet end to what was a quiet season for Barabanov. He played in 46 games, scoring just four goals and 13 points – the lowest scoring rate of his career. It’s a disappointing follow-up to what seemed to be Barabanov’s breakout season last year, when he managed a career-high 15 goals and 47 points in just 68 games. He’ll now set his eyes on free agency – the 30-year-old’s first chance to play outside of San Jose since he became a full-time NHL player in 2021. While he’ll certainly have to take a price cut from his current $2.5MM cap hit, Barabanov could be an intriguing pick-up for teams needing more depth down the wings.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin left the team’s Sunday matchup against the Ottawa Senators with an upper-body injury, following a hit at the end of the first period (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has moved into an integral role for the Capitals, averaging 21:34 in ice time over his last 10 games. Rookie Vincent Iorio is currently Washington’s seventh defenseman. He could be poised for a crucial role, with Washington currently two points back of an Eastern Conference Wild Card with just six games to go.
  • The San Jose Sharks were without hot-streak winger Klim Kostin on Sunday due to illness, per Curtis Pashelka (Twitter link). Kostin has nine points through his first 14 games with the Sharks, averaging six more minutes of ice time than he did in 33 games with Detroit. The Sharks traded minor-league defenseman Radim Simek and a 2024 seventh-round pick for Kostin at the Deadline and have him signed through next season. He was replaced by undrafted rookie Collin Graf, getting his NHL debut just days after signing his first professional contract. Graf recorded one assist in the start.
  • Jacob Bryson suffered an upper-body injury in the Buffalo Sabres’ Sunday afternoon game, leaving after just nine minutes of play (Twitter link). Bryson has played in just 31 games this season – the fewest of his career. He’s recorded one goal and eight points in those appearances, extended his streak to four consecutive seasons with just one goal on the year. Buffalo will have to decide between Kale Clague and rookie Ryan Johnson, who is currently in the AHL, if Bryson has to miss any time.

East Notes: Shea, Rifai, Rielly, Johansson, Sandin

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The Penguins assigned defenseman Ryan Shea to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last night, per CapFriendly. The move ends his brief emergency loan, having come up on Friday after blue-liner Ryan Graves was diagnosed with a concussion. However, his services weren’t needed in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets, meaning he needed to be returned to the minors or converted to a standard recall. The 27-year-old has been up and down on multiple paper transactions over the last few months but hasn’t played an NHL game since Dec. 8. The 2015 fourth-round pick of the Blackhawks made his NHL debut this season after inking a one-year, one-way deal with Pittsburgh last summer, but failed to record a point and averaged 12:28 per game through 22 contests.

Other updates out of the Eastern Conference:

  • The Maple Leafs announced they’ve brought up defenseman Marshall Rifai from AHL Toronto for the second time in three days. It’s an emergency loan, per CapFriendly, indicating he’ll serve as injury insurance ahead of tonight’s game against the Panthers and will likely return to the minors tomorrow. The 26-year-old landed his first NHL deal last summer after spending 2022-23 on an AHL contract with Toronto and made his first two NHL appearances in February, logging a shot on goal, a block and four hits while averaging 11:40 per game. Rifai coming up to the active roster today confirms that Morgan Rielly, who’s already missed three games with an upper-body injury, isn’t ready to return. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters that Rielly is “close to 100 percent” and will practice tomorrow, meaning he could return for Wednesday’s key clash for playoff positioning against the Lightning (via David Alter of The Hockey News).
  • Lightning backup netminder Jonas Johansson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after missing practice today and is questionable to dress against the Red Wings tonight, Chris Krenn of the team’s official site relays. In the event Johansson is unable to go, they won’t make a recall from AHL Syracuse and will dress former Grand Valley State University netminder Kyle Konin as an emergency backup, per Krenn. The 26-year-old Rhode Island native resides in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has informally held the reserve role for the Lightning over the past few seasons, dressing once before as an emergency backup for the Blues when they visited Tampa in the 2021-22 season. Konin hasn’t played any significant level of hockey since ACHA III play in 2020.
  • Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin was on the ice for practice Monday after missing Saturday’s shootout loss to the Bruins with a lower-body injury, reports Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. He was a late scratch with the injury and wasn’t issued a timeline beyond day-to-day evaluation, suggesting his absence would be short-term. All signs point to the 24-year-old Swede reentering the lineup tomorrow against the Sabres as the Caps aim to pull away from the Flyers and secure third place in the Metropolitan Division. In his first full season in the nation’s capital, Sandin has 23 points in 64 games while playing 21:20 a night, second on the team behind John Carlson.

Evening Notes: Cernak, Sandin, Walker

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The Lightning were without defenseman Erik Černák in tonight’s match against the Islanders after he missed a team meeting, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. He’s been healthy scratched as a result, as is common practice. His absence paved the way for Haydn Fleury, who’s missed six games with a lower-body injury, to return to the lineup in a second-pairing role alongside trade deadline pickup Mathew Dumba. Černák, 26, has remained solidly in a top-four role and has been leaned on heavily this season in the absence of Mikhail Sergachev, who’s been limited to 34 games with multiple significant injuries. In the first season of an eight-year, $41.6MM extension signed back in July 2022, the Slovak blue-liner has 11 points and is averaging 19:21 per game through 60 appearances. It’s been a down season defensively for the normally steady shutdown man, posting a career-worst 47.1 CF% at even strength and a -4.7 expected rating.

More updates as we head into the weekend:

  • Another Eastern Conference wild-card hopeful is short a defenseman tonight. The Capitals didn’t have Rasmus Sandin available against the Bruins tonight due to a lower-body injury, per the team. As a result, 21-year-old Vincent Iorio made his season debut after being recalled from AHL Hershey on Wednesday. Sandin, 24, had a difficult stretch to begin the season but has improved as the campaign progresses, now up to 20 assists and 23 points in 64 games while averaging over 21 minutes a night. While his possession numbers have been rather pedestrian, and he won’t reach last year’s career-high 35 points, this is his first season in an everyday top-four role, and some growing pains were to be expected. Washington inked the 2018 first-round pick of the Maple Leafs to a five-year, $23MM extension earlier this month.
  • Avalanche blue-liner Sean Walker sustained an upper-body injury in tonight’s comeback win over the Predators, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters postgame (via Ryan Boulding of NHL.com). The 29-year-old came over from the Flyers via trade earlier this month, with Ryan Johansen and a first-round pick heading the other way. He’s been promising through nine games in Colorado, scoring three goals and adding an assist while continuing to control possession quality well at even strength. Expected to anchor the Avs’ third pairing in the postseason behind Cale Makar and Samuel Girard, an extended absence while he grows chemistry with his new teammates isn’t ideal. It’s unclear how long Colorado expects him out of the lineup, if at all.

Capitals Sign Rasmus Sandin To Five-Year Extension

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The Capitals have re-signed pending RFA defenseman Rasmus Sandin to a five-year extension, the team announced Wednesday. His contract carries an average annual value and cap hit of $4.6MM, earning him $23MM over the life of the deal. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to report Washington and Sandin were nearing an extension.

Sandin, 23, would have been eligible for salary arbitration if he reached restricted free agency this summer. He’ll be a UFA at the end of his new deal, which expires after the 2028-29 season.

The 2018 first-round pick has logged major minutes for Washington since they acquired him from the Maple Leafs for Erik Gustafsson and a first-round pick before last season’s trade deadline. With Martin Fehérváry missing a significant chunk of the season with injuries, Sandin has often slid into a top-pairing role alongside John Carlson and is averaging a career-high 21:19 per game.

That pairing has struggled defensively, conceding 2.97 expected goals against per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck. He’s fared considerably better in slightly less usage alongside Trevor van Riemsdyk, who have a 50.4% expected goals share (and only 2.19 expected goals against per 60 minutes) when paired together.

His production is down slightly from last year’s seven-goal, 35-point campaign, but he still has a respectable 20 points in 52 games and has plenty of room to grow as he enters his mid-20s. Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic pegs the deal as an immediate slight overpay but a long-term bargain, with Sandin’s average market value projected at $5.3MM per season over the contract’s duration.

The contract does not include any trade protection, per CapFriendly. $7MM of the $23MM total, approximately 30%, will be paid in signing bonuses.

Washington has their blue line set for next season with only Joel Edmundson on an expiring contract. If he’s not dealt by Friday’s trade deadline, he’s unlikely to be re-signed. Carlson, Fehérváry, van Riemsdyk, Alexander Alexeyev, Ethan Bear, and Nick Jensen are all signed to one-way deals through next season, giving the Caps a full complement of seven defensemen.

However, the signing does leave Washington in a cap crunch that GM Brian MacLellan will need to get creative to navigate. With pay bumps for Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson kicking in next season, the Capitals are down to $4.17MM in projected cap space with a roster size of 16, per CapFriendly. That figure accounts for buried center Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose cap hit is reduced slightly to $6.65MM while on assignment to AHL Hershey, remaining in the minors.

Sandin was in the final season of a two-year, $2.8MM deal he signed after holding out for most of the 2022 offseason.

Washington Capitals Activate Rasmus Sandin, Reassign Hendrix Lapierre

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Getting a valuable reinforcement back on the blue line, the Washington Capitals announced they have activated defenseman Rasmus Sandin from the injured reserve, and have reassigned forward Hendrix Lapierre to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

After the Capitals acquired Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, he quickly became one of the better defensemen on the roster, scoring three goals and 15 points in 19 games. Now being overshadowed by John Carlson as the team’s number-one defenseman, Sandin has been a tad less productive, only scoring 11 assists in 36 games played. Nevertheless, even though Sandin’s offensive production has slipped, he’s been much better defensively this year in Washington, as evidenced by his 90.5% on-ice save percentage in all situations, a 4.1% increase from last season.

Staying relatively healthy throughout his short stint with the Capitals, Sandin suffered an upper-body injury in the team’s January 3rd game against the New Jersey Devils, keeping him out of the lineup until tonight. Needing to get back into the swing of things after nearly a month away from gameplay, Sandin will likely slot into the third-defensive pairing next to Trevor van Riemsdyk.

To make room for Sandin’s return, the team decided to demote Lapierre, who has continued to struggle in his early days with Washington. Being the 22nd overall selection of the 2020 NHL Draft, Lapierre has yet to make any real noise in the NHL, having only scored two goals and seven points in 25 games for the Capitals this season. In somewhat of a silver lining, Lapierre has been much more productive playing for the Bears, scoring 17 goals and 38 points over 71 games with one of the AHL’s most successful franchises.

East Notes: Rafferty, Norris, Sandin

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The Red Wings assigned defenseman Brogan Rafferty to AHL Grand Rapids today, per a team announcement. Rafferty, 28, was recalled last Saturday but did not see any game action with Detroit.

This indicates defenseman Jake Walman is likely ready to return from an illness that’s sidelined him for three contests. Walman’s absence necessitated Rafferty’s recall, allowing the Red Wings to remain at seven healthy defensemen on the active roster. In the event Walman is ready to return, he would likely reunite with Moritz Seider on the team’s top pairing against the Hurricanes tomorrow.

This was Rafferty’s first recall since signing a two-year, two-way $1.55MM contract in Detroit as a UFA last summer. The right-shooting defenseman has 1-12–13 in 33 games with Grand Rapids this season, a sharp decline from the 9-42–51 he posted in 72 games with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, Coachella Valley, last season.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference today:

  • Senators center Josh Norris skated in a non-contact jersey during an optional skate this morning, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch said. The 24-year-old has missed three games with an upper-body injury, one the team is surely watching carefully after a shoulder injury with multiple setbacks cost him nearly all of the 2022-23 campaign, as well as the first three games of this season. Interim head coach Jacques Martin said Norris was an option to return during their back-to-back against the Jets and Flyers this weekend, although that seems less likely now, given he wasn’t able to take contact today.
  • Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin was upgraded to regular contact at this morning’s practice, per The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson. Sandin, 23, hasn’t played since Jan. 3 and remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The 5-foot-11 blueliner has now missed six games, but after getting back on the ice last week, he’s trending toward being available by the team’s Saturday game against the Blues. Washington also faces St. Louis tonight, although head coach Spencer Carbery has not commented on Sandin’s availability. The 2018 first-round pick has 11 assists in 36 games for the Caps while averaging over 22 minutes per game.

Capitals Activate T.J. Oshie

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The Capitals activated veteran winger T.J. Oshie from injured reserve Thursday, The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson reports. To stay under the 23-player roster limit, the team moved defenseman Rasmus Sandin to IR retroactive to January 3 with an upper-body injury.

Oshie will re-enter the Capitals lineup tonight against the Kraken on a throwback line with former All-Stars Evgeny Kuznetsov and Max Pacioretty. It will be the 37-year-old’s first game since December 16, subsequently missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. This was his second multi-game absence of the season – Oshie also missed six games with an upper-body injury in late November and early December.

It’s been a trying year for the six-time 20-goal scorer, who has one season remaining after this on a deal carrying a $5.75MM cap hit. He’s scored only twice in 21 games, adding two assists for four points. His ice time has dipped slightly to 16:34 per game; the fifth straight year that it’s decreased. It’s the lowest average of his 16-year, 979-game NHL career.

On a team receiving better production from less-used wingers, Anthony Mantha and Aliaksei Protas, it’s surprising Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery hasn’t reduced Oshie’s ice time further. Oshie isn’t a complete defensive liability, but he’s far from a shutdown specialist – he’s posted a negative expected plus-minus rating in four of the last five seasons, including this one.

Meanwhile, Sandin lands on IR to give the Capitals some short-term roster flexibility. He’s already satisfied the minimum seven-day absence requirement and can be activated at any time. The 23-year-old likely won’t be out much longer, as he’s still listed as day-to-day.

Tonight’s tilt against the Kraken will be his first missed with this specific upper-body injury, though. Sandin, who the Capitals acquired in a trade with the Maple Leafs before last season’s deadline, had missed two prior games with an illness. Now in his first full season as a Capital, the 2018 first-round pick ranks second on the team in average time on ice (22:05) and has 11 assists in 36 games.

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