East Notes: Shea, Rifai, Rielly, Johansson, Sandin
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Injury Notes: Capitals, Sabres, Blackhawks
The Washington Capitals will be without both Rasmus Sandin and Tom Wilson, as both players have been designated as day-to-day with upper-body injuries. Wilson was on the receiving end of the butt-end of Alex Laferriere‘s stick in the team’s recent matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, leaving Wilson bloodied and forcing him out of action for a brief moment, though the winger returned before the final horn.
Both players have played extended time for the Capitals this season, with Sandin appearing in 36 games and Wilson one of only six players to appear in all 38 of the team’s games. Sandin’s 11 assists on the season rank fourth on the Capitals, though the 23-year-old defenseman has yet to score his first goal of the year. Washington brought in Sandin ahead of last season’s trade deadline, sending the Toronto Maple Leafs Erik Gustafsson and the 28th-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, which Toronto used to bring in Easton Cowan.
Sandin has averaged 22 minutes of ice time this season, ranked second among the team’s skaters, while Wilson has averaged roughly 18-and-a-half. Both players are core lineup pieces that the Capitals will want back as soon as possible.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The Buffalo Sabres have opposing news about their ill players, with Jordan Greenway slated to return to the lineup but Victor Olofsson not expected to be ready just yet. Greenway has managed 10 points and 23 penalty minutes in 28 games this season, missing time with an upper-body injury earlier in the year. Olofsson has also missed time, battling injury and serving as a healthy scratch. The 28-year-old winger has 12 points in 31 games this season – a step down from the 28 goals and 40 points he managed last year.
- The Chicago Blackhawks had a slew of players return to practice on Tuesday, with Seth Jones (shoulder), Taylor Raddysh (groin), Joey Anderson (shoulder), and Rem Pitlick all making their way back to the ice. Unlike the former three, Pitlick isn’t returning from injury – instead being acquired via trade on Saturday, with the Hawks sending Pittsburgh a seventh-round pick for the forward. Pitlick’s arrival in Chicago was delayed by the snow storm currently moving through the Midwest.
Capitals Notes: Sandin, Oshie, Lindgren
Tom Gulitti of NHL.com is reporting that Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin missed practice this morning and won’t play tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. The team told reporters that Sandin was out with an illness, and it is not known how long he will remain out of the lineup, but they will reassess how he is feeling tomorrow before deciding on whether he will play on Sunday. Recently signed Ethan Bear took Sandin’s spot in the top 4.
The 23-year-old is in his first full season with the Capitals after he was acquired in February 2023. He started slowly this season but has picked up his game in recent weeks and has five assists in his last five games. The Uppsala, Sweden native has seen a massive increase in his ice time this season as he is playing over 22 minutes a night for Washington after averaging between 17-19 minutes a game in previous seasons while he was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In other Capitals notes:
-
- Gulitti is also reporting that Capitals forward T.J. Oshie has gone back home to Minnesota to undergo treatment as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury. The 37-year-old hasn’t played since December 16th in Nashville and has been largely ineffective this year with just two goals and two assists in 21 games. The Capitals haven’t offered a timeline on Oshie’s return as of yet.
- Gulitti tweeted today that Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren skated with the team this morning and is eligible to come off the injured reserve and serve as a backup on Sunday when Washington takes on the Los Angeles Kings. Still, the team is going to take a wait-and-see approach to get a better idea of his health before they re-insert him into the lineup. Lindgren suffered an upper-body injury last Friday and has not played since, he has been unbelievable this year for the Capitals posting a 7-3-3 record with a .928 save percentage and a 2.27 goals-against average.
Capitals Notes: Draft Rights, Fehervary, Dowd, Sandin
Many NHL-drafted but unsigned players are set to become free agents today if they don’t sign within the next four hours. Today, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir confirmed two Capitals prospects will hit the open market: Czech defenseman Martin Has and Canadian defender Dru Krebs.
Krebs, the brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Peyton Krebs, was selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. While he had a strong year in 2020-21 in limited action due to COVID, the 2021-22 campaign was nightmarish for him, finishing with just 19 points in 66 games with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and a staggering -58 rating. He rebounded nicely this season, but the 20-year-old’s flaws displayed after his draft year likely signal an NHL future isn’t in the cards.
Has, 22, was a member of Washington’s 2019 draft class. The fifth-round pick played unsigned in the Capitals organization this year, registering 12 points in 50 games as a member of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.
- Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan told reporters today that the team hasn’t begun speaking to pending restricted free agent defenseman Martin Fehervary about an extension yet, but “expects discussions to pick up soon.” Fehervary, Washington’s second-round pick in 2018, is coming off his entry-level deal. In his sophomore season with the Caps, the 23-year-old consistently played a top-four role and posted 16 points in 67 games.
- MacLellan also said center Nic Dowd underwent core surgery recently, aiming to fix an ailment that was bugging him near the end of the season. Dowd is expected to recover in time for training camp in September. The 33-year-old bottom-six center has two seasons remaining at a cap hit of $1.3MM and is coming off a career-high 13 goals.
- Lastly, in more positive news for Washington, MacLellan revealed the injury Swedish defenseman Rasmus Sandin sustained near the end of this year’s Men’s World Championship isn’t serious and carries no long-term concern. Sandin was electric for Washington after coming over from Toronto near the end of the season, posting 15 points in 19 games and averaging nearly 23 minutes per game. The 23-year-old former first-round pick will look to step into a consistent top-four role with the Caps next season, potentially alongside John Carlson.
Rasmus Sandin To Play At World Championships
Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been selected to represent Sweden at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, as announced by the team today. Sandin, 23, had a career-high 35 points this season, including seven goals and 28 assists, in 71 games with both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Capitals.
His arrival will be invaluable for the Swedish team at the tournament. They’ll be without a big contributor on offense due to an insurance issue stopping Vancouver Canucks superstar Elias Pettersson from suiting up for them at the tournament.
After being acquired by the Capitals from the Maple Leafs via trade on February 28, Sandin recorded 15 points in 19 games, including three assists in his Capitals debut on March 4 against the San Jose Sharks. He became the first defenseman and seventh skater in Capitals franchise history to record three points in his first game with the team. Sandin also set a franchise record for the fewest games required by a defenseman to reach 10 points in the team’s history, achieving the feat in just seven games.
Sandin’s selection to represent Sweden is not a new experience for the young defenseman, as he previously represented Sweden at the 2019 and 2020 World Junior Championships. In 2020, he earned a bronze medal and was named the tournament’s top defenseman, recording 10 points in seven games, which was the most by any defenseman in the tournament.
His international success is not limited to his play at the Worlds. He also participated in the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, where he helped Sweden earn the bronze medal. Sandin also captained Sweden to the gold medal at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.