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Sonny Milano

East Notes: Hutson, Milano, Spicer

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In a recent article on The Athletic, Corey Pronman ranked 173 players under the age of 23 who are currently on NHL teams’ reserve lists. This means that these players may not be playing for their respective teams just yet. In a major snub to the reigning Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Pronman ranked Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson 34th on that list, lower than eight other defensemen.

Hutson finished the 2024-25 campaign with six goals and 66 points in 82 games, tying Larry Murphy’s rookie assist record for defensemen from the 1980-81 campaign. Not only did Hutson receive 150 more first-place votes than the next closest (Dustin Wolf) in rookie of the year voting, but he also made some noise in the Norris Trophy voting, finishing ninth in voting with one third-place vote, five fourth-place votes, and 22 fifth-place votes.

Pronman acknowledged Hutson’s scoring prowess, but based much of his ranking on Hutson’s defensive quality. In the article, Pronman said, “He’s a small defenseman without high-end feet or physicality. He works hard, but he can get bullied in physical play, and without high-end athletic traits, he will have trouble defending the fastest, strongest forwards, especially in the playoffs.”

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • After being limited to just three games during the 2024-25 season due to an upper-body injury, Washington Capitals forward Sonny Milano is continuing to work his way back to the team’s lineup. The Capitals aren’t setting any hard guidelines for the quality of his play when he returns, only hoping that he eventually does return. Tom Gulitti of NHL.com shared a quote from head coach Spencer Carbery, saying, “The way I look at Sonny right now is I’m looking at it from a standpoint of him just getting back into practice and game action and going from there. There’s no unrealistic expectations of him. Not putting any pressure on him. We just want him to get into camp, feel good health-wise and just take it from there.“
  • The defending National Champions, the Western Michigan University Broncos, have earned a commitment from a Boston Bruins prospect. The Broncos announced that Cole Spicer, who last played for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, will join the program for the 2025-26 NCAA season. Despite playing in the USHL last year, Spicer has prior NCAA experience, suiting up in 49 games for the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2022 to 2024.

Afternoon Notes: Savage, Milano, ECHL

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Center prospect Red Savage is set to sign a two-year deal with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, per hockey insider Ken Campbell. The Detroit Red Wings relinquished Savage’s player rights on August 15th, after choosing not to sign the 2021 fourth-round pick to his entry-level contract.

Savage’s decision to turn pro comes on the heels of a long-term shoulder injury, sustained from an awkward fall into the boards in a January matchup against the Michigan Wolverines. The injury ended what was Savage’s first season as captain of the Michigan State Spartans, and limited him to just 11 points in 20 games on the season. He concludes his collegiate career with a combined 68 points in 125 games – split 30 points coming with Miami University of Ohio and 38 with the Spartans. Savage was lauded as a responsible, two-way center for both clubs and should find some immediate impact with the Americans, assuming he returns well from injury.

A move to Rochester will mark a reunion with head coach Michael Leone, who served as an assistant coach over Savage’s two years at the U.S. NTDP. Leone led Rochester to a 42-22-8 record and Division Final loss in his first year of pro coaching last season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Washington Capitals forward Sonny Milano is back on the ice after an upper-body injury ended his season in November. He has been taking part in informal practices with his teammates recently, shares Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Silber adds that Milano hopes to make a push back onto the Capitals roster at training camp. Milano was in the midst of earning a daily lineup role when he suffered his injury. He scored an encouraging 40 goals and 90 points in 179 games in three seasons between 2021 and 2024 – though each year was limited by injury. Questions remained about Milano’s durability and defensive acumen. He didn’t have a chance to dissuade those concerns last year, but seems to be getting an early jump at proving he can stick in the NHL this season.
  • The ECHL has announced the approval of an expansion team in Augusta, Georgia set to begin play in the 2027-28 season. This marks a return to The Garden City for the ECHL. Augusta previously served as home to the Augusta Lynx, who folded after 10 seasons in 2008. The new team will be owned by former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, in partnership with David Hodges and Hodges Management Group, LLC. No team name or logo has been announced. The ECHL is also set to expand to New Mexico in the 2026-27 season. The league will grow to 32 clubs once both teams break ground, putting them on level-playing field with the AHL and NHL. That should allow for full partnership between three leagues. The Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets were the only clubs without an ECHL affiliate in the 2024-25 season.

Capitals Notes: Milano, Free Agency, McMichael, Goaltending

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After missing all but three games due to an upper-body injury sustained in November, it appears that Capitals winger Sonny Milano will be good to go for training camp.  Speaking with reporters today at the end of development camp (video link), GM Chris Patrick indicated that the veteran is now ready to start going through his normal offseason regimen and that he is expected to participate in training camp.  This comes six weeks after Patrick wasn’t sure if Milano would be available to start next season.  Milano had 15 goals in 49 games back in 2023-24 and could be a useful depth scorer heading into 2025-26.  He has one year left on his contract with a $1.9MM cap charge.

More notes from Patrick’s presser:

  • While declining to say who he went after, Patrick noted that he tried to do something big to add to their roster but that it didn’t come to fruition. It doesn’t appear to be related to a lower offer than the player was looking for either, as Patrick said that “It didn’t come down to the money or the offer or the term or any of that. It was a player picking what he thought was the best situation both on and off the ice.”  There was speculation that the Capitals were one of the finalists for winger Nikolaj Ehlers who ultimately accepted a six-year, $51MM contract with Carolina while Washington brought back Anthony Beauvillier on a two-year, $5.5MM pact soon after.  In the meantime, he wouldn’t rule out signing another free agent but noted that there are some prospects who could make a push for a roster spot as well.
  • After spending most of last season on the wing, Patrick suggested that Connor McMichael could get another opportunity to line up at center next season. The 24-year-old is a natural center but with Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois on the top two lines, the decision was made to put McMichael on the wing over playing him on the third line.  It’s unclear if Patrick’s suggestion means that they’ll try that this season or if one of the other two will start on the wing to see how McMichael fares down the middle in the top six.  Speculatively, it feels like something they’ll experiment with in training camp.  Entering the final year of his contract, McMichael’s value would be higher next summer if he’s able to stay at center for the full season.
  • While AHL Hershey starter Hunter Shepard departed in free agency (signing with Ottawa), Patrick indicated that they won’t be bringing in a replacement for him to take over as the starter. Instead, Clay Stevenson will get that role moving forward.  Stevenson posted a 2.94 GAA and a .888 SV% in 33 outings with the Bears in 2024-25.  At the moment, he would partner with Garin Bjorklund, Mitch Gibson, or prospect Antoine Keller, who is under contract with Hershey but has yet to sign with Washington.

Sonny Milano’s Availability To Start Next Season In Question

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This season was one to forget for Capitals winger Sonny Milano.  He was scratched several times early on in the season and after his third game back in early November, he didn’t come back at all after suffering a setback in his recovery from an upper-body injury near the trade deadline.

Unfortunately for him and Washington, it appears that it’s far from a given that Milano will be available to start next season as well.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Chris Patrick noted that the 29-year-old is still in the process of trying to see if he can get himself healthy, a process that’s likely to carry into the summer.

Milano has one year remaining on a three-year, $5.7MM contract signed back in 2023 when he was in the middle of his second straight 30-plus-point season.  Unfortunately, things haven’t gone so well since then as he has only managed to play in 52 games in the last two years.

As a result of the injury, Milano spent most of the year on LTIR, joining Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie whose contracts are set to expire this summer.  If Milano isn’t ready to start next season and will miss at least the first 10 games and 24 days, he’ll be eligible to remain on there.  In the meantime, that uncertainty certainly won’t help Patrick and the Capitals in their offseason planning as they’ll need to leave themselves a bit of wiggle room in case Milano’s availability is in flux once again for 2025-26.

Sonny Milano Suffers Setback In Injury Recovery

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Friday was a fairly quiet day for the Capitals on the trade front with their only move being the acquisition of winger Anthony Beauvillier from Pittsburgh.  There’s another winger that they were hoping to get back soon but that’s no longer the case for Sonny Milano.  Speaking with reporters Friday including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, GM Chris Patrick indicated that the winger suffered a fairly significant setback in his recovery from an upper-body injury.

The 28-year-old has been out since early November and has played in just three games with Washington this season, being held off the scoresheet.  However, he had been a capable depth scorer in recent years, reaching the double-digit goal mark in three straight seasons, the last two of which came with the Caps.

It looked as if Milano was well on his way toward returning as he had been skating for several months and participating in non-contact drills but Patrick noted that it’s back to the drawing board in terms of a plan for his recovery.  Given how long he has been out for, his availability for the rest of the season is certainly now in question.

Milano is currently on LTIR with his $1.9MM AAV contributing to more than half of their current LTIR room which stands at $3.175MM, per PuckPedia.  Washington is likely to use a good chunk of that when Ryan Leonard’s season comes to an end as it’s widely expected they’ll try to bring him in for the stretch run and playoffs so even if Milano was cleared to return before the playoffs, it’s likely they’d keep him stashed on there anyway for cap compliance purposes.  Regardless, it’s fair to say that the second season of Milano’s three-year deal has not gone the way anyone would have hoped.

Injury Notes: Josi, Tanev, Milano

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It doesn’t appear the Nashville Predators will have their captain tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets. Beat reporter Brooks Bratten reported earlier that defenseman Roman Josi is still being evaluated for an upper-body injury suffered in Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers.

Approximately halfway through the second period of the game, Josi was checked from behind by Panther Sam Bennett causing his head to hit the plexiglass. The Norris Trophy-winning defenseman played through the injury for the remaining minutes of the second period but was ruled out for the third. Bennett was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for boarding on the play.

When asked about Josi’s ongoing injury evaluation, head coach Andrew Brunette said (as reported by Predators’ reporter Nick Kieser), “Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I don’t really know. With those things it’s day-to-day, could be week-to-week, could be season-ending, we don’t really know yet.” Although speaking vaguely, Brunette mentioning a longer-term injury when speaking to reporters should raise concerns regarding Josi’s availability for the foreseeable future.

Other injury notes:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly avoided a worst-case scenario with their top shutdown defenseman. The Hockey News’ David Alter shared that Chris Tanev’s recovery timeline is only considered day-to-day although he’s been ruled out for Friday’s contest against the New York Rangers. Tanev was seen wearing a sling after missing the final two periods of Toronto’s game yesterday evening against the Boston Bruins.
  • After missing the last four months of action due to an upper-body injury, a return to game action is on the horizon for Washington Capitals’ forward Sonny Milano. According to Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post, Milano was upgraded to a full-contact jersey for today’s practice. Unfortunately for Milano, given the likelihood of the league-leading Capitals’ adding one or two forwards before next Friday’s trade deadline, Milano is a strong candidate for waivers upon his activation from the long-term injured reserve.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Milano, Utah

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While Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark was supposed to get the start in tonight’s 4 Nations Face-Off finale for Sweden, that’s no longer the case.  Aftonbladet’s Hans Abrahamsson first reported that the netminder is sick and won’t suit up versus Team USA.  With Filip Gustavsson leaving Saturday’s game early with an illness as well, it will be Samuel Ersson who gets the nod.  Ullmark was widely expected to be Sweden’s starter for this event but will wind up playing in just two periods overall, taking the overtime loss versus Finland.  The outcome of this game will have no bearing on Thursday’s final as that will be a matchup of Canada and Team USA after Canada won their game in regulation this afternoon over Finland.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays that while Capitals winger Sonny Milano was skating in a non-contact jersey before the 4 Nations break, he’s still a ways away from returning to the lineup. The 28-year-old suffered an upper-body injury in his third game of the season and hasn’t played since.  Assuming he’ll see some time with AHL Hershey on a conditioning assignment, it’s possible that Milano won’t be back until after the trade deadline when roster maximum sizes are no longer in effect.
  • In an interview with Craig Morgan on Utah HC’s team site, GM Bill Armstrong indicated that there’s a chance that they could have all their injured players back coming out of the break. Center Logan Cooley suffered a lower-body injury at the end of January while blueliner Sean Durzi (shoulder) has been out since mid-October; getting both of them back would be a big boost for their attack.  Meanwhile, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) has missed more than a month while goalie Connor Ingram left the final game before the break with an upper-body issue so it appears they’re close to returning as well.
  • From that same interview, Armstrong suggested that Utah has already done most of its team building already from the summer and early-season trade activity so the team is “already built to some degree”. They have six games left before the trade deadline and are six points out of the final Wild Card spot so being buyers would be a bit of a surprise.  With that in mind, instead of team building, they could be doing some trimming with centers Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad, blueliners Ian Cole and Olli Maatta, and goaltender Karel Vejmelka among the long list of pending unrestricted free agents this summer.

Capitals Place Lars Eller On IR

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Washington Capitals forward Lars Eller is expected to miss the team’s three remaining games before the holiday break with illness, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Gulitti adds that Eller saw a doctor for the illness on Thursday, and has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Washington’s last game on Tuesday.

Eller rejoined the Capitals via a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 12th. He’s since returned to the comfortable, middle-six role he previously filled for eight years in Washington. Eller scored 90 goals and 215 points in 512 games with the Capitals in his previous stint – from 2016 to 2023 – and served as a prominent depth figure in the team’s 2018 Stanley Cup win. Washington traded Eller to Colorado at the end of the 2022-23 season. He signed a two-year, $4.9MM deal in Pittsburgh after just 24 games, and seven points, with the Avalanche. The return to the Metropolitan Division helped out his scoring, with Eller posting 38 points in 99 games with the Penguins – but Washington’s lineup wasn’t the same without their core forward. Eller has scored six points in 16 games with the Capitals since returning this season, bringing him up to a total of 13 points in 33 games after starting this season in Pittsburgh. The 35-year-old is expected to hit free agency once again this summer, where he’ll face the choice of whether to try and extend his 1,000-game career into its 17th season.

Eller’s short-term absence could be mitigated by the return of Sonny Milano, who returned to the ice in a non-contact jersey before Washington’s Friday practice, shares Gulitti. Milano has been out of action with an upper-body injury since November 6th, after appearing in just three games and recording no scoring to start the year. He still faces a few steps before he can return to the lineup, though a quick ramp up could set him up for clear minutes in Eller’s vacancy. Milano scored 15 goals and 23 points in 49 games with Washington last season, 10 points fewer than he managed in 64 games of Washington’s 2022-23 campaign.

Metro Notes: Garand, Ovechkin, Milano, Wilson, Tomasino

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The New York Rangers are returning to their regular look between the pipes tonight. The organization announced they’ve reassigned goaltender Dylan Garand to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Garand’s reassignment means Igor Shesterkin will return this evening against the Chicago Blackhawks. He missed yesterday’s game after he and his wife welcomed a new child. Garand didn’t play in yesterday’s loss to the Seattle Kraken, but nobody would have been surprised if he did.

Jonathan Quick, a more than reliable backup for the Rangers this season, let in six goals on 21 shots during New York’s collapse in the second and third periods. The situation paved the way for Garand to make his NHL debut after securing a 7-2-2 record in 11 games for the Wolf Pack this season. Nevertheless, the former 103rd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft will continue to wait to make his first NHL appearance.

Other Metro notes:

  • According to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, the Washington Capitals had a pair of forwards resume skating this morning albeit in non-contact jerseys. Alex Ovechkin and Sonny Milano skated before the Capitals’ formal practice this morning and Milano has reportedly been elevated to working with pucks. The fact Ovechkin has even returned to skating is impressive given he’s just under three weeks removed from fracturing his fibula.
  • Power forward Tom Wilson was a notable absence from Washington’s practice this morning (X Link). Wilson took a puck to the face in the team’s recent win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and he finished the game with nearly a season-low time on ice of 16:15. There’s no indication he’s been ruled out of the Capitals’ upcoming game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Still, it’ll be something to monitor over the next few days.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins could be getting a boost to their forward core tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche. According to Wes Crosby of NHL.com, Penguins’ forward Philip Tomasino was skating in a non-contact jersey before today’s practice after missing the team’s most recent game with an upper-body injury. The former first-round pick has been a boon to Pittsburgh’s offense since being acquired from the Nashville Predators on November 25th scoring three goals and four points in his first five games.

Capitals Recall Ivan Miroshnichenko, Move Alex Ovechkin To IR

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The Capitals have recalled 2022 first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko from AHL Hershey, per a team announcement. They had a full active roster, so captain Alex Ovechkin heads to injured reserve in a corresponding move after being ruled out yesterday on a week-to-week basis with a lower leg injury. Winger Sonny Milano, who’s out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, also shifted from IR to LTIR to give the Caps additional space in their LTIR pool.

It’s unlikely that Miroshnichenko will slide into the first-line left-wing spot vacated by his countryman’s injury, but the 20-year-old deserves the recall after a hot start on the farm. The 6’1″ winger is second on Hershey in scoring with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 16 games, improving wildly on a per-game basis over last season’s nine goals and 25 points in 47 AHL games.

Miroshnichenko, the 20th overall pick two years ago, got his first NHL action last season. He made 21 appearances for the Caps amid several call-ups, scoring twice and adding four assists for six points with a -4 rating. He was limited to middle-six minutes, averaging 12:08 per game with minimal special teams time. However, he positively impacted their even-strength possession numbers and finished fourth on the team in hits per 60 minutes with 11.76.

He’ll likely make his season debut tomorrow against the Avalanche alongside fresh trade acquisition Lars Eller and Jakub Vrána on the Caps’ third line if line rushes at today’s practice were any indication. Hendrix Lapierre will likely remain a healthy scratch, while Miroshnichenko should also get some reps on Washington’s second power-play unit, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.

The IR placement rules Ovechkin out for at least the Capitals’ next two games, but his absence will be more prolonged than that. Milano, who hasn’t played since Nov. 6 with his UBI, is now ineligible to return before their Nov. 30 game against the Devils and will miss at least five more contests. He has no points and a -3 rating in three appearances this season amid the injury and a lengthy run of healthy scratches.

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