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Sonny Milano

Washington Places Dowd On IR, Recall Lapierre

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The Washington Capitals have placed forward Nic Dowd on injured reserved and recalled 2020 First Round pick Hendrix Lapierre from the Hershey Bears. Dowd has been out since the team’s October 18th game with an upper-body injury and will now miss an additional week of action, at least.

And while Washington was able to fill in for Dowd’s injury, they are also anticipating Sonny Milano to miss action with illness. This means the team will need to recall one more forward to ice a full lineup, as they’re not currently carrying any extra forwards. One possible option for this recall could be top prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko, who garnered a lot of attention during Washington’s training camp but narrowly missed the mark for the roster. He has five points through his first seven career AHL games.

Lapierre’s recall is an enticing one for Capitals fans anticipating what the former 22nd-overall selection could become. His only NHL action came in the 2021-22 season when Lapierre played six games and scored one goal. Last season was his first full year of professional hockey, with the winger netting 15 goals and 30 points in 60 regular season games and three goals and six points in 20 playoff games. Lapierre has three points in six AHL games this year, continuing his modest minor-league scoring.

Aliaksei Protas has slotted into the lineup in place of Dowd, recording one assist in six NHL games while averaging just shy of nine minutes of ice time. The 22-year-old forward was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft and has 97 career NHL Games under his belt, with 25 career points.

Eastern Notes: Marner, Abruzzese, Capitals

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As the Toronto Maple Leafs square off against their original six rival Detroit Red Wings, they will be without several familiar faces in the lineup. Mark Masters of TSN was the first to report that Mitch Marner would be sitting out of tonight’s game. Furthermore, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reports that defensemen Jake McCabe and Mark Giordano will be sitting out tonight as well.

Most of this is load management as Toronto gears up for their quest for the Cup, as none of these players are expected to be out longer than a game or two. Although the Maple Leafs will not reach as many points as they did last season, they are still playing extremely good hockey. As the team looks to finally make it out of the first round, they are resting some of their top players in the stretch run. When the playoffs officially start on April 17th, the Maple Leafs will likely be facing off against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Filling in tonight for the Maple Leafs is defenseman Conor Timmins, and veteran forward Wayne Simmonds. Both Timmins and Simmonds have been used sparingly this season, as neither player has played over 30 games this season.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Continuing with the Maple Leafs, the team announced that they have recalled forward Nicholas Abruzzese from their AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies. Abruzzese suited up in nine games for Toronto last year in the NHL, scoring a total of one goal. Playing the entirety of this season in the AHL, Abruzzesse has put up 44 points in 65 games for the Maple Leafs’ top minor league team.
  • Tom Gulitti from the NHL reports that Sonny Milano will return to the ice for the Washington Capitals in today’s game. Milano had been sidelined with an upper-body injury since the Capitals took on the Chicago Blackhawks on March 23rd. Unfortunately for Washington, forward T.J. Oshie and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk are both sidelined with upper-body injuries. Both players have been out since the team’s March 30th game against the Lightning.

East Notes: Couturier, Van Riemsdyk, Milano, Canadiens

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Flyers center Sean Couturier had been skating for the last few weeks with the hopes of returning to the lineup before the end of the season.  Those plans have now changed as head coach John Tortorella told reporters, including Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the 30-year-old has now been shut down for the season.  The good news for the Flyers is that Couturier hasn’t suffered a setback.  Instead, the team simply decided that there wasn’t much benefit to bringing him back for a few games and that it would be better for the veteran to simply focus on continuing to rehab the back injury that has sidelined him since training camp.  Suffice it to say, this was not the way anyone in the organization hoped that the first season of Couturier’s eight-year, $62MM contract was going to go.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk will miss at least a week due to an upper-body injury, notes Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The 31-year-old suffered the injury late in Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay.  While Washington has struggled a bit this year, this season has been a good one individually for van Riemsdyk as he has set career highs offensively with seven goals and 23 points while averaging over 19 minutes a night for only the second time.  That helped him earn a three-year, $9MM extension last month.
  • Still with Washington, winger Sonny Milano was a full participant in practice today and is trending towards playing tomorrow, relays Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been a nice bargain for the Capitals this season, collecting 32 points in 58 games, a nice return on a league minimum contract.  He, too, has a three-year extension in hand already, one that will carry a $1.9MM AAV starting next season.
  • The Canadiens announced that winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard won’t play tonight due to a minor injury. The rookie has impressed since being recalled in January, picking up 14 goals, 55 hits, and 55 blocks in 32 games.  Winger Joel Armia will return after missing more than a month with an upper respiratory infection.  Meanwhile, blueliner David Savard will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury.

Metropolitan Notes: Jarry, Lindgren, Milano

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It has been a rough season on the injury front for Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry who is dealing with his fifth injury within the last year.  Accordingly, Mark Madden of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review posits that Pittsburgh should look to move on from the netminder instead of meeting a reported asking price of $36MM over six years to extend him, a price that might be too risky for someone who has struggled to stay in the lineup with consistency.  Jarry has had a bit of a rough season but has still managed an above-average .908 SV% in 40 starts.  Fortunately, he shouldn’t be out much longer as he was a full participant in their game-day skate although Casey DeSmith is expected to get the start tonight against Washington.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Rangers were hesitant to put Ryan Lindgren on LTIR when he was injured last month. He returned to the lineup only to re-aggravate his shoulder injury.  Accordingly, Mollie Walker of the New York Post wonders if New York might be better off doing so now.  A retroactive placement would keep him eligible to return for the playoffs while giving him ample time to ensure he’s fully ready to return.  Additionally, such a move would clear up their short-term cap difficulties, eliminating the possibility of them needing to play shorthanded for a game to become eligible for a cap-exempt recall.
  • Capitals winger Sonny Milano will miss at least a week with an upper-body injury, relays Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has had a nice first season with Washington, picking up 11 goals and 21 assists in 58 games, a nice return on a league minimum contract.  He has already signed a three-year extension that begins next season with a $1.9MM AAV.

East Notes: Capitals, Penguins, Drouin

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Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette gave updates today on some of his injured players, noting that defenseman Nick Jensen will be a game-time decision tonight against the St. Louis Blues. He also mentioned that forward Sonny Milano will draw back into the lineup after missing two games with a non-COVID illness.

Jensen has been Washington’s de facto number-one defenseman for much of the season with John Carlson out due to injury, although that title has now been usurped by youngster Rasmus Sandin. The 32-year-old is ailing from an undisclosed injury and also missed three games with an upper-body issue earlier in the month. He has a career-high 24 points in 66 games and recently signed a three-year, $12.15MM extension with Washington.

Milano, a productive early-season pickup for the Caps, is projected to skate on a line with Nicklas Bäckström and Craig Smith in his return.

More notes out of the Eastern Conference today:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins were without their top two right-shot defensemen at practice today, and head coach Mike Sullivan issued updates on both players. Kris Letang had a maintenance day, and Jeff Petry is still being evaluated, leaving last night’s game against the New York Rangers after taking an elbow to the face from winger Tyler Motte. The two veterans are Pittsburgh’s highest-scoring defensemen this season, despite both missing significant time with multiple injuries.
  • Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin was held out from practice today after missing a team meeting this morning, according to head coach Martin St. Louis. As a consequence, St. Louis said he may also opt to scratch Drouin for tomorrow’s game against Tampa, his former team. The 27-year-old forward has one goal and 24 assists in 45 games this year.

Capitals Notes: Ovechkin, Milano, Snively

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In a recent tweet thread from Roman Stubbs of the Washington Post, he shares that Washington captain Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the New York Rangers. After recording an assist in their most recent win against the New York Islanders, it was noted that Ovechkin did not participate in the team’s practice the next day for ’maintenance’. Stubbs shares that Ovechkin appears to be dealing with a lower-body issue, and head coach Peter Laviolette will wait to make a decision on the Russian forward.

Other notes:

  • Included in the thread, Stubbs mentions that Capitals’ forward Sonny Milano is confirmed to be out of the lineup tonight, as he is dealing with a ’non-Covid illness’. Replacing Milano in the lineup is young forward Aliaksei Protas. In 43 games so far this season, Protas has provided the Capitals with three goals and seven assists. Although he does not provide the same level of depth scoring as Milano, the Capitals are in a position this year to give a few more games and minutes to their younger players.
  • After being recalled this morning on an emergency basis, Stubbs confirms that Joe Snively will play if Ovechkin is unable to. Becoming one of the best players on their AHL affiliate Hershey Bears over the last couple of seasons, Snively may be able to show what he can do at the NHL level against a very good Rangers team.

Washington Capitals Extend Sonny Milano

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UPDATE: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the contract breakdown is $2.35MM in 2023-24, $1.9MM in 2024-25, and $1.45MM in 2025-26. The low actual salary in the final year of the contract makes it a more appealing sell at the trade deadline or pre-season if Washington opts to move on from Milano at the end of his contract.

The Washington Capitals have extended an offseason acquisition for the second day in a row. NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports the team re-signed forward Sonny Milano to a three-year contract extension today, with an average annual value of $1.9MM.

Milano had a long and winding road to joining the Capitals for 2022-23, but it’s a shrewd move for general manager Brian MacLellan that’s paid off so far. The 26-year-old American has been a productive depth piece, scoring eight goals and 22 points in 40 games.

The news comes after Washington signed fellow newcomer Dylan Strome to a five-year, $25MM extension yesterday.

It’s a good bit of financial security for Milano, who cycled through a first-line role with the Anaheim Ducks, a failed professional tryout with the Calgary Flames, and now an almost $6MM commitment from the Capitals in less than a calendar year. He signed a one-year, league-minimum one-way contract with Washington on October 15, 2022, after he was cut from Flames camp and subsequently cleared waivers.

Milano was set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Washington Capitals Recall Sonny Milano, Place Three On Injured Reserve

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As announced in a team release today, the Washington Capitals have recalled forward Sonny Milano, forward Garrett Pilon, and defenseman Lucas Johansen from the Hershey Bears of the AHL. All three players will travel with the team to Detroit for the team’s game tomorrow against the Red Wings.

In a corresponding move, the team has also placed forward T.J. Oshie, defenseman John Carlson, and forward Beck Malenstyn on injured reserve. Forward Connor Brown was also moved to long-term injured reserve (LTIR) after undergoing potentially season-ending ACL surgery earlier this week.

Oshie is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury suffered last Saturday. He is technically eligible to return for Saturday’s home game against Arizona, but without a timeline, there’s no telling when he’ll be back. The fact that he was not moved to LTIR along with Brown is somewhat promising, suggesting that he may not be out for more than a few weeks.

Carlson also left the same game Saturday with a lower-body injury, although his status remains day-to-day. Assuming his injured reserve placement is retroactive, he could return Saturday against Arizona, but the IR placement is confirmation that he’ll miss his third straight game tomorrow against Detroit.

Malenstyn left last night’s overtime loss against Vegas with an upper-body injury. He was recalled to the team in mid-October in the absence of Brown.

After notching 34 points in 66 games last year as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, it was rather shocking that no team signed Milano before training camps started, and it was nearly as surprising when he cleared waivers when Washington signed him. In five games in the AHL, Milano’s notched two goals, an assist, and three points. He could potentially draw into the lineup in Malenstyn’s absence, although the team also had Connor McMichael as a healthy extra.

Pilon, 24, has five points in seven games to start the AHL season, his fifth with Hershey. Johansen, the 28th overall selection in 2016, missed the majority of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons due to injury and has a goal in six games with Hershey in 2022-23. The team had no extra healthy defensemen with Carlson out.

Anders Bjork Placed On Waivers; Sonny Milano Clears

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The Buffalo Sabres have placed forward Anders Bjork on waivers, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. The move comes after Bjork was scratched in each of the team’s first two games. Should he clear and is assigned to the minor leagues, the Sabres would receive $1.125MM in cap savings, leaving him with a charge of $475K on his $1.6MM contract.

Sonny Milano, who was on waivers yesterday, has cleared and will be assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Bjork, 26, was given that $1.6MM cap hit by the Boston Bruins in 2020, when he signed a three-year, $4.8MM contract after his first full season. He didn’t even last the first year of the deal in Boston, before being part of the Taylor Hall trade in 2021. In Buffalo, things haven’t really gone well for the fifth-round pick. In 73 games he has just eight goals and 14 points, averaging just 12 minutes a night last season. This year he found himself on the outside looking in at a much deeper forward group, and now he very well could be on his way back to the AHL.

There’s a chance a team claims him, though it’s hard to justify passing on Milano’s $750K deal just to take Bjork’s $1.6MM cap hit. More likely he’ll have to go back to the minor leagues, a place where he has spent very little time in his professional career. After becoming a star at Notre Dame, Bjork stepped almost directly into the NHL with the Bruins, playing just 29 games at the AHL level over parts of three seasons.

The Sabres, not needing the cap room, are making this move to create room for Riley Sheahan who is about to return from injury. They are just barely over the salary cap floor as it is, even with Ben Bishop’s contract on the books.

Sonny Milano Signs With Washington Capitals

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10/16/22: The Capitals have now officially announced the deal. Per the announcement, it’s a one-year, $750k deal, and it was confirmed that Milano will be hitting waivers today for the purpose of assigning him to AHL Hershey.

10/15/22: The Washington Capitals are expected to sign Sonny Milano, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The deal will be a one-year, one-way $750K contract but Friedman notes that Milano will be starting in the AHL. That would require him to clear waivers, meaning there’s at least a chance that another team could claim him for their NHL roster right away.

Milano, 26, failed to earn an NHL contract the summer or with his professional tryout this fall. That was with the Calgary Flames, where he struggled to fit into the team’s system or provide much offensive spark.

That’s the key with Milano, who has always been exceptionally skilled but has struggled to play a consistent role in the NHL. The 16th overall pick in 2014, he has 197 games under his belt, 66 of them coming last season with the Anaheim Ducks. That was easily his best season, finding early chemistry with Trevor Zegras and racking up 14 goals and 34 points.

Notably though, that included just five points in his final 27 games, the kind of inconsistency that has plagued him his whole career.

Perhaps the Capitals will be able to coax that out of him, though there appears to be no guarantee of playing time if he’s starting in the minor leagues. Washington has lost some serious forward depth in recent days, with Axel Jonsson Fjallby and Brett Leason both claimed on waivers.

Those two combined for 59 games for the Capitals last season, moving up and down when needed.

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