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Sonny Milano

Capitals Activate Sonny Milano Off Injured Reserve

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The Capitals will be welcoming back a key winger into their lineup as team reporter Mike Vogel relays that Sonny Milano has been activated off injured reserve and will suit up tonight against Montreal.

The 27-year-old has missed more than two months (27 games in total) with an upper-body injury.  Before he was injured, Milano, like many of Washington’s players, had gotten off to somewhat of a quiet start offensively, notching four goals and four assists in his first 23 games while averaging a little over 12 minutes a night of action.

However, after recording back-to-back seasons of double-digit goals and at least 30 points, Milano’s return will be a welcome one to a Capitals team is the lowest-scoring team in the Eastern Conference, a big reason why they enter play today six points out of the final playoff spot.  It’s expected he’ll line up on the third line with Michael Sgarbossa and Max Pacioretty.

Washington had an open roster spot so no corresponding move was needed to activate Milano.  Their roster now stands at the maximum of 23 players.

Capitals Notes: Fehérváry, Jensen, Oshie, Milano, Lindgren, Pacioretty

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Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry won’t be sidelined for long with his upper-body injury. After missing the team’s Saturday game against the Predators, the Slovak defenseman is eyeing a return against the Penguins tomorrow and skated in his normal spot on the team’s top pair alongside John Carlson at practice this morning, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson).

Fehérváry sustained the injury early in last Friday’s game against the Islanders, skating just 2:18 before falling awkwardly into the boards and struggling to get to his feet. The 24-year-old has arrived as a legitimate top-four shutdown defender this season, posting the best possession metrics of his career and logging some penalty kill time with good relative results. His offense was never expected to be the calling card of his game, although his five points through 28 games is a bit slower pace than his career 0.22 points per game average.

Other notes from Capitals practice this morning:

  • If Fehérváry can return for tomorrow’s game, expect Nick Jensen to sit out as a healthy scratch to create room in the lineup, per the AP’s Stephen Whyno. The arrival of Ethan Bear, who made his Capitals debut Saturday and played over 20 minutes, has created a bit of a roster crunch, especially among the team’s right-shot defenders. Still, this is disappointing news for the 33-year-old, fresh off signing a three-year, $12.15MM extension. He’s yet to score a goal in 34 games this season and has logged just six assists, a sharp decline after notching nearly 30 points last season. His possession metrics have also nosedived after a few seasons of being one of the strong possession-control players in the league, limiting his on-ice value and making the choice to extend him look a tad dicey.
  • Carbery issued multiple injury updates after practice as well, calling the latest news on IR-bound forwards Sonny Milano and T.J. Oshie “not positive,” per Johnson. Oshie is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while Milano will be out longer on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury. The update is arguably a good sign for Oshie, though, signifying he’s getting closer to a return after missing the team’s last seven games. It’s been a tough season for the 37-year-old winger, who’s dealing with his second significant injury absence and has just four points in 21 games. Milano, meanwhile, has already missed nine games with his injury and doesn’t appear close to returning to practice anytime soon. The middle-six skill winger was amidst a down season with eight points in 23 games.
  • Netminder Charlie Lindgren is also listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Carbery said. He sat out Saturday’s game against the Predators after leaving in the first period of Friday’s game and will miss at least two more contests. Lindgren, 30, has been one of the most statistically efficient netminders in the league this year, and his .928 SV% is tied with the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman for second in the league among all netminders with at least ten starts.
  • Veteran winger Max Pacioretty, now coming off his second Achilles surgery in a matter of months, is expected to make his Capitals debut in the second half of the Capitals’ upcoming back-to-back against the Devils on Wednesday, per Carbery. Pacioretty has been nearing a return for weeks, but Carbery said the Capitals have been trying to position his return without needing him to play in back-to-back contests. The 35-year-old was limited to just 44 out of 164 contests in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons due to Achilles injuries.

Capitals Place Sonny Milano On Injured Reserve

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The Capitals placed winger Sonny Milano on injured reserve for undisclosed reasons Thursday, per a team announcement. To replace his spot on the active roster, the team recalled forward Joe Snively from the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Milano, 27, has one point in his last nine games and was a healthy scratch one week ago today against the Stars. It’s been a trying season for the scoring winger, who also missed one game in late October due to illness.

It’s unclear what will keep Milano out of the lineup for the next seven days and four games at minimum. He was a full participant in the Capitals’ last game, a tilt against the Blackhawks last Sunday, in which he logged one shot on goal in 10:15 of ice time.

On the season, Milano has four goals and four assists in 23 games while averaging 12:12 per game. Those numbers are down across the board from last season in the U.S. capital, when he logged 11 goals and 33 points in 64 games. The high-skill winger is coming off back-to-back seasons of 30-plus points.

A 2014 first-round pick of the Blue Jackets, Milano is now on his third organization but has never really managed to become a true everyday NHLer. He’s logged some impressive point totals in limited ice time, but inconsistencies in his game have made him a healthy scratch frequently throughout his career, although it’s a rarer occurrence now. His possession numbers are down sharply from last season, posting a 44.5% Corsi share at even strength compared to last year’s 50.6% figure, which was above the team average.

Milano will be eligible to return from his IR stint on December 21 against Columbus. He is in the first season of a three-year, $5.7MM extension signed with the Capitals last February.

This is the first recall of the season for Snively, who’s played 12 games for Washington in each of the past two seasons. The 27-year-old Yale graduate is a tenacious forechecker who’s been able to produce solid numbers in limited major-league action, posting six goals and five assists in his 24 career appearances while averaging 12:05 per game. Either he or Matthew Phillips will enter the lineup tonight against the Flyers in Milano’s absence. Snively’s off to a good start in Hershey, ranking third on the team in scoring with seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points in 25 games.

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.

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