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Vincent Iorio

Capitals Activate Matt Roy From Injured Reserve

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12:40 p.m.: The Capitals confirmed Roy’s activation and also said that Iorio had been sent down.

9:24 a.m.: Capitals defenseman Matt Roy was a full participant in practice Wednesday and projects to return tonight against the Predators after missing the last 10 games with a lower-body injury, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports. Washington has a full 23-player active roster and must make a corresponding transaction to activate him from injured reserve. That will likely be reassigning waiver-exempt defenseman Vincent Iorio, who’s been a healthy scratch twice since being summoned last weekend, to AHL Hershey.

Roy, 29, sustained the injury at some point during the first period of his Capitals debut against the Devils on Oct. 12. He did not skate in the second or third periods after recording a -2 rating and two shots on goal in 8:39 of ice time in the first. Initially ruled as day-to-day, he remained out of the lineup for two weeks before landing on IR on Oct. 28 to open up roster space.

It was an inauspicious start to Roy’s tenure in Washington after signing a six-year, $34.5MM contract in free agency to serve as their No. 2 right-shot defenseman behind John Carlson. He’ll now get the chance to be an impact shutdown player as advertised on a Capitals team that’s far exceeded expectations in the first few weeks of the season, sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference with a .727 points percentage (8-3-0).

The 2015 seventh-round pick had been a legitimate needle-mover in the Kings’ top four for the past few years before reaching unrestricted free agency. Last season was some of his best work. Skating on Los Angeles’ second pairing alongside Vladislav Gavrikov, Roy notched a career-high 20 assists in 81 games with a +21 rating, averaging 20:54 per game. He led the Kings in blocks (197) and finished second in hits (152), leveraging his 6’1″, 205-lb frame while controlling 52.9% of shot attempts at even strength.

Capitals Place Jakob Chychrun On IR, Recall Vincent Iorio

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The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Jakob Chychrun on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, they’ve also recalled defender Vincent Iorio for the first time this season.

Little details have been revealed about Chychrun’s injury. He hasn’t hit the ice since leaving Tuesday’s win over the New York Rangers after just four shifts. There wasn’t any clear moment where Chychrun appeared to get injured, though he was seen clutching at his ribs in his last shift. Chychrun sat out of Washington’s Thursday win over Montreal, and will now have to miss at least one more week of action. With his move to IR not retroactive, this move will force Chychrun out of at least four games. His next chance to play will be when Washington visits St. Louis on Saturday, November 9th.

This news brings a screeching halt to Chychrun’s hot start in Washington. He’s been the team’s clear-cut top left-defender, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time and recording four points in seven games prior to injury. Chychrun joined the Capitals via trade this summer, with Washington dealing Nick Jensen and a third-round pick back to the Ottawa Senators – just over one year after Ottawa traded a first-round and two second-round picks for the defender. For all of his moves over the last two seasons, Chychrun has seemed to find a home in Washington – and could even set a new career-high in scoring should he maintain his current scoring pace.

With Chychrun headed to the shelf, Washington is once again turning towards top defenseman Vincent Iorio. Iorio was the 55th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and turned pro in the 2022-23 season, finding a spot on the Hershey Bears’ blue-line and ultimately posting 36 points in 123 games over the last two seasons. Iorio showed plenty of mature, two-way ability early into his career – enough to earn call-ups to the NHL roster in both of his pro years so far, though it’s only resulted in one assist across nine games.

Iorio has just three points in nine AHL games this year, but could still stand for a strong chance at ice time behind a depleted Capitals blue-line behind John Carlson and Rasmus Sandin. He’ll most likely step in for Dylan McIlrath, who’s slotted onto the third-pair for eight games this season and recorded two assists. McIlrath and Iorio could also cede ice time to Matt Roy when he returns from an October 12th injury.

Capitals Re-Assign Vincent Iorio

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After sustaining an injury in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Capitals rookie defenseman Vincent Iorio is ready to return. That’s good news for their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, who are still alive in the Calder Cup Playoffs and will add his services for the remainder of the season, per a team announcement.

Washington picked up Iorio from the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, going 55th overall. He’s seen limited major-league action in each of the past two seasons, recording an assist and a +1 rating in nine games while playing an extremely minimal role, averaging 11:20 per game.

The 21-year-old was forced into playoff action for the Caps after Nick Jensen and Rasmus Sandin went down with injuries near the end of the regular season, but logged just two shifts in Game 1 of the first round against the Rangers. He sustained an upper-body injury that knocked him out of the remainder of the four-game sweep.

Iorio, a 6’3″ right-shot defender, has been a good two-way force for the most dominant team in the AHL over the past two years. Since turning pro, the British Columbia native has six goals, 36 points and a +43 rating in 123 games for the Bears. He had a goal and four assists in 15 games for Hershey in last year’s run to the Calder Cup.

A strong passer and breakout puck-mover, Iorio will be in contention to land a spot on the Caps’ blue line next season. He has two seasons remaining on his entry-level contract with a $814K cap hit.

Capitals Assign Seven Players To The AHL

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One day after being swept by the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals announced that they’ve assigned seven players to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Washington’s AHL affiliate is the top seed and are the defending Calder Cup champions.

The Capitals loaned goaltender Mitchell Gibson, forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre, as well as defensemen Lucas Johansen, Vincent Iorio, Dylan McIlrath, and Hardy Haman Aktell to the Bears. The group will have an opportunity to make a deep playoff run in Hershey. Iorio, Johansen, Lapierre, and McIlrath were all part of Hershey’s Calder Cup championship team from last season.

Of the players being assigned to Hersey only Lapierre and Miroshnichenko played more than 20 NHL games this season. Lapierre dressed in 51 games for Washington posting eight goals and 14 assists as well as a goal and an assist in four playoff games. He tallied his first career postseason goal last night with a beautiful individual effort that tied the game at two.

Miroshnichenko dressed in 21 games with Washington this year, posting two goals and four assists. The 20-year-old was the Capitals first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and appeared mostly in the AHL this season where he had nine goals and 16 assists in 47 games.

Iorio, Johansen, and Aktell all appeared in six games for Washington this season, while McIlrath dressed in three NHL games. Gibson didn’t see NHL action this year and spent most of the season in the ECHL, aside from two games with the Bears.

Hershey opens their Atlantic Division Semifinals series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday at GIANT Center. Lehigh Valley swept the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in two games this past weekend and will be a big underdog against the Bears, especially with all the reinforcements that Washington has sent down.

Morning Snapshots: Matthews, Team Canada, Capitals

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The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled star Auston Matthews ahead of Game Four’s third period last night. When asked about it postgame, head coach Sheldon Keefe said it was the team doctor’s that made the decision, pulling Matthews because of illness. Toronto went on to lose the game 3-1, a scorecard that also matches Boston’s lead on the series. Matthews has played through the illness for the last two games, taking maintenance days at Toronto’s practices in between to try and regain energy. No indication has been made about his availability for Game Five, though it could be dependent on how he’s feeling each day moving forward.

Matthews, like the rest of the Maple Leafs lineup, hasn’t had a particularly strong first round – managing one goal and three points in four games and adding one penalty. It’s a tremendous step down from a historic regular-season that saw Matthews become the first player to score 69 goals since Mario Lemieux, who pulled off the feat in just 70 games in 1996. Matthews wasn’t able to crack the illustrious 70-goal mark, but still managed unprecedented scoring in this day-and-age. Unfortunately, something about that scoring hasn’t translated to the playoffs, and Matthews now finds his Leafs on the brink of elimination. While his illness has clearly not improved much, it’s hard to imagine Matthews will sit out of a chance to save Toronto’s season.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

  • Top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Roger McQueen will miss the remaining U18 World Championship with an injury suffered in the first period of  Canada’s latest game against Team Czechia, shares FloHockey’s Chris Peters (Twitter link). McQueen managed one point across three games this tournament, including his early exit against Czechia. Canada has added fellow 2025 prospect Caleb Desnoyers to the roster in McQueen’s absences. Desnoyers is one of the draft’s top names out of the eastern Canada and posted 20 goals and 56 points in 60 games as a QMJHL rookie this season. He also scored three goals and five points in eight games during the World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Desnoyers will now get to run with the big dogs in U18s, and is expected to draw in right away, with Canadian forward Carson Wetsch receiving a one-game suspension for a hit-from-behind. Wetsch, a 2024 Draft prospect, has scored two goals in two tournament games.
  • The Washington Capitals saw three defensemen progress from injury at Sunday morning’s practice. Most notably, defenders Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen both returned to full contact, with Sandin even taking reps on the team’s power-play, shares The Hockey News (Twitter link). At least one of them is expected to return to the lineup ahead of Game Four, with Trevor van Riemsdyk ruled out with an upper-body injury, per Ben Raby of Capitals Radio (Twitter link). Lucas Johansen also skated as a healthy scratch, opening up room should both Sandin and Jensen be ready. Rookie defender Vincent Iorio also returned to the team’s practice in a no-contact jersey after suffering an upper-body injury in Game One. These moves should give Washington a new-look on defense, after they’ve allowed the New York Rangers to average 3.67 goals through Round One’s first three games.

Metropolitan Notes: Capitals Defensemen, Martin, Ciernik

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The Capitals lost another defenseman yesterday when Trevor van Riemsdyk sustained an upper-body injury.  Head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News that the veteran won’t be available for a must-win Game Four with Washington now on the brink of elimination.  While Vincent Iorio skated today, he was in a non-contact jersey and won’t be available tomorrow either.  However, Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen both took part in practice and haven’t been ruled out yet for Sunday’s contest.  If one of them can’t play, Hardy Haman Aktell will make his NHL playoff debut.  Carbery indicated that, for now, the team isn’t planning to recall Chase Priskie, the only defenseman left on an NHL contract, from AHL Hershey.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Islanders will be making a lineup change today up front as they look to stay alive versus Carolina. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Matt Martin is unavailable due to a lower-body injury so winger Ruslan Iskhakov will make his NHL playoff debut.  Martin has been a long-time mainstay on New York’s fourth line but saw his production wane this season as he was limited to just eight points in 57 games.  Iskhakov, meanwhile, was a quality producer in the minors for the second straight year, notching 50 points in 69 games while recording an assist in his NHL debut earlier this month.  While the team will be missing some physicality with Martin out, Iskhakov might give them a better shot at scoring, an area of concern as they’re averaging just two goals per game through the first three games of the series.
  • Flyers prospect Alex Ciernik has inked a one-year deal with Nybro of Sweden’s Allsvenskan, per a team release. The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick by Philadelphia last June, going 120th overall.  Ciernik had a decent showing this season in his first full professional campaign, notching 14 points in 26 games with Vasterviks along with three assists in six contests in a relegation series.  The Flyers hold Ciernik’s rights through June 1st, 2027 so they have plenty of time still before they need to sign him.

East Notes: Pageau, Nylander, Forbort, Jensen, Sandin, Iorio

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The Islanders expect veteran center Jean-Gabriel Pageau back tonight as they try and even their first-round series against the Hurricanes at one apiece. He practiced today and took line rushes in his usual third-line role, per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. After missing Game 1 with a lower-body injury sustained early in the final game of the regular season, the 31-year-old will center a line with captain Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall. Winger Hudson Fasching is projected to come out of the lineup after riding shotgun with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri on the second line on Saturday, while 22-year-old Simon Holmström will be reinstated into the top-six on his natural wing after suiting up at center over the weekend. Center Kyle MacLean, who scored the Isles’ only goal in the 3-1 loss, slides down to fourth-line duties with Pageau returning. The Ottawa native had 11 goals and 33 points in the regular season, skating in all 82 games.

Other updates ahead of a pair of Game 2s in the East tonight:

  • Maple Leafs winger William Nylander took a big step toward returning from an undisclosed injury today, participating in practice after participating in an optional skate yesterday. However, he didn’t take line rushes and will be a game-time decision against the Bruins tonight, head coach Sheldon Keefe said (via ESPN’s Kristen Shilton). If Nylander can’t go, no lineup changes are coming for Toronto, which dropped Game 1 Saturday 5-1 despite outshooting Boston 36-25. He skated nearly an hour today, a good sign for his availability when the series shifts back to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday.
  • The Bruins brought defenseman Derek Forbort back from his LTI conditioning loan to AHL Providence this morning, but he won’t be coming off long-term injured reserve just yet. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters today that the veteran isn’t an option for tonight’s contest but will travel with Boston north of the border (via The Boston Globe’s Conor Ryan). Even if healthy, it’s unclear whether he’ll draw into the lineup ahead of Andrew Peeke or Kevin Shattenkirk on the Bruins’ bottom pairing.
  • Capitals defensemen Nick Jensen and Rasmus Sandin remain in non-contact jerseys in today’s practice, NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports. It’s not a good sign for the pair’s availability for Game 2 against the Rangers tomorrow. Both have been sidelined for at least a few games with upper-body injuries, and the Caps have already been forced to dip deep into their defensive well by playing rookie Vincent Iorio and farmhand Dylan McIlrath in Game 1’s 4-1 loss. Iorio left that game with an injury as well, which may force yet another player from AHL Hershey to suit up in postseason action for Washington. He’s now listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is questionable to play tomorrow, head coach Spencer Carbery said.

East Notes: Nylander, Jensen, Sandin, Iorio

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The Maple Leafs have been tight-lipped about the status of star winger William Nylander, who was absent from yesterday’s Game 1 loss to the Bruins with an undisclosed injury. It appears he’s nearing a return, though. He practiced with the team at an optional skate this morning – his first time on the ice since the last game of the regular season against the Lightning last Wednesday reports Chris Johnston of The Athletic and TSN.

Nylander played all 82 regular-season games for the second straight season, matching last year’s career high in goals (40) and setting a new one in points (98). He cooled off somewhat in the second half of the season, but a torrid start that included a 17-game point streak helped the 27-year-old avoid unrestricted free agency with an eight-year, $92MM extension. The return of Calle Järnkrok from a hand injury helped negate his absence somewhat last night, but Nylander’s third wave of attack behind the Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner/John Tavares-anchored lines may have helped reverse Toronto’s fortunes against a rock-solid Jeremy Swayman in net for Boston. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe likely won’t confirm Nylander’s status before Game 2 tomorrow until he is or isn’t on the ice for warmups.

Moving over to the American capital:

  • The Capitals remain without a pair of defenders in today’s Game 1 against the Rangers, as Nick Jensen and Rasmus Sandin are absent. Jensen sustained an undisclosed injury last weekend after a scary hit from Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont required him to be stretchered off the ice, but he’s since returned to practice in a non-contact jersey and should be an option for Washington at some point in their first-round series. Before missing the final two games of the regular season, the 33-year-old had a goal and 14 points in 78 games with a -9 rating while averaging 19:38 per game. Sandin, 24, has also yet to graduate from a non-contact designation in practice after sustaining an upper-body injury against the Senators on April 7. Including today’s postseason tilt, he’s now missed six games with the injury, his second-longest absence of the season. The young Swede is in his first full campaign with the Caps after they picked him up from Toronto before last year’s trade deadline. He had three goals, 23 points, and a -13 rating in 68 regular-season games with Washington while averaging 21:07 per game, second among Caps defenders.
  • Things didn’t get any better for Washington on the injury front today, as rookie defenseman Vincent Iorio is questionable to return to the contest with an upper-body injury, per the team. He took a heavy hit from Rangers winger Alexis Lafrenière on the play that ended with Artemi Panarin putting the Blueshirts up 2-0 in the second period. Iorio, 21, was a second-round pick of the Caps two years ago and was playing in his first postseason game. He’s played most of the season with AHL Hershey, logging only six NHL appearances and averaging just 9:50 per game. He has one NHL assist to his name, which game during a three-game call-up last season.

Capitals Recall Vincent Iorio, Matthew Phillips

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The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Matthew Phillips and defenseman Vincent Iorio to the NHL roster (Twitter link). This move brings Phillips back to the NHL after being sent down earlier in the week and marks the second call-up of Iorio’s career.

Iorio’s first call-up came in March of last season and awarded him with the first three NHL games of his career. He managed one assist in those appearances while averaging just over 14 minutes of ice time. He’s yet to fight his way back into the Capitals lineup, instead spending all of this season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears – scoring four goals, 14 points, and 30 penalty minutes in 60 appearances, a step down from his 22 points in 63 games as an AHL rookie last year.

But he’ll be leaned on once again, with fellow defenseman Ethan Bear out indefinitely after entering the NHL Player Assistance Program. Bear was serving as Washington’s seventh defenseman and hadn’t played since March 13th. Iorio will step into that depth role, looking to compete with Alexander Alexeyev for a spot on the team’s lineup.

Phillips’ recall could be an indication of Sonny Milano’s availability. Milano is working his way back from an upper-body injury suffered in Washington’s Sunday win over the Winnipeg Jets. He missed the team’s Tuesday night game but has continued appearing at the team’s practices, including taking the ice during their off-day this morning. Washington will test Milano’s readiness ahead of their Thursday matchup against Toronto, with Phillips as their fill-in if he can’t go.

Washington Capitals Loan Vincent Iorio to AHL

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The Washington Capitals have loaned defenseman Vincent Iorio back to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. This will place Iorio back to where he’s spent most of this season, having played 51 games at the AHL level.

Iorio, 20, is a 2021 second-round pick who has been with the Capitals for about a week. He played in his first three NHL games in that timeframe, getting between 12 and 15 minutes in each contest. He even registered his first NHL point, getting an assist in the Capitals’ 8-3 rout of the San Jose Sharks.

The six-foot-four former Brandon Wheat Kings is in his first season as a professional and has impressed with his mature play in the AHL. Iorio has registered just six penalty minutes despite playing a defense-first game, and while his 17 points in 51 games don’t jump off the page, he appears to be getting closer to NHL readiness.

Now, he’ll get to head back to Hershey for possibly the rest of their season, helping ready them for what the team hopes will be a long Calder Cup playoff run.

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