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Capitals To Activate Rasmus Sandin From Injured Reserve

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The Capitals will activate defenseman Rasmus Sandin from injured reserve before tonight’s game against the Blues, head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters (including Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post). They quietly placed center Pierre-Luc Dubois on IR in the corresponding move after receiving word he’ll be out for several weeks.

Sandin hasn’t played since Oct. 21 due to an upper-body injury, missing five games. He’s been skating in a non-contact jersey for over a week now, so conditioning shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Before the absence, Sandin was off to a fine start. His offensive production was a bit lacking through seven games, logging only two assists after hitting 30 points in 82 games last year. However, he supplemented that with a +3 rating and has been increasingly active with the puck on his stick. His 3.14 shot attempts per game stand as a career high, and he also demonstrated a bit more physicality than usual, with 16 hits. Overall, he’s been a bit more involved in the play than he was last year, despite only a marginal increase in average ice time from 19:11 to 19:24 per game.

The 25-year-old is in the early stages of his third full season with Washington after being acquired from the Maple Leafs near the 2023 trade deadline. He’s seen his ice time slightly reduced during his tenure, as the club has added other notable names like Jakob Chychrun via trade and Matt Roy via free agency. However, he still plays a critical support role and could see his usage increase after this season if pending unrestricted free agent John Carlson doesn’t return. While regarded as an offensive-minded blue liner, he’s been paired with Roy at even strength this season and used in a primarily defensive capacity. The duo has only allowed one goal against in 76 minutes of 5-on-5 play, but has also only been on the ice for one goal for during that time.

Chychrun slotted in next to Roy in Sandin’s absence, and that duo fared better, both in actual goals share (60%) and expected goals share (64.6%), per MoneyPuck. They’re keeping that duo together and bumping Sandin down to third-pairing deployment with Trevor van Riemsdyk as a result, according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. Sandin will still quarterback Washington’s second power play unit.

Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois Out For Extended Period

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The Washington Capitals have received bad news on center Pierre-Luc Dubois’ lower-body injury. He will be out for an “extended period”, head coach Spencer Carbery told The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson. The Capitals are continuing to evaluate the injury and aren’t yet sure if Dubois will need surgery, per Johnson.

Dubois’ knee buckled on a defensive-zone faceoff in Friday night’s loss to the New York Islanders. He needed assistance getting off the ice. No specifics have been revealed about Dubois’ injury, though Carbery did note that it is unrelated to the lower-body injury that forced Dubois out of five games earlier in the season. The 27-year-old was making his return from that prior injury on Friday, but only managed six minutes back in the lineup before going down again.

Dubois has only been in the lineup for five full games this season. He is still searching for his first point of the season, currently sitting with just nine shots on goal and six hits to his name. Dubois was a core piece of Washington’s offense last season. He reached 20 goals and 66 points while filling the second-line center role for all 82 games. That scoring tied Dubois with Aliaksei Protas for third on the team in scoring, though Protas managed 30 goals and only played 76 games. Dubois centered Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson, who both posted career-highs in scoring.

Last season marked a phenomenal start to Dubois’ time in Washington. He finished the year with a plus-27, an incredible surge after recording a negative plus-minus in four of the prior five seasons. He had previously reached solid scoring marks, though, achieving four 20-goal seasons and three 60-point seasons prior to 2024-25. Those performances spanned a tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets, though Dubois has seemed to find his firmest roots in the Capitals organization. He’s a pillar of the offense when healthy, and should return to a top-six role on the other side of this indefinite injury.

Capitals Promote Tim Barnes To Assistant General Manager

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The Washington Capitals have promoted Tim Barnes to an Assistant General Manager position. He had previously served as the team’s Director of Analytics since the 2017-18 season, and filled an analyst role from 2014 to 2017.

Barnes graduated from the University of Calgary in 1989 and worked in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and financial industries. Throughout those jobs, he became one of the hockey world’s earliest analytics-bloggers, covering early advanced statistics under the pseudonym ’Vic Ferrari’. Barnes covered an array of topics, but most notably invented the statistics of ’Corsi’ and ’Fenwick’ – which track shot attempts on net. Both values count all goals, shots on goal, and missed shots – though Corsi also tracks blocked shots.

The invention of Barnes’ two stats was, in many ways, the precipice of hockey analytics as they’re seen today. It brought shrewd attention towards the importance of generating shots, and dangerous scoring chances, that would eventually, directly lead to the creation of expected-goal models. Barnes’ website ’timeonice.com’, now defunct, was also a main contributor in the advent of league-wide, advanced analytics tracking in the 2007-08 season.

To the world of hockey statisticians, Barnes’ hire in Washington was cause for celebration in 2014. That excitement will follow him as he takes yet another step up the org chart. He will become one of three assistant general managers in the Capitals organization, alongside Ross Mahoney and Don Fishman. Barnes will undoutbedly handle statistical oversight, while Mahoney handles Washington’s drafting and Fishman handles roster management. The three align with general manager Chris Patrick, who worked to the top chair himself after three years as an assistant GM.

Rasmus Sandin Cleared For Contact, Ethen Frank In Non-Contact

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The Washington Capitals took the ice for practice this morning, and there were a few takeaways on the injury front. A report from Sammi Silber of The Hockey News indicated that forward Ethen Frank had returned to skating in a non-contact jersey, while defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been fully cleared for contact.

Additionally, Silber shared that center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who’s considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, did not join the team for practice. All around, it’s mostly positive news for the Capitals, given that Frank and Sandin are the only two currently on the team’s injured reserve.

Since he hasn’t played since October 21st, Sandin has missed the most time of the trio. He’s tallied two assists in seven games for Washington this year, averaging 19:24 of ice time per contest. Meanwhile, Frank hasn’t played since the Capitals’ game on October 28th against the Dallas Stars after being reverse-hit by Mikko Rantanen. Despite the play looking relatively scary, it appears that Frank is on track to return sooner rather than later.

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Blues, Capitals Swap Corey Schueneman, Calle Rosen

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The St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals have each announced a minor league swap of defensemen. The Blues have acquired defenseman Calle Rosen from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Corey Schueneman.

It’s a coming home of sorts for Rosen. The Växjö, Sweden native, joined the Blues ahead of the 2021-22 campaign and enjoyed some of the best individual seasons of his career there. In his three years with St. Louis, he scored 10 goals and 26 points in 73 games while averaging 15:03 of ice time per game.

Additionally, Rosen was a solid defenseman for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. From 2021 to 2024, Rosen played in 108 games for the Thunderbirds, scoring six goals and 51 points over that stretch. Since leaving St. Louis after the 2023-24 campaign, Rosen has spent the last two years with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and Hershey Bears, respectively, scoring 11 goals and 41 points in 71 games.

In comparison, Schueneman has significantly less playing time in the NHL than Rosen. After starting his professional career with the AHL’s Stockton Heat, the Western Michigan University alumnus made his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021-22 season.

Despite a seven-game stint with the Blues last year, Schueneman’s NHL career has been limited to two goals and seven points in 31 games for the Canadiens, averaging 16:10 of ice time per game. He’s had a far better track record in the AHL, scoring 26 goals and 116 points in 316 games with a +28 rating.

Dylan Strome Returns From Injury, Scores

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  • While the Sabres were forced to manage the absence of one of their top scorers in yesterday’s game, the Washington Capitals dealt with the reverse: the return from injury of one of their top offensive talents. Center Dylan Strome made his return last night after a lower-body injury cost him the chance to play in two Capitals contests. Strome is Washington’s most important center, and he led the team in scoring last season. The 2015 No. 3 overall pick scored 82 points in 82 games last season, has 11 points in 10 games this year, and also scored a goal last night in Buffalo.

Evening Notes: Liljegren, Dubois, Fensore

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren exited the team’s Saturday win over the Colorado Avalanche in the first period after a deflected puck hit him in the face while he was on the bench. The injury looked painful, but Liljegren isn’t expected to miss the long-term with a serious injury, head coach Ryan Warsofsky told Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka.

Liljegren recorded seven minutes of ice time and a minus-one before exiting. The injury forced an end to a red-hot streak for the veteran defender. He scored three points across his last three games, prior to Saturday, and averaged over 24 minutes of ice time across his last five. He’s begun to show some sea legs after being thrust to the top of a young Sharks blue-line in the early season. Liljegren and defense partner Dmitry Orlov have outscored their opponents three-to-one – the best mark on San Jose blue-line. That will make him tough to replace, even though he’s only managed three assists in eight games.

The Sharks are currently carrying Sam Dickinson and Vincent Iorio as their extra defenders. Right-shot Iorio would likely be the preferred fill-in, though Warsofsky wouldn’t committ to either defender yet.

Other notes from around the league:

  • It seems the Washington Capitals have avoided serious injury with centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois, who sustained an injury in Friday’s game against the New York Islanders. He’s been designated as out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Dubois was playing his third game back from a previous injury that held him out for two weeks. His struggles to find the scoresheet stuck around, though, pulling the reigning 66-point scorer through a sixth game with no scoring this season. He will miss Washington’s Saturday match against the Buffalo Sabres, but should return to his hunt for a score in the first week of November.
  • With K’Andre Miller nearing a return from injury, the Carolina Hurricanes have assigned defenseman Domenick Fensore back to the minor-leagues. Fensore played in his first game of the NHL season, and third of his career, on October 28th. He recorded two shots on net and a minus-two. He’s been far more productive in the AHL, where his seven points in four games still leads the Chicago Wolves in scoring, despite the team playing two games without him. Fensore will now return to his cushy top-defender role, where he’ll look to bolster a Wolves offense that’s only scored three goals across their last three games.

Capitals Recall Spencer Smallman

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On the heels of Pierre-Luc Dubois suffering a lower-body injury in last night’s game against the Islanders, the Capitals have added some extra forward depth to their roster.  The team announced that they’ve recalled winger Spencer Smallman from AHL Hershey.  Washington had an open roster spot so no further moves were needed.

The 29-year-old is getting the first recall of his career in his second season with the Capitals.  Smallman has been a consistent producer at the AHL level, notching between 21 and 34 points in each of the last four seasons with the latter number coming last year, helping to earn Smallman a two-year, two-way contract back in April.

This season, Smallman is producing at a similar clip, picking up two goals and an assist through six games with Hershey.

As for Dubois, he suffered his injury late in the first period (his second lower-body issue of the season) on Friday night in a collision with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and needed assistance to get off the ice.  There was no immediate update postgame but given the difficulty he had putting weight on his leg following the injury, it’s reasonable to infer that he’s going to miss some time, necessitating Smallman’s promotion.

Capitals Sign Ivan Miroshnichenko To Two-Year Extension

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The Capitals have signed winger Ivan Miroshnichenko to a two-year contract extension, per his representation at Gold Star Hockey. It’s a one-way deal worth $1.85MM for a cap hit of $925,000, per PuckPedia. He is in the final season of his entry-level contract and was set to be a restricted free agent next summer without arbitration rights.

A two-year deal keeps Miroshnichenko signed through the 2027-28 season. He’ll still be a restricted free agent then, too, with three years of team control remaining. This is year three in North America for Miroshnichenko, whom Washington selected with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 draft. The 6’1″ winger nearly had his hands on an opening-night roster spot this year but was one of their final cuts. Now in his final year of waiver-exempt status, he went without a point in two games with AHL Hershey earlier this month before sustaining an injury that’s kept him out since.

When he gets back on the ice, Miroshnichenko will be looking to continue the momentum from a breakout 2024-25 campaign in Hershey. The physical scoring winger totaled 23 tallies and 42 points in 53 AHL games, leading the club in goals. It was a major breakthrough after he was limited to nine goals and 25 points in 47 appearances for the Bears the year prior.

His transition to the NHL, though, is still coming along. He’s gotten callups of significant length in each of the last two years, totaling 36 appearances. His ice time has been limited, though, averaging 10:51 per game while scoring three goals and seven assists for 10 points. He’s been among Washington’s more physical forwards when on NHL ice, though, averaging two hits per game.

Miroshnichenko’s shooting accuracy against NHL goaltenders is the biggest area where he needs to grow. For someone who will rely on his shot to break into a top-nine role for the Caps in the long term, he’s only finished at a 6.8% clip so far. Getting the puck toward the net hasn’t been a huge issue – he’s averaged 2.7 shot attempts per game in his call-ups – but converting on his chances and creating more high-danger ones is the next step in his development.

It’s hard not to see Miroshnichenko getting a call-up later this season when he’s healthy again. His loss of waiver-exempt status in 2026-27 means he should be penciled into next season’s opening night roster. Washington likely doesn’t want to have him go too long without NHL action if that’s the case.

Capitals Place Ethen Frank On Injured Reserve

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The Capitals have placed winger Ethen Frank on injured reserve, according to Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network. The placement is retroactive to Tuesday, when he left their 1-0 loss to the Stars with an undisclosed injury. As a result, he’s been ruled out for Washington’s next two games and will be eligible for activation on Nov. 5 against the Blues.

Frank needed assistance from the team’s trainers down the tunnel with less than two minutes left in the game. He attempted a check on Dallas winger Mikko Rantanen but failed to move him off the puck and took the worst of the collision (video via B/R Open Ice).

That was Frank’s third appearance of the season. He’s been recalled twice since clearing waivers and heading to AHL Hershey at the beginning of the campaign. The 27-year-old has recorded an assist, three shots on goal, and a pair of hits while averaging 11:18 of ice time per game, slotting into fourth-line duties with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime. It’s his second taste of NHL action after making his debut for the Caps last year. The high-end AHL goal-scorer notched four tallies and seven points in 24 showings for Washington in 2024-25.

They haven’t yet filled Frank’s roster spot, but will likely do so before tomorrow’s game against the Islanders to give themselves an extra forward. Likely recall options include first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko and the newly signed Brett Leason. They’re rostering 13 right now, but Dylan Strome is unlikely to play due to the lower-body injury that kept him out of the Dallas game. He’s listed as day-to-day and skated in a non-contact jersey at today’s practice, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.

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