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Washington Capitals Recall Dylan McIlrath

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After last night’s scary event involving defenseman Nick Jensen of the Washington Capitals, the team was put in a position to recall a defenseman to replace his spot in the active lineup. With this in mind, the team announced they have recalled defenseman Dylan McIlrath from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, on an emergency loan.

There has still been no official update coming from the organization in regards to the health status of Jensen, who had to be stretchered off the ice after a violent collision with Michael Eyssimont of the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Capitals only having two games remaining in the regular season, it is more than likely they will keep Jensen out for both of those matchups at the very least.

For McIlrath, the brutish defenseman is in his third season with the Capitals organization, primarily spending his time in the AHL. In 192 games with the Bears, McIlrath has scored seven goals and 32 points overall, while also playing 20 postseason games for the Bears last year, helping the organization secure their 12th Calder Cup Championship.

Since the end of the 2019-20 NHL season, McIlrath hasn’t had much opportunity at the NHL level, only managing three goals and six points over 73 career games. Once a top prospect for the New York Rangers organization after the team selected him with the 10th overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft, McIlrath has been unable to replicate the defensive prowess that he showed with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL all those years ago.

Nick Jensen Leaves Game On Stretcher

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  • In the first period of tonight’s game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals, a scary moment took place between forward Michael Eyssimont and defenseman Nick Jensen. After a fierce collision, Jensen needed to be stretchered off the ice but was conscious and had full control over his extremities (X Link). As the organization’s medical personnel continue to monitor Jensen’s condition, the public will likely know more tomorrow about his long-term health status.

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Sandin Might Not Be Available For Final Regular Season Games

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  • Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin didn’t skate on Friday due to his upper-body injury and it’s possible he won’t return before the end of the season next week, notes Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was injured on Sunday against Ottawa.  Sandin has had a good first full season with the Caps, recording 23 points in 68 games while averaging a career-best 21:07 per night.  That helped earn Sandin a five-year, $23MM extension last month.

Metro Notes: Oshie, Shea, Lucius

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Tom Gulitti of NHL.com is reporting that veteran Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie told reporters today that he felt good and will be joining the club on their upcoming road trip. Oshie has been dealing with an upper-body injury and hasn’t played since March 30th. The six-time 20-goal scorer has been limited to just 47 games this season as he has dealt with injury concerns for nearly half the year.

The 37-year-old Oshie has been dealing with back issues through much of the season and has used the service of a chiropractor on several occasions to relieve some of the pain and allow him to play. When he has played, he’s been limited offensively as he has just 11 goals and 11 assists this season.

The Capitals are in Detroit tomorrow night to take on the Red Wings and although Oshie is travelling with the team, Washington head coach Spencer Carbery wouldn’t commit to an answer regarding Oshie’s availability for tomorrow night’s game.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Post-Gazette Sports reporter Matt Vensel tweeted that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea is in Buffalo dealing with an immigration issue as the Penguins head north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening. Pittsburgh is hoping that Shea will be available by gametime as the Penguins look to continue their surge towards an Eastern Conference playoff berth. Shea has been playing his best hockey of the season as of late, finding a home on the Penguins’ bottom pairing. He scored his first NHL goal on Thursday night in a 4-1 win over Washington.
  • Mark Divver of NHL.com tweeted that Penguins prospect Cruz Lucius has entered the NCAA transfer portal and will likely land at Arizona State. The 20-year-old spent last season at the University of Wisconsin and led the Badgers in scoring with 13 goals and 21 assists in 36 games. Lucius becomes the fifth Badgers player to enter the transfer portal and it caps off an eventful few months as the former fourth-round pick was traded at the NHL trade deadline as part of the Carolina Hurricanes package to acquire forward Jake Guentzel from the Penguins.

Capitals Recall Lucas Johansen

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The Capitals have recalled defenseman Lucas Johansen from AHL Hershey, GM Brian MacLellan announced today. His recall comes after Rasmus Sandin sustained an upper-body injury yesterday against the Senators – he’s now been ruled out for their upcoming two-game road trip, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com). Carbery added that Sandin isn’t guaranteed to return by the end of the regular season.

Johansen, 26, remains in the Caps organization eight years after they selected him in the first round of the 2016 draft. He’s spent nearly all that time in the minors, only skating in nine NHL games.

A career-high six of them came earlier this season when he recorded an assist and a +1 rating while blocking seven shots and averaging 14:16 per game. The younger brother of injured Flyers center Ryan Johansen is still looking for his first NHL goal, a chance he could get if he draws into the lineup down the stretch and plays for the first time since November.

Johansen’s possession metrics when given NHL minutes have been quite poor, however, and have prevented him from having any chance of sticking in the lineup. He’s logged a 35.4 CF% and a 32.3 xGF%, the worst of any Caps skater to suit up this season. Injuries have taken him out of a solid chunk of action with Hershey this year, too, but he’s managed 12 points and a sky-high +18 rating in just 22 games when healthy.

He could draw into the lineup tomorrow in an essentially do-or-die game against the Red Wings. Without Johansen, the Caps would only have two left-shot defenders in the lineup, so he could dress if Carbery doesn’t want to play Trevor van Riemsdyk or rookie Vincent Iorio on their off-side. Washington’s playoff odds would drop to just 10% with a regulation loss to Detroit tomorrow after sitting third in the Metropolitan Division not too long ago, per MoneyPuck.

Losing Sandin at such a crucial point in the season is a tough break for Washington, losers of seven of their last 10 games. He’s the only other Caps defender to average over 20 minutes per game outside of John Carlson this season and has 23 points in 68 games with a -13 rating.

Injury Notes: Barabanov, Sandin, Kostin, Bryson

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Winger Alexander Barabanov has reportedly played his last game with the San Jose Sharks, with a lower-body injury expected to end his season and the Sharks not likely to re-sign him this summer, per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Web link). Barabanov suffered the injury from a blocked shot on March 26th and hasn’t played since, missing San Jose’s last five games.

This is an abrupt and quiet end to what was a quiet season for Barabanov. He played in 46 games, scoring just four goals and 13 points – the lowest scoring rate of his career. It’s a disappointing follow-up to what seemed to be Barabanov’s breakout season last year, when he managed a career-high 15 goals and 47 points in just 68 games. He’ll now set his eyes on free agency – the 30-year-old’s first chance to play outside of San Jose since he became a full-time NHL player in 2021. While he’ll certainly have to take a price cut from his current $2.5MM cap hit, Barabanov could be an intriguing pick-up for teams needing more depth down the wings.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin left the team’s Sunday matchup against the Ottawa Senators with an upper-body injury, following a hit at the end of the first period (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has moved into an integral role for the Capitals, averaging 21:34 in ice time over his last 10 games. Rookie Vincent Iorio is currently Washington’s seventh defenseman. He could be poised for a crucial role, with Washington currently two points back of an Eastern Conference Wild Card with just six games to go.
  • The San Jose Sharks were without hot-streak winger Klim Kostin on Sunday due to illness, per Curtis Pashelka (Twitter link). Kostin has nine points through his first 14 games with the Sharks, averaging six more minutes of ice time than he did in 33 games with Detroit. The Sharks traded minor-league defenseman Radim Simek and a 2024 seventh-round pick for Kostin at the Deadline and have him signed through next season. He was replaced by undrafted rookie Collin Graf, getting his NHL debut just days after signing his first professional contract. Graf recorded one assist in the start.
  • Jacob Bryson suffered an upper-body injury in the Buffalo Sabres’ Sunday afternoon game, leaving after just nine minutes of play (Twitter link). Bryson has played in just 31 games this season – the fewest of his career. He’s recorded one goal and eight points in those appearances, extended his streak to four consecutive seasons with just one goal on the year. Buffalo will have to decide between Kale Clague and rookie Ryan Johnson, who is currently in the AHL, if Bryson has to miss any time.

T.J. Oshie Will Not Play Tonight

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Even though he has returned to the team’s practice this morning, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News is reporting that Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie will not be in the lineup for the team tonight. Currently dealing with an upper-body injury, Oshie has not played since March 30th, Oshie will miss his fourth straight game for the Capitals.

In nearly every month of the 2023-24 NHL season, Oshie has missed a handful of games for Washington, and is on pace to play in less than 60 games for the fourth straight season. Since his eight-year, $46MM extension with the Capitals kicked in at the beginning of the 2017-18 season, Oshie has played in a total of 414 games for Washington, missing 21.7% of the team’s total games due to injury.

Even when healthy, Oshie’s production has certainly dipped this season, as he’s only managed 11 goals and 22 points in 47 games, on pace for the lowest total of his 16-year career. Nevertheless, as the Capitals are still within striking distance for a playoff spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, they will need Oshie’s assistance in getting the team across the finish line.

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Capitals Assign Hunter Shepard And Matthew Phillips To AHL

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The roster shuffling in Washington continues.  After recalling both players on an emergency basis in recent days, the team announced that goaltender Hunter Shepard and winger Matthew Phillips have been returned to AHL Hershey.

Shepard was brought up on Thursday following Darcy Kuemper being banged up in practice the day before.  However, the veteran was between the pipes on Friday against Carolina, meaning emergency conditions no longer existed so Shepard needed to go back down or be converted to a standard recall.

The 28-year-old made his NHL debut this season, getting into four games with the Capitals, posting a 3.19 GAA and a .894 SV%.  Shepard has spent most of the year with Hershey and has done quite well, putting up a 25-3-3 record with a 1.80 GAA and a .927 SV% in 31 games, leading the league in GAA and SV%.

As for Phillips, he was brought up on an emergency basis on Friday but didn’t play which meant emergency conditions no longer existed for him as well.  The 26-year-old is in his first season with Washington and has a goal and four assists in 31 games with the Caps.  He also has three points in five games with Hershey.  He’s set to become a Group Six unrestricted free agent for the second straight summer and might be hard-pressed to secure another one-way contract after getting one from the Capitals back in July.

Capitals Recall Matthew Phillips

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The Capitals have once again brought forward Matthew Phillips up from the AHL on an emergency loan, per a team release. It’s the fourth recall for Phillips in the past few weeks after Washington re-claimed him off waivers from the Penguins in March. Why exactly Phillips has been added to the roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Hurricanes is unknown – no Capitals forwards are carrying injury designations other than T.J. Oshie, and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel was already available as an extra forward. There may be a few undisclosed game-time decisions in the works up front. Phillips, 25, has a goal and four assists in 31 appearances with the Caps and Pens this season.

Metro Notes: Shepard, Gaudreau, Fast

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The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. The 28-year-old Shepard has seen action with the Capitals already this season and made his NHL debut back in October when he led Washington to a victory over the New Jersey Devils. Shepard has a 2-1-1 record at the NHL level with a .894 save percentage and a 3.19 goals-against average.

Shepard’s recall is for cautionary purposes as the Capitals still have concerns about the status of Darcy Kuemper after he left yesterday’s practice in pain. Kuemper practiced today with the team and looked okay, but with Washington having a back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Carolina, the extra netminder was deemed a necessity.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets are without the services of Johnny Gaudreau this evening as he is dealing with an illness and was unable to dress for the game against the New York Islanders. Gaudreau had dressed in all 75 of the Blue Jackets games this season and has 11 goals and 45 assists in what has been another disappointing campaign for the 30-year-old since coming over as a free agent from Calgary in the summer of 2022.
  • Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted that Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast re-joined the team this evening for their game against the Boston Bruins. Fast has been dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss the last six games and will now take the place of Jesperi Kotkaniemi who was a healthy scratch. The light-scoring Fast has just six goals and 12 assists in 66 games this season and has seen a drop in his average ice time by almost two minutes per game from his career average. Despite the reduction in ice-time, Fast has maintained strong underlying numbers, particularly at even strength. 

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