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Washington Capitals Reassign Michael Sgarbossa

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Dec. 22: The Capitals returned Sgarbossa to Hershey today, per a team release. He did not play in last night’s overtime win over the Blue Jackets.

Dec. 21: The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Michael Sgarbossa from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Sgarbossa adds an extra forward to the Capitals’ roster after regular contributor Connor McMichael missed the team’s last game due to illness.

The 31-year-old undrafted veteran forward has been the number-one center for the Hershey Bears since 2018-19. In that span, Sgarbossa has been named to the AHL All-Star game, scored at nearly a point-per-game pace, and won a Calder Cup.

So far this season, Sgarbossa has kept his usual pace and scored five goals and 28 points in 28 games. At the moment he’s currently Hershey’s offensive leader, third place in the total AHL scoring race, and his production has kept them at the top of the AHL’s Atlantic Division. With an extra spot to be filled on their roster, the Capitals have recalled Sgarbossa and thereby rewarded him for his efforts with their AHL affiliate.

Sgarbossa has not had the level of success in the NHL as he’s had in the AHL. In 65 career games at the game’s highest level, Sgarbossa has scored four goals and 16 points.

Capitals, Predators Discussed Evgeny Kuznetsov Trade Last Summer

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  • LeBrun also reported Friday that “it’s hard to see a market” for Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov ahead of the trade deadline, and if a trade is coming, it’s unlikely to happen until the 2024 draft. With one more season left after this at a $7.8MM cap hit, it’s a tough financial proposition for any contending team to absorb his contract, especially for a player who has just 11 points in 26 games this season. His trade request last summer was well-publicized, but the Capitals never found a trade partner to find him a fresh start. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, though, as LeBrun revealed Washington was in advanced talks with the Nashville Predators at one point during the summer around a swap of bloated contracts, likely dealing Kuznetsov for one of Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen, but the deal fell through. The Predators eventually moved on from both players, buying out the remainder of Duchene’s contract and trading Johansen to the Avalanche at 50 percent salary retention.

McMichael Scratched Due To Illness

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  • Before tonight’s game against the Islanders, the Capitals announced (Twitter link) that forward Connor McMichael was a late scratch due to an illness. Matthew Phillips took his place.  McMichael is off to his best start, notching six goals and seven assists through his first 28 games; last season, he was limited to just six NHL contests, being held off the scoresheet.

Pacioretty Set To Make Debut Shortly After Christmas

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  • In some positive news coming out of the Washington Capitals organization, even though it is unlikely forwards T.J. Oshie and Sonny Milano will be back before the Christmas break, the Capitals will likely see the season debut of Max Pacioretty shortly thereafter (X Link). In what will serve as a feel-good story for much of the league around the holiday season, Pacioretty has infamously suffered two Achilles tears over the last two calendar years, only playing in five games since the start of the 2022-23 season.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Capitals Recall Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre

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10:09 a.m.: Further to this morning’s news, the Capitals have now moved Oshie to injured reserve to free up an additional roster spot, Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post reports. This is Oshie’s second time landing on IR this season after just recently returning from a six-game absence due to an upper-body injury. He’s now out with a lower-body ailment, and the IR placement will be retroactive to December 17, when he missed the team’s game against the Hurricanes. He will miss at least the team’s next three contests during his minimum seven-day stint on IR and will be eligible to return on December 27 against the Rangers.

9:23 a.m.: The Capitals recalled forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre from AHL Hershey on Tuesday morning, a team release states. Both are high-end prospects and were first-round selections in the 2022 and 2020 drafts.

This is Miroshnichenko’s first NHL call-up. After spending the 2022-23 season in Russia in the Avangard Omsk organization, he signed his entry-level contract last May and was a late cut from the Capitals’ opening-night roster. He was technically listed on the NHL roster at the beginning of the season for salary cap management purposes but was assigned to Hershey one day later.

The call-up comes earlier than expected for Miroshnichenko, who was once viewed as a likely top-ten pick in 2022 but fell down the board due to some inconsistent play early in his draft year. That became secondary when he received a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis in the middle of the 2021-22 season, ending his campaign. He was cleared to resume training before the draft after three months of treatments, though, leading the Capitals to select him 20th overall.

Thankfully, Miroshnichenko’s journey toward remission was quick and complete, and he returned to play in Russia just a handful of weeks into the 2022-23 campaign. He played in all three primary tiers of Russian hockey last season – the major-pro KHL, the minor-pro VHL and the junior MHL – but spent most of his time in the KHL, notching three goals and an assist in 23 games despite minimal ice time

A high-speed sniper, Miroshnichenko immediately impressed during his first training camp in Washington last summer, consistently earning himself looks among the Capitals’ likely top-six forward group in preseason games. Understandably, the Capitals didn’t want to rush the 19-year-old’s development and let him begin the season in Hershey to acclimate to the North American professional system.

The decision proved to be the correct one. Miroshnichenko hasn’t looked out of place in the minors, scoring eight goals and 15 points in 27 games, good enough for sixth on the team. His two-way play has unexpectedly jumped out as an impressive factor, too, leading Hershey with a +13 rating. It’s quickly looking like he can hit the top-ten potential he was billed for earlier in his development.

With T.J. Oshie expected to miss Wednesday’s contest against the Islanders and veteran minor-leaguer Joe Snively being sent to Hershey yesterday, all signs point to Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut tomorrow. He’s projected to occupy the left-wing spot on the Capitals’ third line alongside countryman Evgeny Kuznetsov and Matthew Phillips.

Lapierre comes up to the Capitals for the second time this season. Washington recalled the 21-year-old center in late October and played him in 11 contests, recording three points and a -2 rating while averaging 10:06 per game before returning him to Hershey two Saturdays ago.

He responded to the demotion well, recording two goals and three assists in five games with Hershey over the past week and a half, including a three-point effort against the Laval Rocket on Saturday. The 22nd overall selection in 2020 remains waiver-exempt and is in the second season of his three-year entry-level contract. He’s expected to sit as a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s game.

Washington Capitals Loan Joe Snively To AHL Affiliate

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The Washington Capitals announced today that they are returning forward Joe Snively to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Hershey Bears. It was the second move of the day by Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan after the team placed Lucas Johansen on waivers earlier today.

The 27-year-old Snively dressed in three games during his recent recall and didn’t register a point during that time. It was the third season in a row that Snively has received an NHL recall as he has played in 27 NHL games over the past two and a half seasons. To this point in his NHL career the native of Herndon, Virginia has six goals and five assists.

This most recent recall didn’t go particularly well for Snively as he struggled to drive play and found himself sheltered by the coaching staff as he received the bulk of his shift starts in the offensive zone. He played just 5:43 in Washington’s 2-1 shootout win against the Carolina Hurricanes last night.

In the AHL Snively has been a strong offensive contributor having registered 134 points in 176 career AHL games. This season with the Bears, the undersized forward has posted seven goals and 14 assists in 25 games.

Snively might not have had a particularly good showing during this recall, but he will likely remain one of the Capitals’ better options should they need to recall a forward later in the season.

Washington Capitals Waive Lucas Johansen

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12/19: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirms that Johansen has cleared waivers, and may now be sent down to Hershey.

12/18: The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Lucas Johansen on waivers. The 26-year-old has played in six games with Washington this season, recording one assist, four penalty minutes, and a +1.

Johansen made the Capitals roster out of training camp, his first time spending all season with the top club. He spent most of last season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears where he recorded one goal, seven points, and a -5 through 40 games. He also received a pair of NHL games, although he failed to make any changes to his stat-line. Johansen did however manage to record one assist in his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season, although the defenseman is still searching for his first NHL goal. The Capitals drafted Johansen 28th-overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, taking him ahead of a Second Round that has since produced 10 different players who have played in 200-or-more NHL games, including standout names like Alex DeBrincat, Samuel Girard, and Carter Hart.

Johansen going on waivers opens the door for the Capitals to sign Ethan Bear. Bear has been a popular free agent after returning from a shoulder injury suffered during the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship. Bear would require surgery, keeping him from signing a new contract despite being an unrestricted free agent throughout the summer. The 26-year-old defenseman appeared in 61 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season, recording 16 points, 25 penalty minutes, and a +6. The Capitals will become the fourth franchise that Bear has played for, if he signs with them, after also spending seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers.

Oshie Out With Lower-Body Injury

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  • The Washington Capitals announced veteran forward for the team, T.J. Oshie, would be out of the lineup tonight with a lower-body injury. The news comes after Oshie already missed 12 days with an upper-body injury a few weeks ago, returning for a four-game stretch in the meantime. Over the four games upon his return, Oshie has scored one goal and two points, averaging just over 16 minutes of ice time per game.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Kuznetsov Scratched With Illness

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Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Philadelphia with the team announcing (Twitter link) that it was due to illness.  It has not been a good year for the 31-year-old who has been limited to just five goals and six assists in 22 games while even being a healthy scratch earlier this month.  Kuznetsov has one more year left after this one with a $7.8MM AAV and if Washington looks to shake things up, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his name land in the rumor mill again after a trade request came to light over the summer.

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.

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