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Capitals Place Trevor Van Riemsdyk In COVID Protocol

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Another day, another member of the Capitals in COVID protocol.  After center Nic Dowd was placed there yesterday, the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk has been added to COVID protocol and will not be available for tonight’s game against Columbus.

After having a limited role last season where he played in only 20 games, van Riemsdyk had played in all 24 games for Washington this season, notching seven assists while logging over 17 minutes per night on their third pairing.  The 30-year-old is also tied for the team lead in shot blocks with 36.  The team did not confirm whether van Riemsdyk has tested positive for the virus, but if he has and is experiencing any symptoms, he’ll be out for a minimum of ten days.

Washington has been carrying eight defensemen lately so they won’t need to call anyone up to take van Riemsdyk’s spot on the roster.  Instead, it appears that veteran Matt Irwin will draw in for him tonight based on practice lines.  Irwin signed with the Capitals in free agency over the summer but he has been a healthy scratch for every game so far.

Nic Dowd Placed In COVID Protocol

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Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd has entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol ahead of the team’s game Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, per a team tweet. He did not practice today, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.

It continues what’s been a rough season health-wise for Dowd, who’s already spent time on injured reserve and has been limited to 16 out of Washington’s 24 games. It’s not been all bad news for the Alabama native, though, as he inked a three-year extension with the team last month.

In those 16 games, Dowd’s played extremely well, scoring three goals and four assists for seven points. He’s averaging 14:03 per game, an elevated role due to the onslaught of injuries the Capitals have faced early on in 2021-22.

Michael Sgarbossa, who has a goal in four games this season, will likely draw into the lineup. He’s Washington’s only remaining extra healthy skater.

In terms of players with NHL experience in the minors, Axel Jonsson Fjallby or Garrett Pilon could be called up, but they would both require waivers to be sent back down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Ovechkin Leads Three Stars

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The NHL has released the Three Stars for last week, and Alex Ovechkin has taken home the top spot once again. The Russian Machine notched his 28th career hat trick and totaled seven points on the week, taking him ahead of Connor McDavid and into second place in the league scoring race. His 19 goals in 22 games (at age-36 no less) have brought him within 145 of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record and has him just 17 behind Jaromir Jagr for third place. With four years left on his new extension and still 60 games left this season, it seems to be a matter of when, not if, Ovechkin will set the NHL record for goals.

Second and third place have been given to Tristan Jarry and Cale Makar respectively, after two more fantastic weeks. Jarry stopped 91 of 93 shots he faced to win all three games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, bringing his overall record to 10-4-3 on the year. The 26-year-old netminder has now played more minutes than any other goalie in the league and has a .936 save percentage on the year. Makar meanwhile is showing once again why he has been a Norris nominee through his first two seasons in the league, as the 23-year-old defenseman now has nine goals and 20 points in 16 games. That’s just two points behind John Carlson for the most by a defenseman, despite having played six fewer games so far and his 1.25 points-per-game rate ties him for sixth among all players (not just defensemen) that have suited up at least ten times.

  • While Jarry has led the Penguins to a better record of late, he might be getting some help soon. Evgeni Malkin was on the ice at practice today in a non-contact sweater, and though there’s still no exact timeline for his return to action, it’s good to see him back with teammates. The 35-year-old hasn’t played yet this season after offseason surgery but would obviously be a huge boost to the Penguins when healthy. That’s especially true now that Bryan Rust has been listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He’s not with the team on their current road trip, which starts tonight against the Calgary Flames and lasts through December 10.
  • Speaking of teams that may soon receive help, the Avalanche could have Nathan MacKinnon back on Wednesday according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, who tweets that though nothing is official, it’s “looking like” the superstar center will return against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, that news also comes with a bad injury update, as Ryan Murray is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury that the team is still evaluating. Murray lasted just 11 seconds before leaving the team’s game against Nashville on Saturday.

Schultz Placed On Injured Reserve; Eller Returns From COVID Protocol

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The Washington Capitals have moved Justin Schultz to injured reserve, after the veteran defenseman left Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury. Schultz had already missed the Capitals last game and his IR stint is likely retroactive to November 24, meaning he could return partway through next week if healthy.

The team has not announced a recovery timeline, but moving Schultz to injured reserve would open a roster spot for Lars Eller who is set to return from the COVID protocol and play this afternoon. Eller has missed six games, last playing on November 14 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The two-way center had eight points in his first 15 contests and is an important piece of the Capitals lineup.

Schultz meanwhile has been moved down in the lineup this season, averaging just over 17 minutes a night before exiting early in his last game. The 31-year-old has just two points in 20 games this season, a far cry from the 27 he registered in 46 during the 2020-21 campaign. Still an effective enough option at even-strength, Schultz will be missed for the next few games even if he’s not relied on to the same level as years past.

In his place, Dennis Cholowski moved into the lineup on Friday night and played just over 16 minutes. The 23-year-old former Detroit Red Wing has just two games at the NHL level this season.

Capitals Hoping To Have Lars Eller Back On Sunday

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  • Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette is hoping to have center Lars Eller back for tomorrow’s contest against Sunday, relays Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. The veteran has missed six straight games while in COVID protocol but was able to participate in a full practice today.  With Nicklas Backstrom missing the entire season so far, Eller has been called upon to play a bigger role as he is averaging a career-high 17:18 per game in 15 contests while recording a goal and seven assists.

T.J. Oshie Moved To Injured Reserve

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It certainly hasn’t been an easy season thus far for Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie. According to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, the veteran finds himself back on injured reserve today after returning for only one game.

Oshie was activated on November 20 in time for the Capitals’ game against the San Jose Sharks, but managed just 14 minutes of ice time. He didn’t play in the team’s loss the next night and now finds himself off the roster for the second time this season. Oshie will be eligible to play on Sunday, thanks to a retroactive IR placement, but it’s unclear when he’ll actually be inserted back into the lineup.

In eight games so far this season, he actually has seven points including four goals. The 34-year-old forward just hasn’t been able to stay healthy so far, a concern as he heads into his mid-thirties. Oshie is under contract for three more seasons, meaning the Capitals will have to hope these early injuries are just disappointing coincidences, not a trend.

Still, there was some good news at practice today. Nicklas Backstrom re-joined the group for the first time, skating with a non-contact sweater. He didn’t participate in line drills, but just to have him back with the group is a good sign that he is on his way to a return.

Washington Capitals Activate T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd

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The Washington Capitals activated forwards T.J. Oshie and Nic Dowd from injured reserve today, per a team release. In a corresponding move, the release states the team also reassigned forward Brett Leason to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Oshie’s been absent from the Capitals lineup since October 28, when he was designated as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. At the time, he was in the middle of a good start to the 2021-22 campaign with four goals and six points in seven games.

Dowd, however, has missed just a week and a half with this undisclosed injury. He’s been in and out of the lineup due to injury this year, but after the placement on injured reserve, the Capitals hope he’s good to go at 100%. The 31-year-old has a goal in nine games.

As Washington deals with a variety of absences that include Nicklas Backstrom, Anthony Mantha, and Lars Eller, Oshie’s and Dowd’s returns couldn’t come at a better time. Oshie likely returns as a veteran presence on a line with Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Garrett Pilon, while Dowd reprises his role as the fourth-line center between Carl Hagelin and Garnet Hathaway.

Despite all the injuries, Washington’s soldiered on to a 10-2-5 record this year and sit at second place in the Metropolitan Division.

Lars Eller Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Washington Capitals will not have Lars Eller available to them tonight, as the veteran center has been placed in the COVID protocol. Eller was absent from practice earlier today and listed as questionable, but it’s clear now that he will not play.

The team has not confirmed whether or not Eller has actually tested positive for coronavirus, meaning his length of absence is unclear at this point. After the team takes on the Anaheim Ducks tonight, they are set to travel to Los Angeles, San Jose, and Seattle before returning to Washington. A positive test with symptoms would cause Eller to be held out for a minimum of ten days, ruling him out for the next several games.

Still perhaps unheralded, despite winning a Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018, Eller is one of the most consistent two-way players on the entire roster. In 15 games this season, all of them without Nicklas Backstrom who has been on injured reserve, Eller has eight points and is averaging more than 17 minutes of ice time. His 119 faceoff wins ties him with Evgeny Kuznetsov for the team lead, with those two carrying the load in the middle of the ice.

Though just one of his points is a goal, it’s easy to bet on Eller’s eventual scoring production. Since his rookie year, when he posted just seven goals in 77 games, Eller has registered at least 12 in every season he has played in at least 47 games. He produced a career-best offensive season with 16 goals and 39 points in just 69 games during the 2019-20 season, and actually was on pace for even better numbers had 2020-21 been a full 82-game schedule.

Without Eller, Backstrom, or Nic Dowd, the team had rookie Connor McMichael in the second-line center position at practice today, with Garrett Pilon and Aliaksei Protas in the third and fourth spots respectively. That’s an extremely young, inexperienced group, meaning the team will have to lean even more heavily on Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Washington Capitals Give Nic Dowd Three-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals announced Sunday afternoon that the team signed center Nic Dowd to a three-year extension worth $3.9MM. The deal, which spans from 2022-23 to 2024-25, will carry an average annual value of $1.3MM. Per PuckPedia, the structure of the contract is as follows:

2022-23: $1.6MM salary
2023-24: $1.3MM salary
2024-25: $1.0MM salary

Dowd will enter his fifth season with Washington in 2022-23. He’s been a reliable fourth-line center for the team since joining in free agency prior to the 2018-19 campaign.

The native of Huntsville, Alabama, is in the final year of a three-year, $2.25MM extension he signed with the team on April 11, 2019. In his Capitals tenure, Dowd has 27 goals, 26 assists and 53 points in 185 games played along with a 53.3% winning rate in the faceoff dot. He had a career-best 11 goals in 56 games last season while averaging 14:22 per game, also a career-high.

Dowd’s been limited to just nine games in 2021-22 due to a recurring lower-body injury, scoring just a goal in those nine contests. It’s his ability in the faceoff circle and reliable game that draw Washington’s coaching staff and front office to him, though.

As a variety of young prospects like Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre, and Brett Leason are close to becoming full-time players at the NHL level, Dowd will likely be a valuable pivot and mentor to help solidify the team’s bottom six.

Dowd will be 34 years old at the expiry of this contract extension.

Alex Ovechkin Moves Into Fourth On NHL Goals Scored List

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  • Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin’s goal last night against Columbus moved him into fourth all-time in NHL scoring with 742 tallies. Next up for him to catch is Jaromir Jagr who sits 24 ahead of Washington’s captain.  Ovechkin is off to a hot start to his season with 12 goals and 12 assists in just 14 games.

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