- Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren left tonight’s game early with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He appeared to be shaken up on the first shot he faced and was only able to stay in for a few minutes before eventually coming out of the game. The 30-year-old has done quite well this season, posting a 2.29 GAA with a .928 SV% in his first 14 games heading into this contest.
- Meanwhile, in a separate tweet, the Capitals also noted that defenseman Martin Fehervary left tonight’s contest with an upper-body injury of his own which also occurred in the first period. The 24-year-old hasn’t lit up the scoresheet with just five points heading into this game but he had been logging a little over 19 minutes a night on Washington’s second pairing.
Capitals Rumors
Metropolitan Notes: Pacioretty, Bear, Cizikas, Lazar, Penguins
5:30 PM: Curtis Lazar has been declared ’out’ for Friday.
5:00 PM: The Washington Capitals will have to wait a little longer for the highly-anticipated debuts of newcomers Max Pacioretty and Ethan Bear, with both players set to sit out of the team’s Friday night game. Both players signed with the Capitals during their recovery from injury, with Pacioretty coming back from his second Achille’s tendon tear and Bear recovering from a shoulder surgery required after taking a big hit during the 2023 World Championships.
Pacioretty joined Washington this summer, signing a one-year, $2MM contract with the club on July 1st. Pacioretty only appeared in five games last season, although he did manage three goals. His 2021-22 season didn’t last for much longer, only seeing 39 games and 37 points. We have to go back to the 2019-20 season to find the last year that Pacioretty appeared in 50 or more regular season games. That year was his second with the Vegas Golden Knights and saw the 855-game veteran record 32 goals and 66 points in 71 games.
Bear’s injury struggles haven’t been as long-running, with the defender managing 61 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season. He scored 16 points through that stretch, marking the second-most points he’s scored in his career, behind his 2019-20 season which saw him net 21 points in 71 games with the Edmonton Oilers. Washington will become the fourth organization that Bear has been apart of through his five-year NHL career, which has been split evenly between two Pacific Division and two Metropolitan Division teams.
Other Metropolitan Division Notes:
- Casey Cizikas (illness) is listed as a game-time decision for the New York Islanders’ Friday night matchup against the Washington Capitals. Czikas was a full participant at the team’s morning practice, suggesting he’s trending in the right direction. The 32-year-old forward has played in 34 games with New York this season, recording 10 points and 14 penalty minutes.
- Curtis Lazar is also a game-time decision, with New Jersey Devils head coach saying the team will see how Lazar feels after the team’s morning practice before making a call on his availability. Lazar has appeared in 30 games this season, netting four goals and 10 points. The Devils’ Friday night game will also mark Kevin Bahl’s 100th NHL game, with the young defender inviting his billet family to the bout with the Ottawa Senators.
- Bryan Rust and Jesse Puljujarvi are both trending in the right direction, skating as full participants at the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Friday practice. Rust is currently on injured reserve and is eligible to return on January 2nd, while Puljujarvi is still waiting for his first NHL game since undergoing double hip surgery. Matthew Nieto and Radim Zohorna missed the team’s practice, with Zahorna left at home due to illness.
Reggie Savage Passes Away
Former Capitals and Quebec Nordiques forward Reggie Savage passed away last Sunday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 53 years old.
Savage’s NHL career may have only included a handful of games, but he managed to find his way into the league record books while amassing an extremely respectable minor-league and overseas résumé. Drafted 15th overall by the Capitals after scoring 68 goals in 68 games for the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, Savage would record nine points in seven games for Canada at the following year’s World Junior Championship, outscoring future NHLers Rod Brind’Amour, Andrew Cassels, Éric Desjardins, Martin Gélinas, and Mike Ricci. It would be another couple of seasons before Savage would get a shot in the NHL, though, playing just one game with the Capitals in 1990-91.
Two years later, Savage found himself back in the NHL again. On November 18, 1992, he became one of five players in league history to score his first NHL goal on a penalty shot, beating Minnesota North Stars netminder Jon Casey. He played 16 games for Washington that year, recording two goals and five points. The Capitals traded him to the Nordiques the following offseason, where he would play a career-high 17 games and score seven points in 1993-94.
Those would be Savage’s last games at the sport’s highest level, although he remained on two-way NHL contracts for various organizations throughout the decade, and his playing career continued until 2005. Savage was an extremely productive force in the AHL, scoring 259 goals and 442 points in 481 games across ten seasons while accumulating 557 penalty minutes. Overseas, he notched 28 points in 31 games for second-tier Swiss National League clubs EHC Biel-Bienne and EHC Visp in 2001-02, also notching two goals in four games for Team Canada at that year’s Spengler Cup. Playing for Italian league club Asiago in the 1998-99 and 2002-03 campaigns, Savage was an explosive scoring threat with 51 goals and 112 points in 67 games.
Savage is one of 11 Black players in Capitals history and will continue to be honored as part of a permanent display that was erected at Capital One Arena early last year. All of us at PHR send our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.
Washington Capitals Sign Ethan Bear
12/28/23: The Capitals have now officially announced Bear’s signing, confirming the two-year term of the contract as well as its $2.0625MM cap hit.
12/20/23: Washington wrote on X this morning that the team is “expected to sign” Bear “at a later date,” adding that he is joining the team for their morning skate today.
12/11/23: The Capitals have made a contract offer to unrestricted free-agent defenseman Ethan Bear and are expected to close a deal in the near future, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast Monday.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal added this morning that Bear’s agency has told his former team, the Canucks, that they’re out of the running for his services. Dhaliwal surmises that the key element in Bear’s decision will be term. The Capitals are one of the few teams prepared to offer Bear a multi-year deal, Friedman said, while the Canucks don’t have the financial flexibility to offer Bear anything more than a one-year, $1MM-prorated deal.
Washington would be the fourth NHL stop for Bear, who has suited up for the Oilers, Hurricanes and Canucks since Edmonton drafted him 124th overall in the 2015 draft. After playing a limited role in Carolina in 2021-22, Bear signed a one-year, $2.2MM deal with the Hurricanes following an arbitration filing but was dealt to Vancouver, along with depth forward Lane Pederson, for a fifth-round pick in the first few days of the 2022-23 campaign. Bear rebuilt his market value in Vancouver, recording three goals, 13 assists and 16 points in 61 games while averaging 18:32 per contest and posting a 51% Corsi share at even strength.
Named to Canada’s roster for the 2023 World Championship, Bear went without a point in eight games before sustaining a shoulder injury that required surgery in mid-June, which carried a projected recovery timeline of six months. With Bear out long-term and his role on the squad moving forward uncertain, the Canucks opted not to issue him a qualifying offer and let him reach unrestricted free agency.
That isn’t to say Vancouver wasn’t interested in retaining the 26-year-old once he was ready to return to play, as they’ve remained in discussions with Bear’s camp and had made contract offers in recent days. With Bear reportedly prioritizing term, however, there was no clear path for a return to the Canucks.
Instead, he looks to join a Capitals defense that’s been solid this season in preventing quality chances against but hasn’t provided much in the way of offense outside of John Carlson, who leads the team in assists with 14 in 25 games. Bear won’t move the needle in terms of point production from the Washington blueline, but he remains a well-rounded player who can log minutes on special teams. The Capitals’ penalty kill has been in the middle of the pack this season, ranking 18th in the league with a 79.8% success rate.
However, considering Bear is a right-shot defenseman, the fit seems a bit puzzling on Washington’s depth chart. Unless they’re looking to try Bear on his off-side, he would sit behind a rather deep right side of the Washington defense comprised of Carlson, Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk, all of whom have been competent this season. Bear is a valuable asset, but he’s not a major upgrade over either Jensen or van Riemsdyk, especially with all three of their right-shot defenders locked into seven-figure cap hits through 2026.
Capitals Recall Hendrix Lapierre, Ivan Miroshnichenko
- The Capitals brought young forwards Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko back up from AHL Hershey this morning. Lapierre, 21, and Miroshnichenko, 19, had appeared in each of Washington’s last three games before the holiday break and are expected to be linemates on a unit centered by Evgeny Kuznetsov tonight against the Rangers. Miroshnichenko, the 20th overall pick in 2022, is still looking for his first NHL point and has posted a -1 rating in 9:32 of his average ice time since his first career recall earlier this month. As NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti points out, the move suggests none of Washington’s three injured forwards – Sonny Milano, T.J. Oshie and Max Pacioretty – are ready to return for tonight’s game.
Ivan Miroshnichenko And Hendrix Lapierre Assigned To Hershey
- The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut. He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
Washington Capitals Reassign Michael Sgarbossa
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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
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