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Decision On Laviolette Won't Come Right After Season, Ovechkin Questionable For Tonight

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Once the regular season ends next week, don’t expect an immediate decision on Peter Laviolette’s future in Washington.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun noted that the belief is that the Capitals will take their time to fully assess the situation while also allowing the veteran bench boss to have some time to ponder his future.  The 58-year-old has spent the last three seasons with the Caps and his contract is set to expire so he’ll need to decide if he wants to stick around or see what might be available with another team.  While this season has been a tough one, Washington still has a .588 points percentage during Laviolette’s tenure.

  • Still with the Capitals, winger Alex Ovechkin is listed as a game-time decision due to an upper-body injury, relays NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 37-year-old already has reached the 40-goal mark for the 13th time in his career to help him lead the team in scoring with 74 points in 72 games.  Meanwhile, winger Anthony Mantha will miss his second straight contest due to a lower-body injury that also kept him out of Thursday’s game in Montreal.

Capitals Notes: Malenstyn, Gibson, Persson

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The Capitals announced that they’ve recalled winger Beck Malenstyn from AHL Hershey.  The 25-year-old comes up a day after winger Anthony Mantha was a late scratch against Montreal due to a lower-body injury, giving them 12 healthy forwards on the roster once again.  Malenstyn has played in five games with Washington so far this season, picking up a goal and an assist despite averaging just 8:34 per night of playing time.  He hasn’t been much more productive in the minors either, collecting just seven goals and three assists in 39 contests.  Malenstyn has one more year left on his deal after this season with it converting from a two-way pact to a one-way agreement for 2023-24.

More from Washington:

  • Mitchell Gibson’s previously reported deal with the Caps is now official, per a team release. He receives a one-year, entry-level contract for next season which carries a cap hit of $867,500.  The 23-year-old posted a 2.25 GAA and a .919 SV% with Harvard in 27 games this season, earning him a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team.  Gibson is expected to sign a tryout agreement with AHL Hershey to finish the season with the Bears.
  • The Capitals also announced that they’ve re-assigned forward Ludwig Persson to Hershey. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick last summer and is already signed to his entry-level deal.  Persson spent this season playing at home in the second-tier Allsvenskan, recording four goals and 11 assists in 45 games with BIK Karlskoga.  He also made one appearance at the SHL level, extending his streak to four straight seasons with at least one game played in Sweden’s top division.

Anthony Mantha Out Day-To-Day

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  • Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha will not play tonight against the Montreal Canadiens due to a lower-body injury, the team announced. Mantha played in the Capitals’ last game, which was Sunday against the New York Rangers. While he could still come back before the end of the season, this injury could mark the conclusion of what has been a supremely disappointing campaign for Mantha, who has scored just 11 goals and 27 points in 67 games. Of note with this injury is that the Capitals will only dress 17 skaters for their game tonight, allowing them to access emergency call-ups per the NHL’s rules.

Latest On T.J. Oshie, Trevor van Riemsdyk

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While the Washington Capitals are near the conclusion of a rare season that finds them outside the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture, the circumstances surrounding their franchise’s greatest player add more meaning to the remaining games on their schedule than those contests might have for other teams. Alex Ovechkin remains locked into his chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record, and until the day he passes The Great One, each Capitals game holds importance.

As a result, any injuries Capitals players suffer at this stage of the season are more meaningful than they might be for another franchise closing out a lost season. So, today’s reporting via the Washington Post’s Roman Stubbs that Capitals veterans T.J. Oshie and Trevor van Riemsdyk will not travel with the team and are each nursing upper-body injuries is notable. While the 36-year-old Oshie may not be the caliber of player he once was, he’s still a reliable contributor to the Capitals’ forward corps and his absence could make life for Ovechkin more difficult. Same for the loss of van Riemsdyk, who as a former undrafted player has carved himself a nice career as a penalty kill specialist at the age of 31.

Sonny Milano Returns From Injury

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  • Tom Gulitti from the NHL reports that Sonny Milano will return to the ice for the Washington Capitals in today’s game. Milano had been sidelined with an upper-body injury since the Capitals took on the Chicago Blackhawks on March 23rd. Unfortunately for Washington, forward T.J. Oshie and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk are both sidelined with upper-body injuries. Both players have been out since the team’s March 30th game against the Lightning.

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Mitchell Gibson Joining Capitals On ATO

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Although he was set to join the Hershey Bears, goaltender Mitchell Gibson will instead be joining the Washington Capitals on an amateur tryout deal. Gibson will serve as a backup tonight for Darcy Kuemper, as goaltender Charlie Lindgren is out with an illness.

Gibson was selected 124th overall in the 2018 NHL draft by the Capitals and has spent the last four years playing for Harvard University. In what will now be his last season in the NCAA, Gibson played in 27 games for Harvard, producing a record of 18-7-2, garnering a .919 SV% and a 2.25 GAA. Unfortunately for Gibson and Harvard, the team was knocked out in the first round of the 2023 DI Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, losing to Ohio State University in a blowout contest.

Gibson will join a particularly interesting situation in Washington, as the team has its goaltenders locked up for at least the next three seasons. The Capitals signed Kuemper to a 5-year, $26.25MM contract, and they also signed Lindgren to a 3-year, $3.3MM deal, giving Gibson a difficult pathway to the crease. As the Capitals were sellers at this year’s deadline, they may need to move out one of their goalies shortly or let Gibson primarily grow in the AHL.

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Van Riemsdyk Out At Least A Week, Milano Nearing Return

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  • Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk will miss at least a week due to an upper-body injury, notes Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The 31-year-old suffered the injury late in Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay.  While Washington has struggled a bit this year, this season has been a good one individually for van Riemsdyk as he has set career highs offensively with seven goals and 23 points while averaging over 19 minutes a night for only the second time.  That helped him earn a three-year, $9MM extension last month.
  • Still with Washington, winger Sonny Milano was a full participant in practice today and is trending towards playing tomorrow, relays Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been a nice bargain for the Capitals this season, collecting 32 points in 58 games, a nice return on a league minimum contract.  He, too, has a three-year extension in hand already, one that will carry a $1.9MM AAV starting next season.

Injury Notes: Buchnevich, Thomas, Chabot, Cole

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The St. Louis Blues will be without top forward Robert Thomas tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks with an upper-body injury, the team announced Wednesday. Thomas scored a goal in the Blues win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, and has had a strong season, with 17 goals and 46 assists for 63 points in 70 games. Thomas is now one of the core pieces up front for the Blues, and is set to begin an eight-year contract with an AAV of $8.125MM, which could soon be a bargain for a player of Thomas’ caliber. Thomas is third on the Blues in points this season.

 

  • Sticking with the Blues, they will also be without winger Pavel Buchnevich tonight against Chicago. The winger will miss the game with an upper-body injury. He had a goal and an assist against Vancouver on Tuesday, and is second on the Blues in scoring with 25 goals and 41 assists for 66 points in 59 games. Buchnevich scored 57 goals in his final three seasons with the New York Rangers, but has 55 goals for the Blues in the past two seasons, making the acquisition look like a boon for the Blues.
  • Ottawa Senators defensemen Thomas Chabot will not play tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Chabot played on Monday for the Sens, recording an assist in the 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers. As the Sens try to make a late playoff push, losing Chabot on the blueline won’t help matters. He has 11 goals and 30 assists this season in 68 games.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ian Cole will return to the lineup as the team hosts the Washington Capitals, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. The veteran defenseman missed Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes and returns as the Bolts are set to host the Washington Capitals tonight.

Goaltender Mitchell Gibson Signs With Washington Capitals

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TSN’s Frank Seravalli is reporting that Harvard goaltender Mitchell Gibson has decided to forgo a year at Harvard to sign a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals. Gibson’s deal is technically an entry level deal because of his age, meaning that he will likely sign an amateur tryout agreement with Washington’s AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears for the remainder of this season.

The 23-year-old netminder has flourished in the NCAA since being Washington’s fourth round pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft. This past season he posted an 18-7-2 record with a .919 save percentage and 2.25 goals against average. Gibson’s stellar numbers led to him being named a semi-finalist for the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goaltender.

The Capitals currently have one of the worst prospect pools in the NHL, but they have moved up the farm system rankings in recent years. While Gibson is hardly an A level prospect at his age, he does help Washington re-stock the cupboard after years of emptying it to compete for Stanley Cups during the Alex Ovechkin era.

Washington will likely give Gibson plenty of time to develop in Hershey. Goaltenders tend to be late bloomers and Washington has very little urgency to rush him with Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren still under contract for at least the next two seasons.

Capitals Intend To Sign Mitchell Gibson

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  • Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports one of Farrell’s teammates is close to signing as well. Goaltender Mitchell Gibson was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft and just saw his Harvard hockey career come to a close. The 23 year old’s final NCAA game was not flattering as he allowed seven goals before being pulled in that blowout loss, but he had a stellar college career. He finished this season with a 2.25 GAA and a .919 SV% in 27 games. He would add some youth to the Capitals goaltending pipeline as they have been relying on 27 year old goalies Zach Fucale and Hunter Shepard at the AHL level.

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