The Washington Capitals trimmed their Training Camp roster to just 29 active players, and individual performances are now under even more scrutiny as Washington has just two preseason games remaining.
One player, Sonny Milano, assumed to be a lock for the team’s Opening Night roster, has had a slow start this fall. On Sunday, head coach Spencer Carbery gave Milano a wake-up call when the second-year bench boss was asked to give his thoughts on Milano’s camp.
“Uh, it’s just okay,” Carbery said. “Just okay, and he’s now, as crazy as this sounds, and I had to double-check it and talk to him about it, in his tenth year playing pro hockey. You think of Sonny as a young player. He’s now in his tenth training camp. Part of it is, veteran players, as they get up to speed and their training camp is ramping up, they want to hit their peak right at Opening Night.
“That’s what they’re trying to do is ramp it up, ramp it up, ramp it up. He gets a bit of a pass of he’s trying to ramp it up, get back into the good habits that he has to play with, the things offensively that he does at an elite level. But, now he’s got to turn it on. I know we’ve got a little bit longer time, two weeks before we open up, but definitely going to need to see him get into his full regular season game mode quickly.”
Milano skated as the left wing on the team’s third line at practice on Sunday. Carbery used the skate, his first with just one group at camp, to put together what he says will be “close” to his Opening Night lineup. Milano’s line, featuring Hendrix Lapierre and Aliaksei Protas, is the club’s only full NHL line yet to spend any ice time together through the first four preseason games.
Milano also had a slow start last season, recording just 11 points (6g, 5a) through February. He eventually turned things around, though, putting up 12 points (9g, 3a) in March and April. During that hot streak, he tallied his first career hat trick and became the first Capitals player other than Alex Ovechkin to have a five-game goal streak since 2018.
The 28-year-old winger was limited to 49 games during the 2023-24 campaign due to multiple injuries, including two months out of action with an upper-body ailment.
Milano has played in two preseason games, and Washington has struggled with him on the ice at five-on-five. During those minutes, they had negative differentials in shot attempts (-4) and high-danger chances (-1) and were scored on twice. Milano has just one shot on goal and three shot attempts.
His lack of production and uneven play have come simultaneously with high-level performances from fellow wingers like Jakub Vrana and Andrew Cristall, who are fighting for roster spots.
“That’s the internal competition, and whether you’re Sonny Milano or any of our guys that have done a really good job – you’re always, you know, someone’s nipping at your heels, and someone wants that opportunity,” Carbery said. “You give veteran players the benefit of the doubt and let them play themselves in, but there also is a point where we need to see your best, and it’s got to start to get to that point, or else opportunity will show up for other guys to take advantage of it.”
Milano will get another chance to impress Carbery when the Capitals travel to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
