The Washington Capitals held their first practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Friday after returning from their team-building activities in Columbus. Washington is slated for its final preseason game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night at Capital One Arena.
Friday’s practice was one of head coach Spencer Carbery’s final complete looks at his lineup before the Capitals need to make their last roster decisions on Monday at 5 pm. Most of the lines and defense pairings he put together have been constants throughout Training Camp, with the players on the fringe of the roster making up the fifth line and extra defense pairing.
Extras: Ethan Bear
Washington placed Ethan Bear and Mike Sgarbossa on waivers after the skate. The moves reduce the Capitals’ roster to 26 active players, necessitating just three more cuts before Opening Night. Goaltender Hunter Shepard will likely be one of those cuts.
Carbery could not say if the players battling for those final roster spots, Jakub Vrana, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Andrew Cristall, Alex Alexeyev, and Dylan McIlrath, will be in the team’s lineup against Boston.
“We’ll discuss it as a staff this afternoon, but I imagine you’ll probably see majority of our regulars play tomorrow night,” Carbery said, adding later, “There is a chance [the players still competing for a spot play], but I’m not committal to it at this point.”
Carbery recently admitted that the Capitals were seriously considering Cristall’s inclusion on their roster. Due to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, the 2023 second-round draft selection can only play in the NHL or return to the WHL this season. He can’t play in the AHL until Kelowna’s season ends.
“Whatever it is, practice, the games, I’m just trying to go out there and make a good impression and put my best foot forward to give myself the best opportunity to stay here,” Cristall said Friday. “It’s awesome to be here with all of the guys and everyone. It’s a super cool opportunity and something I’m not taking for granted, so it’s been a lot of fun.”
Vrana is the lone player among the five without a guaranteed contract for the 2024-25 campaign. He is still at camp on a professional tryout basis. The 28-year-old winger has seen the third most ice time of any Capitals forward during the preseason (57:01) and leads the team in shots on goal (11), individual shot attempts (18), and individual scoring chances (12).
In his four games, he recorded two points (1g, 1a) and also drew a penalty. Carbery was impressed by his speed and ability to think the game offensively.
“That’s my strong side,” Vrana said. “I create a lot of chances. I did that, some of them, they go in. Overall, two-way game, I felt really good as well. I settle pretty quick with the system as well, but we’ll see how it goes. Like I said before, just come in here every day and do my best, and we’ll see where it takes me.”
On defense, if the Capitals’ top brass decides to carry eight defensemen on their roster, both Alexeyev and McIlrath may still make the club’s roster to start the year. They’ve gotten far longer a look at Alexeyev, as the Russian defender has played the most minutes, 75:45, of any Capitals player this preseason.
However, Carbery has been more vocal about McIlrath’s positive play in the two games the rugged rearguard has featured in. The second-year bench boss also commended McIlrath’s physical presence on the ice and as a leader in the locker room. The 32-year-old defenseman serves as the Hershey Bears’ captain in the AHL.
“I’m just really excited,” McIlrath said. “I’m trying to stay in the moment and really just think about how fortunate I am to be here. It’s been a long time coming to put myself in this kinda situation to be one of the last cuts. I’m just really excited to be here.”
After the game against the Bruins, the Capitals will have a week before puck drop against the New Jersey Devils on October 12. Carbery is not a fan of how long his team has to wait to get going for real, so to change things up, he has them practicing at Capital One Arena twice to start next week.
“I think it just leads to a lot of build-up and a long week of where guys just want to start to play and don’t want to hear me talk or go practice anymore,” Carbery said. “So, I’ve tried to break the week up next week and do a couple different things of going down to Capital One to change the environment, do something different.
“And then we’ll split the week up with the day off in between on Wednesday and then come back and try to make Thursday and Friday as business as usual. Like two days prep, game, here we go.”
Update (7:37 pm): Per the Capitals’ game notes, Andrew Cristall will play in the final preseason game against Boston. He is on the roster for the game while Sonny Milano, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Jakub Vrana are not.
