The Washington Capitals held practice at Capital One Arena on Monday morning just minutes after they announced forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Andrew Cristall had been cut from their Training Camp roster. The loans to Hershey (AHL) and Kelowna (WHL) got the Capitals to a maximum of 23 players.
Head coach Spencer Carbery put together his newly trimmed roster on the ice afterward, sticking with the consistent forward lines and defense pairings he had lined up throughout the preseason.
Carbery got a good look at his new first line, which featured Andrew Mangiapane to the right of Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. The top trio skated together in three preseason games, and Washington was good at five-on-five with them on the ice. In 33:07 of ice time, they held positive differentials in shot attempts (+11), scoring chances (+5), and high-danger chances (+3).
Pierre-Luc Dubois’s line with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson completed the team’s top-six group. Dubois and Wilson were point-per-game players during the preseason, recording three points each in the three games they dressed for. McMichael finished as the team leader in individual high-danger chances with six.
The third line has been the most fluid throughout Training Camp, particularly on the left wing. With Washington’s loan moves earlier in the day, the race for that spot now involves just two men: Jakub Vrana and Sonny Milano. Vrana had the better numbers in the preseason, recording two points (1g, 1a) in four games. Hendrix Lapierre and Aliaksei Protas are locked in at center and right wing.
Vrana is still unsigned, although that appears to be a mere formality. The Capitals still need to do some salary-cap maneuvering before officially inking the 28-year-old Czech to a deal. He has participated in camp thus far on a professional tryout agreement.
Nic Dowd’s new line, featuring Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh, had the most instant chemistry of any of the forward groupings. Despite only taking 19.2 percent of their five-on-five faceoffs in the offensive zone, the trio has posted massively positive differentials in shot attempts (+10), scoring chances (+6), and high-danger chances (+7). Washington was not scored on once during their minutes, and the three combined for nine points (3g, 6a) of their own.
On defense, Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson’s new partnership led the pack. Carbery placed the two together on the first day of Training Camp, and the two minute-eaters have been very high-event and successful in their three preseason games together. The Capitals, at five-on-five, were plus-20 in shot attempts, plus-16 in scoring chances, and plus-five in high-danger chances with the two on the ice.
Martin Fehervary and Matt Roy will be Carbery’s go-to shutdown pairing, while Rasmus Sandin is prepared for a lesser role this season, at least five-on-five, on the third pairing with Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Charlie Lindgren was the only goaltender on the ice, as Logan Thompson missed out due to personal reasons. Lindgren is the expected starter in game one after he shut out the Boston Bruins 2-0 in Washington’s final preseason game.
