With Washington Capitals training camp and preseason on the horizon, one of the questions that will need to be answered is who cracks the NHL team on the blue line. How does head coach Spencer Carbery decide to run the lineup for defensive pairings in 2024-25? Some of the defenders are automatic locks for Washington. John Carlson, Jakub Chychrun, Matt Roy, and Rasmus Sandin are on the roster. All four players will be slotted in as the top four on the backend. For the bottom end, however, things will be a bit more competitive as to who makes up that pairing and do the defensemen swap in and out of the lineup.
With Jakob Chychrun, John Carlson, Matt Roy, and Rasmus Sandin locked onto the Capitals, who are in the running for the bottom pairing spots?
Martin Fehervary
Defenseman Martin Fehervary is going into his fifth career season. Washington selected him in the second round (46th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. He debuted for Washington in 2019-20, playing six games and registering an assist. Since then, Fehervary has played in a total of 218 games. He scored 17 goals and registered 33 assists for 50 points. Last season, he played 66 games. He scored three goals, 13 assists, and 16 points in that span.
Fehervary has played a good number of games for the club. He is also only 24 years old and can grow his game more over the next few seasons. His prior NHL experience, though, could work out to his advantage against some of the other names on this list. I think he will likely be one of the defensemen who claim an available spot for the 2024-25 campaign.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Veteran blueliner Trevor van Riemsdyk has been in the NHL since 2013 and has been a member of the Capitals since 2020. In his four campaigns with Washington (and a total of 237 games), he has a combined nine goals and 48 assists for 57 points. In 2023-24, van Riemsdyk had 14 assists in 70 games. His best stats while in D.C. so far were in 2022-23. He tallied seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 75 games.
Throughout his entire career, van Riemsdyk has played in 601 games to this point. Before coming to D.C., he was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes. Throughout his career, he has totaled 24 goals and 102 assists for 126 points.
If van Riemsdyk can grab one of the remaining blue line spots and produce numbers similar to 2022-23, Washington will be in good shape. That would fit perfectly along with the rest of the defensive core who is already locked into their spots on the team. I would like to believe he takes a spot as one of the Capitals’ bottom pairing and extra defensemen for 2024-25.
Ethan Bear
The Capitals signed Ethan Bear to a two-year contract on December 28, 2023. He played in 24 regular season games in 2023-24, scoring a goal and providing three assists. Bear missed some time with the team as he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Heading into the 2024-25 season, Bear brings parts of six seasons of NHL experience to the table. In his entire career so far, he has suited up in 275 regular season games. In that span, he scored 17 goals and produced 50 assists for 67 points.
Like in the case with Trevor van Riemsdyk, if head coach Spencer Carbery leans toward having more veteran experience on the blue line, that would be something in Bear’s favor. I am curious how he will do in a full season in Washington. Maybe Carbery and his staff will be able to bring out the best in his game. The only team he really spent consistent time with before was when he began his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, Bear has been around the league between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vancouver Canucks.
If Bear can grab one of the remaining defenseman positions and he takes advantage of that opportunity, maybe he will be around D.C. longer with a contract extension. His best season statistically at this point in time was in 2019-20 with the Oilers. He had five goals and 16 assists for 21 points in 71 games. If he can reach this level of numbers again and can play his role with the team well, he may be in the lineup for the Capitals for most of the season. I think Bear makes the squad as an extra. He may be scratched for some games, but I do not think he spends any time in the AHL with Hershey. He will be one of the defensemen on the Capitals’ blue line.
Alexander Alexeyev
24-year-old defender Alexander Alexeyev has played in parts of three campaigns for the Capitals so far. He debuted for the club during the 2021-22 season and only played in one game. Alexeyev gained more NHL experience during both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. In both of those campaigns, he put up the following numbers:
- 2022-23: five assists in 32 games
- 2023-24: one goal and two assists for three points in 39 games
Alexeyev is one of the younger talents on the backend going into this season. He has been getting more NHL games under his belt, which will help with his on-ice contributions and production. He will be in the running for one of the bottom pairing slots or be an extra defenseman carried on the roster. This campaign could be a big step in cementing his job on the Capitals. He already did not play any games in the AHL in 2023-24 with the Hershey Bears. Now, he needs to do the best he can to make sure he gets more games in Washington’s lineup. He should be able to accomplish that and play as one of Washington’s defensemen this upcoming campaign.
Vincent Iorio
The Capitals drafted Vincent Iorio in the second round (55th overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old has only played in nine total NHL games to this point, and has registered an assist. While he has only had a brief amount of appearances in the NHL, Iorio can possibly earn some more time on Washington based on how well he does in training camp and the preseason.
Iorio might not have a lot of NHL games yet under his belt, but his time with the Hershey Bears gained him valuable experience. He was a part of both back-to-back Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears teams in 2022-23 and 2023-24. During the regular seasons, Iorio produced the following:
- 2022-23: two goals and 20 assists for 22 points in 63 games
- 2023-24: four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 60 games
During the Calder Cup runs in the postseason, Iorio put up the following postseason stats:
- 2023 playoffs: one goal and four assists for five points in 15 games
- 2024 playoffs: zero points in eight games
Overall, Iorio is still transitioning his game to the NHL level. He has only appeared briefly for Washington in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. I expect him to start the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL with the Bears. I do think he will play in some more NHL games this upcoming season. There is a lot of depth for the Capitals on the blue line for Carbery to choose from. That being said, I think Iorio finds his way at some point into Washington’s lineup.
Overall Thoughts on Defensive Depth
Washington is in good shape with the overall defensemen depth they have. It will be a good training camp and preseason competition between these names. As mentioned before, the top-four defense slots are taken. Carlson, Chychrun, Roy, and Sandin are all locks on the backend. Fehervary and van Riemsdyk have already played quite a few seasons in D.C. Bear has not played for the Capitals much, but he does provide veteran experience. The younger talents like Alexeyev and Iorio will be pushing their way to eventually become full-time members on the Capitals.
There is a bit of a predicament as to who Washington should keep. Training camp and the preseason will be interesting to see who stands out and can claim the remaining available roster spots for defensemen. Carbery, GM Chris Patrick, and their staffs will have some crucial decisions to make soon enough. Soon, fans will see who made the cut and will make up the 2024-25 group of Capitals defensemen.
