Capitals Opening Night Roster Set As Frank & Stevenson Clear, McIlrath Heads To IR & Miroshnichenko Final Cut
The Capitals roster now sits at 23. Here's what to know.
The Washington Capitals opening night roster is set.
Washington made its final moves to get the roster down to 23 by the 5 p.m. deadline on Monday, sending Ivan Miroshnichenko down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears and placing Dylan McIlrath on the injured reserve.
Meanwhile, Clay Stevenson and Ethen Frank cleared waivers and have been assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. There was noise around Stevenson potentially having multiple suitors, but a lot of that was smoke, and he’ll remain with the organization as the Bears’ No. 1 goaltender.
The forward lines are now set, with Sonny Milano making it as an extra forward and Hendrix Lapierre roaring back with a dominant camp to win the third-line center role. While Miroshnichenko impressed at camp, it was a long shot for him to make the roster due to him not requiring waivers and more time to develop proving beneficial.
On defense, there’s still quite a bit to consider despite the roster sitting at 23. Vincent Iorio remains up with the big club, and for good reason — he impressed the coaching staff and earned an extended stay, though Spencer Carbery noted there’s still things to work through and a final decision to be made between him and McIlrath, which will likely come when McIlrath is cleared to play. Injured players cannot be placed on waivers.
At the same time, Matt Roy is also dealing with an injury, and Declan Chisholm suffered a skate cut at practice and was rushed off the ice. The 25-year-old is expected to be okay, though, and Carbery will get further evaluation when he speaks with the training staff.
Here’s how the team lined up on Monday and how the opening night roster looks
Forwards
Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Anthony Beauvillier-Hendrix Lapierre-Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Justin Sourdif
Extra Forward: Sonny Milano
Defense
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Rasmus Sandin-Declan Chisholm
Extra Defenseman: Vincent Iorio
Injured: Matt Roy, Dylan McIlrath (injured reserve)
Goaltenders
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren