Caps Continue Preseason in Philly
Caps play first of three straight road exhibitions on Wednesday night vs. Flyers
Washington takes to the road on Wednesday night for the first of three straight preseason road tilts, against the Flyers in Philadelphia. The Caps opened up their exhibition six-pack on Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena.
Following Sunday's game with the Sabres, the Caps had an off day on Monday before reconvening their 2022 training camp on Tuesday morning. Half a dozen young junior players were trimmed from the Caps' camp roster on the off day; defensemen Dru Krebs (WHL Medicine Hat) and Simon Motew (OHL Kitchener) and forwards Haakon Hanelt (QMJHL Gatineau), Ryan Hofer (WHL Everett), Jake Karabela (OHL Guelph) and Alexander Suzdalev (WHL Regina) were returned to their respective junior clubs. Krebs, Hanelt, Hofer and Suzdalev all skated for the Caps in Sunday's loss to the Sabres.
Monday's roster trim leaves the Caps with 62 players on the camp roster, including 58 players who are healthy enough to be full participants. Another huge wave of cuts is expected this weekend, after the three-game exhibition road swing concludes in Columbus on Saturday night. The AHL Hershey Bears open their 2022 training camp this weekend, with skates hitting the ice for the first time on Monday morning.
Few - if any - actual jobs/roster slots are up for grabs at this fall's Caps camp. Even with veterans Nicklas Backstrom, Carl Hagelin and Tom Wilson on the sidelines because of injury, the competition for lineup spots is minimal; the job competition is on the periphery of the roster.
Aside from who plays with whom among the team's forward ranks, the key remaining roster question seems to be whether to carry two extra forwards and an extra defenseman, or to keep two spare defenders and just a single forward. That's also a complicated equation that might depend upon which players are likely to clear waivers, as the Caps seek to protect the rather remarkable amount of depth they're carrying in training camp this season. Of the remaining players in camp, the Caps have 24 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goaltenders who played in the NHL last season.
Even with the junior players headed back to their respective CHL teams, we can expect to see lineup laden with likely Hershey skaters on Wednesday in Philly. Washington's varsity squad is a veteran-laden group, and few of them will require more than a game or two with which to be ready for the regular season.
Wednesday's lineup will feature several new faces, and a few of those who played against the Sabres on Sunday will get a repeat viewing, with at least one of them manning a different position than he played on Sunday. Every team is required to dress at least eight "veterans" for preseason games, and the term "veterans" is very loosely defined for the purposes of the preseason.
"There'll be some out there," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of the Wednesday lineup. "I mean, I've got to fill a quota of eight."
These next three road games are likely to feature a lot of players who are ticketed for Hershey as the hockey operations group looks to take a look at those players in an NHL exhibition setting before the Bears begin their camp on Monday.
"I think we'll take the majority of our guys on the trip with a couple games," the coach continues, referring to the weekend journey to Detroit-Columbus. "Like I said, we're going to be heavy handed in the back end [of the exhibition schedule], and a lot of our players don't need to play in four games."
Philadelphia opened its 2022 preseason slate at home this past Saturday night, downing the Bruins 2-1 on the strength of goals from the Cates brothers, Jackson and Noah. The Flyers were in action against the Sabres in Buffalo on Tuesday, so Wednesday's game against the Caps is the second in as many nights for Philly. The Flyers fell by a 2-1 count in Buffalo.
Longtime NHL coach John Tortorella signed on to be the Flyers' bench boss this season, making Philly the fifth different NHL bench he has manned as a head coach. He watched the Flyers' preseason opener against the Bruins from the press box, and he plans to watch several preseason games from that perch as he gets accustomed to his new charges. Assistant coach Ian Laperriere ran the bench for Philly's exhibition opener against the B's.
Like the Caps, the Flyers are expected to be without a couple of key veteran players when the season gets underway in a couple of weeks. Center Sean Couturier has a herniated disc and blueliner Ryan Ellis - who was limited to only four games last season after being obtained from Nashville - is out indefinitely with a complex set of core ailments. At the outset of training camp, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher stated that he will be surprised if Ellis plays at all this season.
