Whether Backstrom plays Tuesday - or, possibly Wednesday in Los Angeles - is yet to be determined.
"Possible, yet we'll see how things go again [Tuesday] morning," says Reirden, "and continue to progress day-by-day here. We're heading in the right direction and whether that's [Tuesday] or L.A., we'll play it day-by-day."
"We'll see what happens," says Backstrom. "We're taking it a little slow here. But I feel better, at least."
Backstrom averages 19:40 per night, and the Caps have had to spread those minutes between the rest of their middle men in his absence. Lars Eller moved up to the top six, and Chandler Stephenson has been centering Washington's third line with Richard Panik and Travis Boyd of late. But Stephenson did not take the ice at Monday's practice, because he is apparently going to be part of a pending transaction to get the Capitals in compliance with the salary cap with the return of Carl Hagelin, and the impending return of Backstrom.
"Because of Hagelin coming back, Chandler is involved in the transaction," says Reirden, "and we'll know a little bit more about that later [Monday], what decision we're going to make."
Stephenson's impending departure marks the first dent to the Caps' depth this season, but something had to give with Hagelin's return and his annual $2.75 million salary cap hit going back on the books. Washington has juggled its roster/lineup/salary cap situation almost continuously since the beginning of the season in October, and the Caps returned defenseman Christian Djoos and forward Beck Malenstyn to AHL Hershey on Sunday. Both players scored for the Bears against Hartford later that day.
Hagelin will return to active duty for the Caps on Tuesday, playing for the first time since he went down with an upper body injury in a Nov. 7 game at Florida. He skated mostly with Panik and Boyd on Monday, with the latter as the middle man in Stephenson's absence.
