Friday On My Mind – Just over a week into training camp, the Caps are into the back half of their six-pack of exhibition games. Tonight at Capital One Arena, they’ll host the Columbus Blue Jackets in what is also the front end of a set of home-and-home preseason contests between the two Metro Division rivals. The Caps travel to Columbus for their final preseason road game on Monday.
Columbus is playing eight preseason games this fall, and although the Jackets started their exhibition slate a day later than the Caps and have only played twice to date, the Blue Jackets will finish their eight-game slate before Washington plays its own preseason finale. That’s because tonight’s game kicks off a grueling stretch of six games in eight nights for the Jackets, who will play three of the six at home and three on the road.
Field Of Opportunity – With AHL Hershey coming off consecutive Calder Cup crowns and with seven new players added to the Washington lineup over the summer, the depth and competition at this fall’s training camp is palpable. Heading into tonight’s game, the Caps’ training camp roster is still fairly thick; there are still 45 able-bodied, healthy players on the roster, and a few more who’ve been ailing and haven’t taken the ice.
But Hershey’s training camp gets underway on Sunday, and the first on-ice session for the Bears is Monday, the same day the Caps fly to Columbus for a preseason game that night, and a couple of days of practice and team building in Ohio’s capital city. Many NHL teams are playing seven or eight preseason games, but the Caps have just six. And with four days between their final two preseason games and a full week between their exhibition finale and the season opener, most – if not all – of the lineup slots for those games are likely to go to members of the varsity squad who are aiming to get game-ready for the regular season.
Tonight’s lineup features eight players who played with Hershey last season, and 10 players who can reasonably be seen as “on the bubble” at this juncture of camp. Some of those 10 have an opportunity to shine and to open some eyes tonight, and it might be the last of those opportunities for this fall. Significant roster trimmings loom for the Capitals this weekend.
“It depends on performance, right?” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery, asked whether this might be the last look for some of the bubble players tonight.
Earlier in camp, Carbery mentioned that a strong performance in a preseason outing by a bubble player might lead to another opportunity.
“We’re getting down to the nitty gritty here, with the amount of games remaining,” he says. “So it’s a significant game for a lot of guys tonight, on home ice. So it will be a good test.”
Young But Daily Growing – In consecutive NHL Drafts in 2019 and 2020, the Caps selected forwards Connor McMichael (25th overall) and Hendrix Lapierre (22nd overall), respectively, in the first round. Both players have had the benefit of playing for Calder Cup championship squads in Hershey, and both took significant steps forward with their NHL career arcs last season. Given that both are still quite young – McMichael is 23 and Lapierre is 22 – more growth and development is expected in the season ahead. Both players are centers by trade, but both have spent a fair amount of time skating on the left wing during the course of their NHL careers to date.
With Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois penciled in as the team’s top two centers and veteran Nic Dowd a fixture in the middle of one of the other two lines, only one of McMichael and Lapierre is likely to start the season at center. Tonight, McMichael gets a look in the middle of the ice after debuting on the left side of a unit with Dubois and Tom Wilson on Tuesday night in Boston.
“I want Mikey to stay fresh with playing in the middle,” says Carbery. “And every day at camp thus far – for two weeks – he’s been on the wing. I’ve really liked him there; I’ve felt like it’s been seamless. I feel like his speed isn’t affected there. Sometimes you get a little worried that because he is such a great skater, if you move him to the wall, and sometimes centermen, when they play the wing, you don’t notice their speed as much. And I’ve noticed him every day, even playing the wing.
“He’s done a great job of playing the wing early in camp. I’ve liked his camp thus far, I just want him to stay involved in playing center. So that’s the objective tonight for him playing the middle. Also, he’s a really good hockey player, so it gives a couple of wingers an opportunity to play with a good centerman, and someone that can help them be productive tonight.”
Jakub Vrana and Ethen Frank are McMichael's beneficiary wingers tonight, and both are bubble players seeking to land an opening night roster slot.
Both McMichael and Lapierre prefer playing in the middle, but both are also comfortable on the wing.
“I think it would be harder for me to go to the wing from center,” says McMichael. “Whereas going from the wing to center is pretty natural for me.”
“I just want to keep being that guy that Carbs can rely on in all situations, play a lot – whether it’s wing or center. I’m easygoing, so I can play anywhere.”
Lapierre sees it similarly. He likes playing in the middle, but like McMichael he is a team guy.
“I think right now I would say center, just because I feel like I can use my speed a little more,” says Lapierre. “There’s a lot of things I have to work on in the middle – especially my face-offs, and all of those kinds of things, which I try to work on – but I feel comfortable with both, whether it’s left or center, or even on the right.
“I just feel like I can use my speed a little better at center. But honestly, whatever it takes, I’ll do it for sure. But I just enjoy having the puck in the middle of the rink, and having a lot of space – east, west – to find guys. So I’ll say center, by a little bit. But I feel comfortable everywhere; I’ll even play [defense], if that’s what it takes for me to make the team.”
In The Nets – Last season, the Caps rode the consistently stellar netminding of Charlie Lindgren to an improbable Stanley Cup playoff berth that was achieved in the waning minutes of the team’s final regular season game, in Philadelphia. Lindgren established a career high of 13 victories in 2022-23, his first season with the Caps. He obliterated that mark last season with 25 victories, winning 16 of those games (16-9-3) in a span of just over two months. With six shutouts last season, Lindgren tied for the League lead.
Lindgren’s new netminding partner Logan Thompson – obtained in a June deal with Vegas – made his preseason debut on Wednesday in New Jersey, and he was sharp in going the distance for the Caps’ first victory of the preseason. Tonight, Lindgren gets his first preseason assignment against Columbus, and he is also expected to play the full 60 minutes.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we expect the Capitals to line up for Friday’s preseason match in the District, and here also is an expected roster for the Blue Jackets:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 88-Mangiapane
13-Vrana, 24-McMichael, 53-Frank
15-Milano, 58-Rybinski, 63-Miroshnichenko
28-Cristall, 23-Sgarbossa, 72-Dube
Defensemen
6-Chychrun, 74-Carlson
27-Alexeyev, 2-Iorio
76-Leivermann, 25-Bear
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
33-Stevenson
COLUMBUS
Forwards
4-Sillinger
10-Voronkov
18-Gambrell
19-Fantilli
20-Hall
24-Olivier
37-Butler
41-McKown
45-Brindley
64-Fix-Wolansky
67-Malatesta
82-Pyyhtia
Defensemen
3-Johnson
22-Harris
34-Clayton
55-Jiricek
62-Knazko
74-Ceulemans
Goaltenders
30-Cajan
40-Tarasov
