But when the center will be ready to play remains uncertain.
General manager Brian MacLellan said Backstrom faces a lengthy recovery following surgery at the ANCA Clinic in Belgium on June 17, but the Capitals are hopeful he will be able to return after dealing with pain in his hip the past two seasons.
"I think everybody is happy, the trainers and doctors, with the surgery, the results of the surgery," MacLellan said Wednesday. "I think it's Nick's intention to come back and play at some point this year and the timeline of that will be uncertain, to be determined as his recovery comes. We'll monitor that as we go forward and make a decision down the line during the season."
Backstrom is second in Capitals history behind forward Alex Ovechkin with 1,011 points (264 goals, 747 assists) in 1,058 games over 15 NHL seasons. The 34-year-old missed the first 28 games of this season rehabbing his hip and returned to score 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) in 47 games.
The Capitals plan to fill the void created by Backstrom's absence internally with young centers Connor McMichael, 21,
Hendrix Lapierre
, 20, and
Aliaksei Protas
, 21, among the options. McMichael had 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 68 games with Washington as an NHL rookie this season. Protas had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 33 games before being returned to Hershey of the American Hockey League. Lapierre had one goal in six games before being returned to Acadie-Bathurst of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
MacLellan said adding an experienced center through free agency or trade is unlikely because of NHL salary cap restrictions. Backstrom has three seasons left on a five-year, $46 million contract ($9.2 million average annual value) he signed in 2020. Placing him on long-term injured reserve would provide temporary salary cap relief while he is out.
"It's not like we [will] go out and sign a $9 million player," MacLellan said. "We're anticipating Nick comes back at some point. Until that goes away, we're planning on him coming back."
Heading into the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre in Montreal on Thursday for the first round (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and Rounds 2-7 on Friday (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), and the start of free agency July 13, MacLellan repeated his intention to try to add a veteran goalie. Ilya Samsonov (23-12-5, 3.02 goals-against average, .896 save percentage, three shutouts) and Vitek Vanecek (20-12-6, 2.67 GAA, . 908 save percentage, four shutouts) were both inconsistent this season.
Samsonov, 25, and Vanecek, 26, each can become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, and MacLellan said each will receive qualifying offers while the Capitals look at other goalies.
"We'll explore trade opportunities there, we'll look at the free agent market and then we'll analyze the RFA contracts that are coming for both of them," MacLellan said. "Make a decision based on all that stuff."
