Head coach Todd Reirden said he will mostly use rookies in the team’s preseason debut on Sunday. Goaltenders Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek will each play half the game with Copley taking the first half.
Reirden said Caps will dress an “inexperienced” lineup in Boston Sunday, but “guys that deserve that opportunity.”
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 15, 2018
Center Lars Eller skated briefly this morning but went back to the locker room not long after hopping on the ice. He and defenseman John Carlson are each day-to-day with lower-body injuries.
Forward Sergei Shumakov is expected to arrive in Washington tonight. He will go through physical testing tomorrow before getting on the ice. Reirden said he wasn’t sure he’ll skate with those not going up to Boston tomorrow.
Eller and Carlson remain day to day with lower body injuries, but Reirden said they are improving. (Eller skated briefly this morning).
Shumakov has to go through his medicals before going on ice. Not sure if he’ll skate tomorrow with those not playing in Boston.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 15, 2018
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who signed a three-year entry-level contract on May 4, will definitely get some playing time in the preseason, according to Reirden.
Caps coach Todd Reirden said that G Ilya Samsonov (not playing Sunday) will definitely play in NHL preseason. Reirden was very impressed with him in development camp and prospect tournament.
“To me, he is our highest prospect we have.”
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 15, 2018
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov told reporters on Saturday that he wants to get some time on the penalty kill this season and that he thinks Shumakov, 26, is a skilled player who can help the Capitals after he adjusts to the North American game.
Asked Kuznetsov if he wanted to PK the past four years …
“That’s just Trotzy mentality probably, yeah? He want to keep me on the bench and give other teams more chance to score, right? … That’s a joke.”
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) September 15, 2018
Kuznetsov:
“You know it’s going to be a little bit hard for him to move from that hockey over here. If you’re going to give him a lot of time to feel comfortable and to understand the game, he can play very well in this league.” https://t.co/xw6VA3AdLt— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 15, 2018
You can find the groups the Capitals split up in today below:
Today’s practice groups at Capitals camp. No Carlson (lower body), Eller (lower body) or Shumakov (visa) again, but Eller is on the ice before the first group practice. He was giving his lower body a good stretch before skating pic.twitter.com/PM8fcnJBQB
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 15, 2018
And the D:
Niskanen-Orlov
Kempny-Bowey (Carlson)
Orpik-Djoos.— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 15, 2018
By Harrison Brown