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With a little more than 24 hours before the Capitals open their 2018-19 season with the raising of their Stanley Cup banner, General Manager Brian MacLellan held a press conference with the media earlier today to discuss a myriad of topics, including the team’s claiming of forward Dmitrij Jaskin off waivers from the St. Louis Blues.

When asked why the team decided to claim the 25-year old Russian off waivers, MacLellan replied, “We were feeling a little vulnerable with our forward depth, depending on what happens with Tom [Wilson] here, and we like the player, we think the player has some upside and with the possible suspension of Tom, we’re adding a big body that can make some plays”. Jaskin, a former second-round pick (41st overall in 2011) of the Blues, has recorded 61 points (25 goals, 36 assists) in 266 games played in his NHL career. Last season he averaged 12:27 minutes of ice time a night for the Blues, recording 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 76 games played.

MacLellan also touched on a number of other topics during his press conference, including the statuses of defenseman Michal Kempny and forward Travis Boyd, both who were injured during the preseason. Kempny, who re-signed with the team on a four-year deal this past summer, is currently on injured reserve and will miss the team’s first two regular season games, per Head Coach Todd Reirden, while Boyd is on long-term injured reserve, which means he will miss at least 10 games and 24 days, per The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. Kempny is recovering from a concussion that came as a result of a hit from St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, which earned the rugged blueliner a suspension from the NHL.

Reirden confirms Michal Kempny (concussion) will out for the first two games.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) October 2, 2018

Travis Boyd is on long-term injured reserve, which means he’ll miss at least 10 games and 24 days. https://t.co/dvOuYMKlES

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) October 2, 2018

MacLellan was also asked about a possible suspension for Wilson, who was recently offered an in-person hearing with the NHL for his hit on St. Louis’ Oskar Sundvist, for which he was given a match penalty. MacLellan responded by stating the team and Wilson always look at all the videos on all the hits and player safety videos that are released by the league. His full response on that and the rest of his presser can be seen below:

General Manager Brian MacLellan addresses the media ahead of the 2018-19 season debut #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/j15QwWuXre

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 2, 2018

By Michael Fleetwood