Capitals head coach Todd Reirden met with the media this morning following Capitals practice. Reirden clarified this mornings roster/management moves. “Right now there’s a lot of movement going on, especially for teams that are salary cap strapped like we are”, said Reirden in his post-practice presser.

#Caps are on the ice for practice. I’m hearing Dmitrij Jaskin is not on the ice for practice today because he will be placed on waivers effective at noon today.

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) February 20, 2019

Reirden stated that earlier in the day the organization originally decided to put Dmitrij Jaskin on waivers, then “we changed our minds” and notified Devante Smith-Pelly during practice that he was being waived. The decision was made “organizationally”.

Smith-Pelly left the ice during Capitals practice. But it might just be an equipment issue, so don’t jump to any conclusions yet.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 20, 2019

When asked if he anticipated any additional moves to come, Reirden stated that “there’s lots going on right now…lots of moving parts right now, in a number of moving spots”.

It’s highly likely that the move paves the way for an additional move or moves to follow before Monday’s 3:00 PM trade deadline. One could also surmise that the original announcement made by the Capitals organization regarding Dmitrij Jaskin was rescinded because the Capitals may have been notified by another team that they had an interest in Jaskin. We will likely never know the reason for the unusual switch, but something obviously changed.

By Jon Sorensen