The Washington Capitals recalled forwards Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn from the Hershey Bears on Tuesday morning. The team also announced that Nicklas Backstrom has been placed on the long-term injury list.
#Caps place center Nicklas Backstrom on long-term injury list and recall forwards Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn from the Hershey Bears (AHL).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 12, 2021
Backstrom must miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days. The earliest he can come back is the Capitals November 6 game against the Flyers. The 34-year-old did not participate in Capitals training camp and has yet to skate with the team so far this season.
McMichael and Malenstyn were re-assigned to Hershey on Monday (paper transaction) in order for the team to save on their daily salary cap hit. The Capitals 2021-22 opening night roster:
The Capitals roster now sits at the maximum of 23 players. They open their season Wednesday night when they host the New York Rangers (TV: TNT) at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:30 PM.
By Jon Sorensen
Rest up Backy. We can also use the salary cap $.
Cool. Will be fun to see how the rookies fare in real game action. It’s been a while since we’ve seen so many new young faces on the pro roster.
It’s a long season so there is no need to rush Nicky back. And like others have said, let’s see how the young guys do. They gotta get their experience at some point, so here is the chance to see what the team has in the young ‘uns. Hopefully they do well enough to keep the Caps competitive in the race for a playoff spot. I’d expect growing pains and some mistakes, but better for them to learn now and then get better as they fight for a playoff spot. Let’s go Caps!!!
If the Caps used the LTIR pool, would they be able to still bank cap space?