ARLINGTON, Va. — The Washington Capitals are beginning to finalize their opening night roster for Friday’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Team’s have until 5 p.m. today to submit their 23-man roster. The Caps had some juggling to do after Monday’s practice.
The Capitals announced that Max Pacioretty will be placed on long-term injured-reserve, which frees up $2 million in cap. Pacioretty is still recovering from his second Achilles’ tear and has yet to skate. He will miss at least the first 10 games of the season.
#Caps will submit opening night roster to NHL’s offices by 5 pm deadline today, but it will not mirror actual opening night roster. Caps are planning some paper transactions for today for salary cap purposes, and will unveil actual opening roster Wed. am, before practice.
— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) October 9, 2023
Meanwhile, Joel Edmundson was placed on injured-reserve. Edmundson will miss at least four to six weeks after fracturing his hand during a scrimmage. He was seen in a non-contact jersey on Saturday.
The #ALLCAPS opening roster is $1.987M over the cap with 22 players on roster (13F/7D/2G) + Edmundson IR & Pacioretty LTIR.
This comes w/in $13K of optimal LTIR. They can subsequently add Edmundson to LTIR gaining $1.75M Space & swap Protas/Sutterhttps://t.co/5ZwtCSRhrT
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 9, 2023
The Caps also announced that Connor McMichael, Hardy Häman Aktell and Aliaksei Protas have been loaned to the Hershey Bears. However, this are paper transactions in order to be cap compliant, so they will likely remain with D.C. for the time being. Washington also recalled Riley Sutter from Hershey.
The Capitals final opening night roster will be revealed on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m.
By Jacob Cheris