The Washington Capitals have recalled defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell from the Hershey Bears and have placed goaltender Charlie Lindgren on IR.
Häman Aktell, who was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators back in 2016, has played two games with the Bears and has one goal. The 25-year-old played in five preseason games with Washington and had eight shots and two penalty minutes. He was very close to making the team out of training camp.
Lindgren is the third player to be placed on the injured-reserve list. He left Monday’s morning skate and did not suit up against the Calgary Flames. He started the first game of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Capitals already have Max Pacioretty and Joel Edmundson on long-term injured reserve. Nic Dowd is also listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Clay Stevenson is currently serving as the backup to Darcy Kuemper. Mitchell Gibson was called up from the South Carolina Stingrays in order to backup Hunter Shepard in Hershey.
By Jacob Cheris
Good move. LuJo is not an NHL defenseman
Neither is Jensen but that fool got a new contract from the most overrated GM in hockey currently
BMac by virtue of being at the helm during the Cup run has been afforded way too much leash by the owner, fanbase and media
No one holds him accountable for his myriad of mistakes that have led to this team nose diving after the Cup
All of this didn’t have to happen
Neither is Jensen
But GMBM gave out another silly contract to a mistake prone undersized dman
Let’s go!
Thank goodness. Aktell looks like a real NHLer. Just keep the game simple.
Agree, salary cap required he staa1rt in Hershey but hopefully he’s here to stay.
Hi again Jon, I was surprised they kept Johansen and sent Aktell to Hershey but I don’t even try to understand the salary cap details anymore.
Funny to rely on a rookie like Aktell to shore up an NHL defense but that’s what it looks like from here.
Agreed. Sports are supposed to be fun, not additional math homework (though thankfully there are people like Jon et al who’ll crunch the numbers for us :))
I’d note that while Aktell is technically a rookie, he is 25 and has played several years in the SHL so he’s not like an 18 to 20 year old rookie. And it seemed from the preseason that he’s had no trouble adjusting to the NHL. As of now, I’d certainly prefer him to AA or LuJo.
Thanks Dave. Today’s number crunching – line performance after 3 games:
I actually love playing the salary cap game. I’m a numbers game so good release on something that doesn’t really impact my life.
But I do think it is important because a lot of the moves that people get angry about actually have a lot to do with the Salary Cap and contracts. Putting Edmundson on LTIR allows us a lot of Cap flexibility which is part of why HHA is back. Salary Cap aside he is one of our top 6 defensemen.
Iorio isn’t ready for the NHL so trading one of our RD isn’t really pragmatic unless we can get a young RD back who can play in NHL.
He has size
Not a great prospect but still better than LJ or NJ
AA and Aktell are top 6 in this lineup period
Hope that Lindgren is not seriously hurt however having said that I would have no problem if the 3 players on IR stayed there until Dec and then received just enough playing time to be traded out of here for draft picks. Do not want players as we need picks to be able to fortify the ranks of both Hershey and SC and in several years have those guys playing in Wash!
I wonder if they are thinking of dressing 7 D, like they do in Toronto, instead of Mantha.
Mantha should never get another sweater ever
Trade soft Jensen and waive LuJo
Fehervary-Carlson
HHA-Sandin
Alexeyev-TVR.
When Edmundson is back:
Fehervary-Carlson
Edmundson-Sandin
HHA-TVR
Alexeyev
Sandin isn’t good defensively
I’m with you. Hope that means Jensen is being moved. Saw a rumor about Garland maybe coming our way. I would take most anything to get rid of him and his contract.
An unnecessary contract situation created by the GM
Horrible move
Team isn’t fast enough to play an up tempo style. I’ve said for the longest time to try them on New Jersey’s old 1-3-1 trap system from the 90’s and they would thrive on it
A more physical presence is needed. Good move.
Frank Seravalli mentioned that the Capitals sellout streak ended at 588 games. That’s a big deal, they had a sellout on opening night, and then their next game was just 16,489. It’s a lot of money to take a family to a game. Even just to get two tickets to go to a game, you’re shelling out $500 including parking and food and drinks and everything else. I don’t know how many times people can do that in one season, let alone have season tickets.
Also, on another subject, Monumental (Ted) released a statement saying “The Washington Wizards stand with the people of Israel.” However, Qatar, which owns 5% of Monumental released its statement which said “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds Israel alone responsible for the current escalation due to its ongoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.” It is widely reported that the Hamas leadership lives not in Gaza but in the Qatari capital, Doha.