The road to the regular season kicks off this week as the Washington Capitals start their annual rookie camp this week. The event precedes the Capitals’ Training Camp by a few days, with preseason play picking up on September 24 against the Buffalo Sabres.
Washington is in an unusual place going into the 2023-24 campaign with a new head coach and a retooled roster. The lineup is set to feature some players who lifted the Calder Cup this past summer with the Hershey Bears, and the implications will carry down to the Sweetest Place on Earth.
Changes in the Nation’s Capital
Washington made room on their roster this summer by dropping a few depth forwards, signing others like Tom Wilson to an extension, and picking up Max Pacioretty in free agency. The latter will begin the season on the injured list, where he’s been since mid-January, and leaves the Capitals in an unfamiliar place to insert some youth into the lineup. There will most likely be three spots to be earned in the Capitals Training Camp: two to play and at least one to serve as an extra forward.
The top minds of the Capitals have been hard at work determining who has the early edge on the depth chart. Fortunately, their new coach is not new to the organization, as Spencer Carbery spent four seasons as Hershey’s bench boss prior to a stint in Toronto.
Since his hire, he got to see a lot of players he coached raise the Calder Cup this past June as the culmination of Hershey’s work since he took over in 2018. Caps management believes they have three of his former players in mind for the job: Beck Malenstyn, Aliaksei Protas, and Connor McMichael.
“They all had a good playoff. They’re all getting better,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said of the trio in July. “They’re all going to add different elements to our lineup. I would more than likely pencil them in for next year.”
Familiar Faces
The trio of players are no strangers to Washington and carry the title of Calder Cup Champions into the Capitals Training Camp this fall. All three players got into action in D.C. this past season at some point, and it’s safe to say the championship win only adds to their impressive resumes for the job. Malenstyn, the longest-tenured player of the three, flirted with becoming a regular before a lengthy injury derailed his progress. Protas played most of the year in D.C., and McMichael is a first-round pick from 2019 with tons of potential.
“Those relationships will help us speed up the process of getting to know them and then understanding what I expect. So like I said, very excited to work with those guys,” Carbery said of his former players in Hershey. “It’s very important that we’re able to develop through the organization and hopefully create those tiers where guys are able to come up and play for the Washington Capitals and contribute to a winning culture… our players will know exactly what the expectations are.”
All three players joined the Bears out of necessity, with the Capitals’ roster at capacity last season at different points. Each player brings a unique quality to the table that suits a different role in Washington, and Carbery’s familiarity with each will be a helpful foundation. Malenstyn’s speed and big hits make him an ideal candidate for the fourth line and penalty kill. Protas is a big body with a lot of hockey skills and smarts. McMichael is a strong center and gifted goal scorer—all great qualities to spread through the lineup.
Heavy Competition in Capitals Training Camp
The key to MacLellan’s comments is that those players are only penciled in at this point rather than guaranteed. Just as those three players have connections to Carbery, others like Joe Snively have played for him and have strong resumes. Snively spent time in Washington over the past two seasons and had a strong postseason in Hershey, leading the team in points. Snively’s body of work has shown that he is ready for more at the highest level of play.
Other contenders come from outside of the organization. The Capitals signed forward Matthew Phillips at the start of free agency at the behest of Carbery. Phillips, one of the AHL’s top scorers in the regular season with the Calgary Wranglers, has a connection to another of Washington’s new coaches in Mitch Love. It’s hard to say any player who scores 76 points in 66 games would be easy to ignore at the Washington Capitals Training Camp, and Phillips has earned the right to be considered for the job.
So, too, has forward Alex Limoges, a Virginia native, alongside Snively. The forward signed with the Capitals as a bit of a homecoming, whether he’s playing in D.C. or Hershey, having skated with the nearby Penn State Nittany Lions program prior to turning pro. He’s played well during his time in the AHL, twice hitting the 20-goal mark in his career and tallying 54 points last season.
Road to the Regular Season
It makes for an interesting Capitals Training Camp and preseason. Most of, if not all, of the players mentioned above, will get to don a Capitals jersey for an audition in the preseason. It will no doubt be a tricky selection process to send players to the Bears, but it’s one that Carbery and his staff will have to narrow down. Washington will have many options to fill out those positions, and they can use the time to see who will best fit that role.
The good news is that these recalls will not stop Hershey from icing a solid team. The Bears have an incredulous amount of depth, even with a few key players on the rise, and this year’s iteration of the team figures to be as strong as ever. Prospects like Ivan Miroshnichenko and Ryan Hofer will be exciting young additions to the group with nearly as much depth as the postseason. It’s an exciting time for the Washington organization that continues to be on the rise in the hockey world.
