At noon, Capitals skaters Stan Galiev, Brad Malone, Paul Carey, and Christian Thomas all cleared waivers and will report to the Hershey Bears.

On Saturday, Galiev’s release caught some by surprise after spending all of last season with the Capitals.

Barry Trotz explained the team’s decision after practice yesterday.

“Based on looking at our roster, where Stan was, just wasn’t seeing enough impact in the games. I talked to Stan aboot that and we felt that we need him to play. If I had to start our 12 forwards, he wouldn’t be in there so he’s in the same boat he was in last year.

The person is exceptional if you know anything about Stan. He’s got speed, he’s got skill, but there hasn’t been any production. And that’s maybe because he hasn’t played a lot. He’s got all the pieces so we’re hoping he goes down and puts all those pieces together and be the player we think he can be.

Secondary, the thing that works too, if we get to the point where we maybe only carry one D and one extra forward, then that allows us to get down to the whole roster in Hershey. We feel like we have a lot of people down there who can compete and contribute in different roles, too.

All that being said, it started with the decision with Stan. Plain and simple, we need a good player to be the player he can be. The games are the only way to do it.

We understand the risks [with someone claiming him]. Probably the biggest thing is that we feel more comfortable with our depth than we have in the past. That would be the answer. If we didn’t feel comfortable, we probably wouldn’t do it.

Headline photo by Drew Hallowell