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Christian Djoos will make NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins

By Ian Oland

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October 11, 2017 10:59 am

The Caps third pairing of Chorness has struggled mightily in the opening three games of the season. So Wednesday, in an attempt to turn things around, Barry Trotz will give Swedish defenseman Christian Djoos a jersey in place of Taylor Chorney.

Tonight’s game will mark Djoos’s NHL debut – a nationally televised game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Djoos will become the second person in his family to play in the NHL. Per Djoos, his father, played 82 games in the NHL for the Rangers and Red Wings.

We first learned of the lineup change via the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan.

Tyler Graovac will also get a jersey over Nathan Walker.

Djoos’s dad will be in attendance.

For a seventh-round pick, Djoos has had a surprisingly quick road to the NHL. The 23-year-old defenseman made his debut for the Bears in 2014. In his second full season for the Bears, Djoos broke out, nearly becoming a point-per-game player. Djoos scored 13 goals and tallied 58 points in 66 games last season.

Djoos was so scintillating in March that he was named the AHL’s best player of the month.

Meanwhile, the move could not come soon enough for the Capitals. The team has struggled to even find an adequate time to put Ness and Chorney on the ice, relying heavily on the team’s top two pairings. Monday, the two players were victimized several times against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-3 OT loss.

Ness, who will remain in the lineup tonight, has eight penalty minutes in three games, playing less than 40 minutes in that span.

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk