Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden announced some news during his press conference with reporters, Wednesday.
Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik is being held out of Thursday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens and will not make the trip up north due to a lower-body injury. Orpik has not practiced since the Capitals 4-3 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames.
Brooks Orpik is day-to-day and will not make the trip to Montreal. Boyd will go to @TheHersheyBears for a conditioning loan – per Head Coach Todd Reirden
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 31, 2018
The 38-year-old Orpik has played in every Capitals game this season. Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos will man the third pairing with Orpik out.
Capitals today:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Vrana
Burakovsky-Backstrom-Oshie
Stephenson-Eller-Connolly
Jaskin-Dowd-DSPOrlov-Niskanen
Kempny-Carlson
DJ Oos-BoweyHoltby
CopleyWalker and Boyd are playing D
Wilson is at his appeal hearing
Orpik (lower body)— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 31, 2018
Reirden also announced that Travis Boyd is being sent to the AHL Hershey Bears for a conditioning loan. Boyd will play in Hershey Friday and Saturday, according to Mike Vogel.
#Caps will send Boyd to AHL Hershey for a conditioning stint. Plan is for him to play Fri-Sat there and then return to DC. Orpik out and will not travel to Montreal, so Caps will start Thu. game vs Habs with Djoos-Bowey as third pairing.
— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) October 31, 2018
When Boyd is ready to come back to the active roster, the Capitals will have some tough decisions to make.
The Capitals are already carrying an extra forward due to a roster exception made by the NHL for Tom Wilson’s 20-game suspension. When Boyd is healthy, the Capitals will have to cut one player. When Wilson comes back later in November, they’ll have to drop another.
The most logical candidates to be sent down to Hershey would be Travis Boyd himself (as Nic Dowd has acquitted himself well on the fourth line), waiver-wire pickup Dmitrij Jaskin, and Aussie forward Nathan Walker. All three players would likely get interest from other teams on waivers.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong
