This article is over 6 years old

Here’s what the Capitals lineup will likely be with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Michal Kempny out for the season opener

by

0 Comments

Chandler Stephenson skates with a stick slung over his shoulders at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. He is pictured from the waist up and looking to the right of camera. He wears a red Capitals practice jersey and full hockey gear.

Share:

Ahead of the Capitals season opener in St. Louis on Wednesday, the Washington Capitals held practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex providing a clearer picture of what lines will be opening night against the St. Louis Blues.

With Evgeny Kuznetsov’s spot up for grabs, while he is out on a three-game suspension, Christian Djoos being waived and loaned to Hershey, and Michal Kempny placed on the injured non roster list, there were some surprises when the lines hit the ice.

After a disappointing 2018-19 season, Chandler Stephenson appears to have won the third-line center position for the first three games. Over the course of his four games in the preseason, Stephenson tallied a goal and three assists, leaving him tied for points with John Carlson and Lars Eller, and bested only by Jakub Vrana.

Reirden, who had high praise for both Jonas Siegenthaler and 2018 Draft pick Martin Fehervary, has both players in the lineup, with Djoos taken out of contention. Fehervary will be the third 19-year-old blueliner to play for the Capitals in the past decade, according to The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. Newly minted alternate captain John Carlson and former Capital Connor Carrick were the other two.

As for updates on the injury side, Michal Kempny skated in a light blue non-contact jersey and was later placed on the injured non-roster list. This list has no minimum game threshold and Kempny can be activated at any time.

Alex Ovechkin, who missed the Capitals’ final preseason game against Carolina, was also back on the ice after taking time off for lower-body maintenance. What was it that they said about Russian machines again?

There was also some movement on the power-play units, with summer acquisition Richard Panik taking Kuznetsov’s place in the first grouping.

The second unit, where Reirden is hoping for a big year from Jakub Vrana, was comprised of Lars Eller, Dmitry Orlov, Tom Wilson, Vrana, and Brendan Leipsic.

It’s full steam ahead into the regular season now. No exit. Literally.

See you in St. Louis, boys!

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong

Related Articles

RMNB is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHLPA, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.

All original content on russianmachineneverbreaks.com is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International – unless otherwise stated or superseded by another license. You are free to share, copy, and remix this content so long as it is attributed, done for noncommercial purposes, and done so under a license similar to this one.

zamboni logo