The Washington Capitals have optioned rookie Martin Fehervary to the AHL and put forward Travis Boyd on waivers.
Fehervary, who is celebrating his 20th birthday Sunday, played three games with the Capitals and skated on the third pairing with Radko Gudas. According to Natural Stat Trick, Fehervary had the third-highest five-on-five shot attempt percentage (59.4 percent) among Capitals defensemen. Only Gudas (60 percent) and Dmitry Orlov (63.3 percent) tilted the ice more.
Meanwhile, Boyd did not see a game with the Capitals, after making the team out of Training Camp.
The Capitals also reassigned Jonas Siegenthaler to Hershey, but it appears it’s only to be a paper move so that they can bank money towards the salary cap.
Caps seem to have also reassigned Jonas Siegenthaler to Hershey, according to the AHL transactions wire. Think that’s a paper move to bank more cap space.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) October 6, 2019
Fehervary being sent down has more to do with his age and his salary cap number than a condemnation of his play. The Capitals needed to open up roster spots for Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose three-game suspension ended after Saturday’s game against Carolina, and defenseman Michal Kempny, who has spent the entire preseason rehabbing his hamstring injury. Fehervary’s cap hit is $806k while Jonas Siegenthaler ($714k) and Tyler Lewington ($675k) make less. Fehervary also does not have to pass through waivers.
NEWS | The Washington Capitals have assigned defenseman Martin Fehervary to the Hershey Bears, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.https://t.co/dcoJ2f8l7D
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 6, 2019
Boyd lost his spot in the lineup after the Capitals signed Garnet Hathaway and Brendan Leipsic over the offseason. Chandler Stephenson beat him out for the last remaining roster spot during the preseason.
The Capitals have placed Travis Boyd on waivers.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 6, 2019
More from the Capitals:
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have assigned defenseman Martin Fehervary to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
Fehervary, who was selected with the Capitals’ second round pick, 46th overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut on Oct. 2 against the St. Louis Blues and became the first player selected outside of the first round to make his NHL debut before the age of 20 since Samuel Girard (Nashville, selected in the second round, 47th overall, in the 2016 NHL Draft) on Oct. 10, 2017. The Bratislava, Slovakia, native is one of 11 defensemen in franchise history to make his NHL debut before the age of 20.
The 6’2″, 200-pound defenseman registered seven points (1g, 6a) for HV-71 in the Swedish Hockey League in 45 games during the 2018-2019 season. He also captained Team Slovakia during the World Junior Championship, recording five points (1g, 4a) in five games. Additionally, Fehervary represented Slovakia during the 2019 IIHF World Championship, recording an assist in seven games.
