The Capitals announced on Friday afternoon that they have recalled defenseman Tyler Lewington from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Lewington has played in five games with the Caps this season.

The move is slightly baffling since the Capitals are in need of a forward. Nic Dowd and Carl Hagelin are both considered day-to-day with upper body injuries and are out for Friday nights game against the Canadiens.

With the move, the Capitals now have 8 defensemen and 11 forwards on the active roster, suggesting they might play with an extra defenseman against the Habs and double-shift a center or other forwards. More roster moves are expected to come prior to the Caps’ game in Boston on Saturday.

#Caps recall of defenseman Tyler Lewington is salary cap related; with Fs Nic Dowd and Carl Hagelin ailing, they'll run with seven D-men and 11 forwards tonight. After tonight's game, Caps will regroup and more moves ahead of Saturday's game in Boston are likely.

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) November 15, 2019

The 24-year-old Lewington has appeared in five games with the Capitals and in one game in Hershey this season. The Capitals put Lewington on waivers on Sunday and later optioned him down to Hershey on Monday after Richard Panik returned from longterm injured reserve.

The roster move seems to be salary cap related as well.

Lewington's cap hit is $675K, which is the lowest on the team.

Team is against the cap right now with Dowd and Hagelin unavailable with injuries that aren't long-term.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 15, 2019

I wonder if the Capitals will send Samsonov down for the day tomorrow after he plays tonight and call up Vanecek to back up in Boston.

Would be a difference of about $200K in cap hit.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 15, 2019

The lines for Friday night’s game are sure to be very interesting.

More from the Caps:

The Washington Capitals have recalled defenseman Tyler Lewington from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

Lewington, 24, has appeared in five games with the Capitals and in one game in Hershey this season.

In seven career games with the Capitals, Lewington has two points (1g, 1a) and 24 penalty minutes. The Edmonton, Alb., native made his NHL debut on Dec. 22, 2018, against the Ottawa Senators. On Dec. 29, 2018, against Ottawa, Lewington recorded his first career point, an assist, his first career goal and was charged with a fighting major. It marked the first Capitals Gordie Howe hat trick in seven years (Troy Brouwer, Dec. 7, 2011 at Ottawa) and the first time a Washington defenseman recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick in the regular season since Kevin Hatcher (Feb. 10, 1991 versus Philadelphia).

The 6’2”, 200-pound defenseman recorded 15 points (3g, 12a) in 65 games with Hershey in 2018-19 and logged 121 penalty minutes, which led the team and ranked tied for ninth in the AHL. In 241 career AHL games, Lewington has recorded 49 points (12g, 37a), 501 penalty minutes and has posted a +29 plus/minus rating.

Lewington was drafted by the Capitals in the seventh round, 204th overall, in the 2013 NHL Draft after spending four seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

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