Two groups of Washington Capitals players took the ice before the start of the final Rookie Camp skate on Monday. There was only one player still missing.
Nicklas Backstrom, who scuffled down the stretch last season, has not returned. The Swedish center is entering his 15th season in the NHL.
Capitals Training Camp begins later this week.
Training camp opens this week and the #Caps veterans are on the ice at MCI prior to rookie camp. I see everyone on the NHL roster but Nicklas Backstrom. pic.twitter.com/Ybs4LSUula
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 20, 2021
According to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, these are the 35 players that took the ice during the two sessions: one for veteran players and another for Hershey skaters.
Group 1 (Veterans)
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Tom Wilson Anthony Mantha
Lars Eller
TJ Oshie
Daniel Sprong
Connor Sheary
Garnet Hathaway
Nic Dowd
Carl Hagelin
Michael Sgarbossa
Defensemen
John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov
Justin Schultz
Michal Kempny
Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Matt Irwin
Dylan McIlrath
Cody Franson
Goaltenders
Ilya Samsonsov
Vitek Vanecek
Group 2 (Hershey skaters)
Forwards
Garret Pilon
Brian Pinho
Beck Malenstyn
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Joe Snively
Shane Gersich
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary
Alex Alexeyev
Lucas Johansen
Eddie Wittchow
Goaltenders
Pheonix Copley
Zach Fucale
Michal Kempny did some extra conditioning after the skates were over.
Kempny once again is staying on the ice long after everyone else exited. He's coming off Achilles and knee injuries.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 20, 2021
As for Backstrom, the longtime setup man of Alex Ovechkin is coming off a hip injury he suffered last season.
Despite a strong start where he led the team in goals during the first half of the season, Backstrom appeared to hit a wall at the very end of the year. He sat out the second-to-last game of the season due to what was termed a lower-body injury and was a nonfactor against the Bruins in the playoffs, tallying only one point, an assist, in five games.
After the Capitals’ season concluded, Backstrom turned down an opportunity to play for Team Sweden in the 2021 World Championship. Aftonbladet’s Per Bjurman reported that “Bäckström has a problem with his hip.”
“He has an injury which I think caught up with him at the end and made it worse,” Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said during a Breakdown Day interview. “He struggled to be at 100 percent. Nick had a great year. He led our team. He was top 20, 21 in scoring. Really happy with the year he had. Unfortunately, he got worn down at the end.
“We don’t know (if he’ll need surgery),” he added. “I think they’re going through it now with the trainers. They’re going to talk to some doctors and see what the plan is moving forward to manage it.”
Backstrom spoke on his injury with Gefle Dagblad over the summer.
“I had surgery on [my hip] six years ago and then it was fine,” Backstrom said. “Now, to be honest, it’s so-so.”
Backstrom underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his hip in June 2015. “I’ve been in pain since sometime in November (2014) so we had to fix it,” Backstrom said then.
According to El-Bashir, Backstrom “eased his way into camp” that year.
Backstrom, of course, was battling a nagging injury at the end of last season. Coming off a hip injury back in 2015, he eased his way into camp/season. We'll see what happens but I suspect this bears watching.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 20, 2021
It appears that may be what’s happening again and a storyline to watch heading into the 2021-22 season.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
