There was good and bad news today for Nicklas Backstrom.
The bad news is that the Swedish center was placed on long-term injured reserve by the Capitals and will miss the first 10 games of the 2021-22 regular season… at the least.
The good news, however, was really, really encouraging. Backstrom took the ice today for the first time this preseason.
Nicklas Backstrom, who was placed on LTI earlier today, is skating and shooting (lightly) under the watchful eye of head athletic trainer Jason Serbus. Coach Peter Laviolette said yesterday that Backstrom was progressing. #Caps pic.twitter.com/QdMXiwefCb
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 12, 2021
He also got some encouragement from longtime teammate, TJ Oshie, from the bench.
T.J. Oshie just came to the bench and let out a “woooooo!” as Backstrom took a shot. #Caps https://t.co/Z0635f3ctM
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 12, 2021
“There’s a process that you go through,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “You start to see guys on the ice. He was week-to-week, we’re pushing towards the end of what we said and I think we’re still evaluating him to see where he’s at. He is improving.”
In Backstrom’s absence, the Capitals promoted Lars Eller into a top-six role and it appears rookie Hendrix Lapierre will center the third line in his first NHL game.
Wednesday, the Caps officially open their season against the New York Rangers at home.
Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB
