Carl Hagelin hasn’t played in a game or practiced with the Capitals since suffering a severe injury to his left eye on March 1. A friendly fire high stick from a teammate caused the Swedish forward to have two surgeries. “And then we’ll see what happens after that,” Brian MacLellan said a little over a month ago.
“[W]e’re hopeful that everything – with regard to his vision and the rest of his life and the game of life, that’s the most important thing,” Peter Laviolette added. “Such a great person in our room and a great player, we certainly miss him. But that’s kind of secondary right now to what he’s dealing with and so hopefully things stay positive. There’s been some good signs and some good news in there but he still has more work to do with regard to the eye.”
Monday, the Swedish forward returned to the ice for what may very well be the first time since getting injured. Hagelin joined his teammates for the Capitals’ 2021-22 team photo.
His flow remains as good as ever.
It’s so good to see him out and about, right?
From the only straight-on photo provided by the Capitals, Hagelin’s left eye appeared to be less open than his right likely due to the physical trauma it’s undergone the last two months. In another photo, Hagelin is seen laughing with Tom Wilson.
Hagelin has tried to stay close to the team despite his career-threatening injury. The 12-year veteran was previously spotted on the bench for Nicklas Backstrom’s pregame ceremony for hitting 1,000 points on March 26 and attended a Washington Wizards game with Tom Wilson and Trevor van Riemsdyk on March 29.
A look at Hagelin pic.twitter.com/ru2G6tQ3UD
— JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) April 25, 2022
Other notable moments from the team photo include Alex Ovechkin participating. The Capitals captain suffered an upper-body injury late against the Leafs. Monday morning the Capitals announced that Ovi was out day-to-day. Ovechkin was captured by NBC Washington cameras helping owner Ted Leonsis across the ice so that he could participate.
#Caps captain Alex Ovechkin all smiles at today's team picture despite his upper body injury and day-to-day status after crashing into the boards last night.
Ovi even lends an assist to team owner @TedLeonsis as he helps him on the ice for the pic.@nbcwashington #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/PfMmZU7Qnd
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) April 25, 2022
There was also the typical silliness as the 30+ lorge hockey boys sat closely beside each other. Nic Dowd was caught trying to mess up Trevor van Riemsdyk’s hair as they waited to say cheese.
#Caps picture day fun including:
-Axel Jonsson-Fjällby's hair
-Nic Dowd messing with TVR's hairIn non-hair fun:
-Irwin introduces himself to Dick Patrick ("I'm Matt")
-Mantha claims @SergeyKocharov is on a fake phone call to get away from @tom_wilso#ALLCAPS@nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/50F5WgH9Pk
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) April 25, 2022
The Capitals did not practice after the skate. They will get on the ice again Tuesday for the team’s morning skate ahead of taking on the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
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