Veteran forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson are still seeking to make their season debuts after undergoing respective major surgeries over the offseason. Both players have been highly involved in recent team practices and were again skating at Wednesday’s optional practice.
Caps head coach Peter Laviolette says that both of the stars are close to returning but they will not be traveling with the team to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
“I think they’re pretty close together. They’re close (to returning) and they’re close together,” Laviolette told NBC Sports Washington’s Matt Weyrich.
Backstrom returned to the ice Monday after having to miss a few days out on COVID protocol. Wilson has been a constant at practice since before the holiday break.
“They’re working,” Laviolette said of his two injured stars on Tuesday. “They look good to me. They’re really skating hard and working hard out here and so they’re moving in the right direction, trending in the right direction.”
In 47 games last season, Backstrom recorded 31 points (6g, 25a).
Before unfortunately crashing out of the playoffs with his knee injury, Wilson had a career-best year. The burly winger put up 52 points (24g, 28a) in 78 games and was named to his first all-star appearance for his efforts.
Both players have shared some practice ice time with Caps captain Alex Ovechkin during top-six line work in recent weeks. Ovechkin has jumped between centers Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dylan Strome all season. Backstrom’s return would add another center to that mix although Strome has also been getting in some recent work on the wing.
The team also just got TJ Oshie back from his upper-body injury in their last game against the Buffalo Sabres.
As the Caps seem to get progressively healthier, they’ll do so after a fantastic December that saw them go 11-2-2 and vault firmly back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Laviolette will be forced to reconfigure his lineup with some of these big pieces returning all at the same time while his team is still hot. That’s something that he spoke about a little after Wednesday’s practice.
“Obviously we want to keep moving forward with what we’re doing as a team,” Laviolette said. “But, you’re also talking a couple of big pieces on our team as well.
“Nick was the leading scorer of this team two years ago and he was dealing with some things from a physical standpoint that were probably not as good as he is right now,” he continued. “He looks good, he feels good. I would imagine it’s probably going to take a little bit of time to get back in there and get back up to game speed and game shape. But, these are two big pieces of our organization. Tom – his years just keep getting better and better moving into the prime of his career. We’re excited to get these guys back.”
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
