The Washington Capitals took the ice for practice on Saturday morning and continued the revolving door of players returning from injury and others going out with injury that has so plagued the team this season.
The one return that seems close comes in the form of winger Sonny Milano. Milano donned a regular, full-contact jersey at practice for the first time since leaving the lineup a week ago.
The Washington Post’s Roman Stubbs reports that Milano will be a game-time decision against the New York Rangers on Sunday.
After not being signed by an NHL team during the offseason, Milano earned a spot with the Capitals after impressing in Hershey. He’s become a regular in the lineup and has posted 32 points (11g, 21a) in 58 games.
Those 32 points rank seventh on the team this season.
saturday scenes pic.twitter.com/AoPt1iDdCu
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 1, 2023
Before Milano ever took the ice on Saturday, the Caps announced that defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk would replace him on the injury list with an upper-body injury. TVR is expected to be out for at least a week which is the same recovery timeframe the Caps gave Milano.
Veteran forward TJ Oshie, who left Thursday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning with his own upper-body injury, and backup netminder Charlie Lindgren joined TVR as absent at the skate.
Stubbs added that Oshie is still day-to-day and Lindgren is out with an illness.
With the absences of Oshie and TVR, the Caps have no more margin for error on their roster. They have just 12 healthy forwards and six healthy defensemen. They also have just $77,950 in cap space so it’s likely additional moves will need to be made if a callup is required.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
