ARLINGTON, VA — When Vincent Iorio plays his next game for the Washington Capitals, he’ll do so with a new number and perhaps with even more respect from his teammates.

Iorio changed his number from 6 to 2 over the summer. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native made the change after the Capitals acquired rugged defenseman Joel Edmundson from the Montreal Canadiens for two draft picks.

Edmundson wore number 44 with the Habs, but preferred his old number 6 that he wore during previous stops with the St. Louis Blues (2015-2019) and Carolina Hurricanes (2019-2020). So Iorio, who made his NHL debut while wearing 6, showed respect to the veteran player and gave it up to be a good teammate.

Iorio walked around with his new number 2 at the 2023 NHLPA Rookie Showcase held at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, taking photos for what will eventually be his NHL rookie card for Upper Deck. The number 2 will be the third different number Iorio has had with the Capitals since being drafted in the 2021 NHL Draft.

“I had 38 my first year and 6 last year,” Iorio said. “And then Joel Edmundson, I’m not going to… he’s played 800 games. He’s a hell of a hockey player. And I like number 2. Yeah, I’m happy with 2.”

Iorio gave the Capitals two different options, but his first choice wasn’t available.

“I asked for either 14 or 2,” Iorio said. “I’ve worn 14 pretty much my whole life. For whatever the reason I wasn’t able to get it. So I’m still very happy with 2.”

According to the Capitals’ roster on the NHL’s media site, the number 14 is currently assigned to forward prospect Alexander Suzdalev, who could end up joining Iorio in Hershey this season. So Iorio, perhaps, still has time to work out a deal.

The last player to wear the number 2 in Washington was puck-moving defenseman Justin Schultz, who signed with the Seattle Kraken as an unrestricted free agent in 2022. While wearing 2, Matt Niskanen famously helped the Capitals win their first Stanley Cup in 2018. Brian Pothier, Ken Klee, Jim Johnson, Joel Quenneville, and Ken Sabourin all wore 2 during their time in DC.

Per Hockey Reference, Iorio will be the 19th player in Capitals history to wear number 2. The rest of the players are below:

Doug Mohns 1975
Jack Lynch 1976-1979
Pat Ribble 1980-1982
Greg Theberge 1980-1984
Tony Camazzola 1982
Doug Hicks 1982-1983
Mike McEwen 1985
Dwight Schofield 1986
Garry Galley 1987-1988
Bill Houlder 1990
Joel Quenneville 1991
Ken Sabourin 1992
Jim Johnson 1994
Ken Klee 1995-2003
Josef Boumedienne 2004
Brian Pothier 2007-2010
Matt Niskanen 2015-2019
Justin Schultz 2021-2022

Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB