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Trevor van Riemsdyk leaves Capitals-Sabres preseason game after taking slap shot to the hand

By Chris Cerullo

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September 24, 2023 4:43 pm

The Washington Capitals went down a defenseman due to injury late in their first preseason game.

Trevor van Riemsdyk, who was one of the team’s alternate captains for the afternoon matchup with the Buffalo Sabres, took a slap shot to his right hand and left for the locker room during the third period.

The veteran defenseman was clearly nursing his right arm and hand, keeping it close to his body when Sabres forward Zach Benson deflected home a point drive to make the game 3-2 in favor of Buffalo.

TVR was noticeably in pain after blocking the shot, not putting two hands back on his stick for the duration of his shift. He would immediately leave the ice and go down the locker room tunnel.

“He’s not putting that right wrist down,” Capitals radio voice John Walton said on commentary. “He’s not putting that hand on his stick. That’s not a good sign.”

In a 2022-23 season marred by injury, van Riemsdyk was one of the Capitals most consistently available players. TVR got into 75 total games which was fifth most on the team and among defensemen only trailed Nick Jensen (77).

The bulk of the seven games that TVR missed came at the very tail end of the year, where he didn’t play in a single one of the team’s six April games due to an upper-body injury. Before leaving the lineup, he had already set a new career-high in both goals (7) and total points (23).

TVR’s consistency helped earn him a three-year extension worth $3 million per season last March. At the start of this year’s training camp, new head coach Spencer Carbery has had the dependable blueliner skating with former Carolina Hurricanes partner Joel Edmundson.

TVR did not return for the rest of regulation nor overtime and finished the day skating 18:30 of ice time and tallying an assist on Ryan Hofer’s second-period goal.

Update (5:20 pm): Head coach Spencer Carbery says TVR will be reevaluated tomorrow, a scheduled team day off.

Screenshot via Monumental Sports Network

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