The Washington Capitals made a significant amount of Training Camp cuts on Sunday. Their preseason roster is now down to 33 players after 15 names were sent back to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
That big round of cuts has allowed Spencer Carbery to get his potential NHL lines and defense pairings on the same practice rink for the first time as head coach of the Caps on Monday.
The biggest news from those combinations is that Matthew Phillips has shot up the lineup and is now skating on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
Here is how the full group of lines and pairings shook out:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Phillips
McMichael-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Milano/Mantha-Strome-Oshie
NAK/Malenstyn-Dowd-Protas
Sandin-Carlson
Haman Aktell-TVR
Fehervary-Alexeyev
Johansen-Jensen
Phillips gets the promotion of all promotions after notching a goal and an assist against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. The speedy winger was the team’s most effective skater on the night, right after Carbery had labeled the matchup “really, really important” for forwards like him that are trying to battle for NHL roster spots.
“Really cool, obviously those are two legends,” Phillips said Monday. “Just trying to keep up and do my thing.”
In that game in Detroit, Phillips skated on a line with Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano. Carbery has spoken previously about wanting to see if Phillips could excel in a bottom-six role and given that Strome and Milano are still paired together on the team’s third line, that game could have been Phillips’ audition there.
“I think I’m a pretty responsible player,” Phillips said. “I take a lot of pride on both sides of the puck and that’s something I’ve learned a lot since I turned pro. How to be good on both sides and use my quickness. I feel like I can still provide help for the team whether it’s offense or being on top of pucks and getting them back in the zone.”
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2023-09-30:#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/lV8dflDQTg
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 1, 2023
Outside of Phillips jumping up, Connor McMichael is sticking with the second line that he skated with in the Caps’ last preseason home game. McMichael was impressive in that showing as he skated at all three strengths and looks primed for his full-time jump to the NHL.
The team’s fourth line has seen Aliaksei Protas moved back into the fray after the big Belorussian spent a few practices on the outside looking in. Beck Malenstyn got into his first preseason game against Detroit and is now seemingly in a battle with Nicolas Aube-Kubel for a spot on the team’s checking line.
On defense, Nick Jensen was back on the ice after he had missed three prior skates due to personal reasons and Hardy Haman Aktell looks to have taken the lead in the race for who will be chosen to replace injured defender Joel Edmundson on Opening Night.
Alex Alexeyev, also a contender in that race, has switched to the right-side of the lineup which is notable as Carbery recently said he doesn’t really like playing defenders on their off-hand side.
Names like Hendrix Lapierre, Alex Limoges, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Michael Sgarbossa, Joe Snively, Vincent Iorio, Dylan McIlrath, Hunter Shepard, and Clay Stevenson have all been placed in a smaller, separate practice group. That group is likely headed to Hershey’s camp in the next round of cuts.
The #Caps are down to two groups after a big round of cuts yesterday. pic.twitter.com/XsecW7ECEZ
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 2, 2023
The Caps’ next preseason game is on the road in Boston on Tuesday.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
