The Washington Capitals placed forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel on waivers Friday as part of the trimming of their Training Camp roster to 27 players. NAK was one of six names waived for the purposes of being sent to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that Aube-Kubel along with Joe Snively, Hunter Shepard, Dylan McIlrath, Alex Limoges, and Michael Sgarbossa all cleared waivers.

Everyone else cleared

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 7, 2023

This is Aube-Kubel’s third-straight season that he has been waived. The Caps plucked him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs last year and after he chipped in 12 points (4g, 8a) in 47 games, signed him to a one-year $1.225 million extension.

The Capitals will now bury $1.15 million of Aube-Kubel’s contract in the minors, meaning just $75,000 will continue to count against the salary cap.

The competition for bottom-six roles in Training Camp has been a heated one and names like Aliaksei Protas, Matthew Phillips, and Beck Malenstyn appear to be the victors.

Head coach Spencer Carbery shed some insight on Wednesday about why NAK may have been unable to claim a spot of his own. ““And all it is for him…is just consistency,” Carbery said. “Consistency. Can you do it on a shift by shift basis for one game, two games, three games, four games, and then string that together and not have the dips, whether it’s a shift, whether it’s a penalty, whatever it is, being consistent?”

The Caps also announced on Saturday that goaltender Mitchell Gibson will join NAK and co. with the Bears. Hershey has already kicked off their Training Camp and played two preseason games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

#Caps loan Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Joe Snively, Michael Sgarbossa, Alex Limoges, Dylan McIlrath, Hunter Shepard and Mitchell Gibson to the Hershey Bears (AHL).

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 7, 2023

Excluding the long-term injured Max Pacioretty, 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and two goaltenders remain at Training Camp. The team has until Monday to trim their roster to a maximum of 23 players (not including those placed on LTIR) before Opening Night.

Carbery will get one more good look at his roster on Saturday night as the Caps wrap up their preseason against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB