The Washington Capitals are getting their house in order to ice their most optimal lineup in Friday’s season-opening matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ahead of the NHL’s roster submittal deadline, GM Brian MacLellan made a series of paper moves to make the team salary cap compliant.
The majority of the moves are believed not be permanent and the Caps’ true, final roster will be announced on Wednesday at 9 am.
#Caps have made the following transactions. The team will make additional corresponding moves before announcing their Opening Night roster on Wednesday at 9 a.m. pic.twitter.com/T3Bmqmegx9
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 9, 2023
“We’ve got some things to work through salary cap wise and some roster movement,” head coach Spencer Carbery said Monday. “We’ll be able to sort of share [the final roster] after all of the things that we need to do on Wednesday.”
The first of the moves was the most expected one, placing free-agent acquisition Max Pacioretty on long-term injured reserve. The Caps signed the six-time 30-goal scorer to a one-year, $2 million deal that includes $2 million in achievable performance bonuses. His status on LTIR gives the team temporary cap relief.
Pacioretty is slated to miss the start of the season after tearing his Achilles tendon twice during his time with the Carolina Hurricanes. He initially tore his Achilles in his right leg in August 2022. Five months after he had surgery and rehabbed the injury, the left winger tore it again five games into his comeback with the Hurricanes during the 2022-23 season.
“I’m doing really well,” Pacioretty said of his injury in July. “I’m very comfortable with where I’m at right now. I don’t think I’ll be ready for the start of the season, but it shouldn’t be too long after when I’m expected to come back and play.”
Joel Edmundson was also placed on regular injured reserve after fracturing his hand during an early Training Camp, intrasquad scrimmage. The rugged rearguard was announced to be out for 4-6 weeks after a September 26 procedure to stabilize that hand. Many of these moves and juggling of players may be for the purpose of keeping him off of LTIR.
Edmundson has made his first steps toward a comeback in recent days, taking the ice before a Capitals practice in a light blue, non-contact jersey. His absence in the lineup has provided opportunity for fellow left-handed defenders Lucas Johansen, Alex Alexeyev, and Hardy Haman Aktell all to make the team on the blueline partially in his stead.
Haman Aktell joins Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael in demotions to Hershey as all three are waiver exempt. These players can move up and down the organization freely without risk of being claimed or lost to another team. It is unlikely that any of the three stay with the Bears in the coming days.
Riley Sutter being recalled is the last of the transactions. Sutter was initially waived by the team on October 1 and cleared waivers. Given that he hasn’t been on an NHL roster for 30 cumulative days since then, he can also be freely moved back and forth from Hershey without risk.
Sutter’s arrival is mysterious. The Bears don’t have their Opening Night until Saturday, the day after the Caps play the Pens, so he won’t miss any AHL games if his move to the NHL is just a paper one.
Update (4:20 pm): Thanks to X user @M_MiracleMan, who did all the heavy lifting on the following research, we now know what the cap situation looks like after all of these moves.
With Ivan Miroshnichenko and Sutter still on the roster, the Caps are able to maximize the LTIR space given to them by Pacioretty. They are now $13,333 under the cap. No other combination of players would get them any closer to the cap.
For example, Miroshnichenko plus Protas would actually make them go $834 over the cap.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
