The Washington Capitals saw a whole host of injured players take the ice on Monday to get some work in as they try to make their returns to game action. One name that was notably absent was defenseman Martin Fehervary.
Fehervary was injured in Friday’s victory over the New Jersey Devils and did not play on Saturday against the New York Islanders. The Capitals placed Fehervary on injured reserve on Saturday with a lower-body injury and recalled veteran blueliner Dylan McIlrath to fill his roster spot.
Head coach Spencer Carbery was asked to give an update on the young defender after Monday’s skate. Fehervary had been skating on the team’s top pair next to John Carlson.
“For sure he’s out tomorrow and we’ll see for the Columbus game on Saturday,” Carbery said. “We’ve got a unique schedule again as we go through this. I think there are two games in eight or nine days. So, we’ll see for that one. That would probably be questionable but we’ll find out more in the coming days.”
Fehervary took his last shift against the Devils 11:21 into the second period and it lasted just over a minute (1:04) before he left for the visiting locker room. The 24-year-old rearguard seemed to injure his right foot trying to defend a net front chance from Dawson Mercer.
#ALLCAPS Okay i dont know if there's already the video of what happened to ferhervary that i just missed, but i looked to see what happened and this was what i found pic.twitter.com/zHhDpmosBQ
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 11, 2023
“It’s not ideal, so we’ll reevaluate,” Carbery said postgame. “We’ve got some issues on the backend.”
Fehervary being placed on IR means he’s not eligible to return until a week from when he suffered the injury. The first possible game he’d be eligible is that November 18 matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
As things stand, the Capitals are without three defenders that were expected to be in the team’s top six group to start the year. Unlike Fehervary, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Joel Edmundson did practice on Monday albeit in non-contact jerseys.
The Capitals’ current active roster boasts seven names on the backend. Younger names like Alex Alexeyev, Lucas Johansen, and Hardy Haman Aktell have received bigger roles in the injured players’ absences.
Star defender John Carlson has also seen a ton of minutes as the Capitals try to get some of their more experienced names back on the ice.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
