The Washington Capitals got back on the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Tuesday after a day off following their shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. While the team’s continued youth movement was the big story at the skate, one of the club’s key veterans joined his teammates in a regular practice jersey for the first time this season.
Max Pacioretty was a full participant, shedding the light blue, non-contact jersey that he had been previously wearing. The 35-year-old winger is trying to make his way back into an NHL lineup for his Capitals debut after tearing the same Achilles tendon twice in the span of just five months.
Pacioretty has been involved in drills and practicing with the Capitals since early last week. The six-time, 30-goal scorer traveled with the team on their most recent, three-game road trip to Philadelphia, Nashville, and Raleigh but, as previously planned, did not feature in any of the three games.
Head coach Spencer Carbery’ timeline for Pacioretty would indicate that he is still about one or two weeks away from jumping back into game action. Carbery said last week that he does not expect to see Patches in the team’s lineup before the Christmas holiday.
“We’re starting to think about him lineup wise, lines, some special teams stuff,” Carbery said then. “We’re watching him more closely in practice and in skills sessions. Still don’t have a definitive date but two-to-three weeks. We’re looking at the break coming up. We’ve got six games before the break, essentially 12 days. I would be surprised if it was before the Christmas break. There’s still quite a bit of runway there.”
If Carbery’s estimate is accurate, the soonest we could see Pacioretty would be against the New York Rangers on the road on December 27. Just a little over a week after that, the Capitals will host Pacioretty’s former Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on January 5.
“Yeah, I would say he’s getting real close,” Carbery said Tuesday. “Sometime after the break. Might be right after the break, but he’s getting real close.”
Pacioretty revealed in November that he had his own return date in mind, but declined to share that publicly.
“I do, personally,” he said. “Internally, I haven’t shared that with anyone other than my family. I’ve been through this before. It’s circled in pencil around a couple days where I want to be. Ultimately, that’s out of my control. I haven’t talked to the team about that but it’s something that would be pretty special to me.”
The Capitals signed Pacioretty to an incentive-laden, one-year contract this past summer. The veteran forward has the chance to earn an additional $2 million in performance bonuses if he plays in 20 games this season.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
