The Washington Capitals will be without veteran center Evgeny Kuznetsov for an indefinite amount of time after he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Monday. His absence to get the help he needs will leave a hole on the Capitals roster that will be tough to fill.
Outside of Alex Ovechkin, there is no other forward on the team that plays on average more ice time per game this season than Kuznetsov (18:47). The 31-year-old Russian plays at all strengths and normally locks down one of the top-six center spots at five-on-five.
At Monday’s practice and Tuesday’s morning skate, we got our first look at what the Capitals’ lineup could look like without Kuznetsov. Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir provided his best guess at what head coach Spencer Carbery has put together before Tuesday night’s matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.
The #ALLCAPS did not run lines this a.m. but based on yesterday’s practice, here’s how things *could* look vs. MTL:
Pacioretty-McMichael-Oshie
Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson
Mantha-Sgarbossa-Protas
Malenstyn-Dowd-NAKFehervary-Carlson
Sandin-TVR
Edmundson-JensenLindgren
Kuemper— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 6, 2024
Connor McMichael, who has spent some time in the top six this season as both a wing and a center, will look to solidify that role now down the middle on the team’s top line. After an impressive start to the season, McMichael has gone ice cold, producing just two points (1g, 1a) in his last 19 games.
Carbery spoke about what the young forward will now be expected to do as his ice time and responsibility level increases with Kuznetsov out.
“It’s more of an extended role,” Carbery said. “He’ll probably be penalty-killing more. His game has been solid all year. It was better early on, like really good, really good. Now, it’s just been solid which is, for a young player, nothing wrong with that. The challenge for him now in the NHL playing his first full season is to push the envelope. Let’s get our game back to that level. That’s his challenge coming off the break – refreshed, reenergized, and to really push these last 37 games.”
The other three lines forward lines are very familiar as Carbery has stuck with the Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson connection that has worked very well at times this season, the well-worn Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha winger duo, and his typical checking fourth line.
The only new face there is recent recall from the Hershey Bears, Mike Sgarbossa. Sgarbossa is Hershey’s leading scorer with 43 points (7g, 36a) in 44 games. He leads the entire AHL in assists.
Carbery spoke about why the decision was made to bring him up for this run instead of someone like Hendrix Lapierre who has already played in close to 30 NHL games this year.
“[Sgarbossa has] earned that opportunity,” Carbery said. “Lappy has done a lot of good things, got a good taste, played in some meaningful games, and done a good job. The organization’s decision to bring Sgarbossa into this portion of the schedule – a veteran player that has played a lot in the NHL. Not that Lappy couldn’t excel in that role as well. I just think in this situation, letting Lappy continue to play big minutes in a large role in the AHL was the best decision for our team at this point.”
The other lineup indications from Tuesday morning included the players present at the scratches skate post-practice. Ethan Bear, Matthew Phillips, Alex Alexeyev, and Sonny Milano all got in some extra work.
Milano is still on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and only just got out of his non-contact sweater. This will be Bear’s third healthy scratch in the team’s last four games while Alexeyev will sit out his fourth straight and Phillips hasn’t played since January 3.
Charlie Lindgren was the first netminder off of the ice at the skate as he prepares to make his 21st start of the 2023-24 campaign. After a red-hot November and December, Lindgren cooled off in January, winning just two of his six appearances while posting a .884 save percentage.
The start against the Habs will be Lindgren’s seventh in the team’s last nine outings. Despite his rough January, Lindgren still has the sixth-best save percentage in the league (.916) and the 10th-lowest, goals-against average (2.59) among all goaltenders with at least 20 appearances. According to Money Puck, Lindgren ranks ninth in the NHL in goals saved above expected (10.1), sitting 48 spots ahead of Kuemper (-1.1).
The Canadiens are one of just four teams that currently sit below the Capitals in the Eastern Conference standings. They were losers of four of their last five coming into the break and will play the Capitals twice in the span of 12 days.
