The Washington Capitals will come out of the NHL trade deadline minus three players. The team has already seen a an influx of youth come into their lineup this season and now even more will get opportunity and ice time.
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan has been open about his desire to move the team in a younger direction. There’s been no 2023-24 Capitals player younger than Ivan Miroshnichenko who made his NHL debut earlier this season as a teenager.
Miroshnichenko was returned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears after that initial stint with the big club but is back with the team now and scored his first NHL goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. MacLellan was asked in his post-deadline media availability if the plan is for the young Russian to stick in the big leagues for the rest of the year.
“That’s premature,” MacLellan said. “I would anticipate he gets some games and he’ll be back and forth over the rest of the year.”
The Capitals made sure on paper to return Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, and Hunter Shepard to Hershey before the deadline so that they’ll be eligible to play in this year’s AHL Calder Cup playoffs. All three were then immediately summoned back to the NHL just minutes after the deadline passed.
Miroshnichenko has recorded 25 points (9g, 16a) in 47 games for the dominant Bears in his first North American pro season. Hershey is 41-10-4 this season and 12 points ahead of the next-best team in the entire league. That sort of performance has drawn wandering eyes from DC directed at more names than just Miroshnichenko’s.
“Depending on what happens with our roster and injuries, there’s a few guys down there that have had success that we might be able to get in for a few games,” MacLellan said. “[Ethen Frank] is one of them. He just came back [from injury].”
Frank was out of Hershey’s lineup for about a month due to injury but recently returned to practice and could feature in a game as soon as Friday night in Charlotte. The two-time AHL All-Star has 35 points (21g, 14a) in 47 games this season and is a restricted free agent in the summer so it would be a good idea for the Capitals to get a good look at him before their season ends.
MacLellan was also asked about another AHL All-Star in rookie goaltender Clay Stevenson. Stevenson leads the AHL in goals-against average (1.82), save percentage (.932), and shutouts (7).
“He’s had a great year,” MacLellan said. “I’m excited about what he’s going to be and his trajectory.”
As things currently stand, the Capitals could have up to three open roster spots as soon as Darcy Kuemper recovers from his illness and Shepard is moved back down. While those three slots will eventually be taken up by the returns of Nic Dowd, TJ Oshie, and Martin Fehervary, the Capitals could use them to get a look at guys like Frank in the meantime.
Miroshnichenko can also be freely returned to Hershey without the risk of waivers. The only thing the team needs to be concerned with is that they’re limited to just four non-emergency recalls from the AHL for the rest of the season.
