Informal practices at MedStar Capitals Iceplex are continuing to ramp up as we approach the start of NHL training camps and the preseason. A small group of Washington Capitals, including John Carlson, Alex Alexeyev, Matt Roy, and Logan Thompson have been getting some offseason work in over the past few weeks at the team’s practice facility.
The group increased in size on Tuesday morning as the current Capitals were joined by several of their former teammates who have been moved on to new teams this summer. Per Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir, Anthony Mantha, Nick Jensen, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel were all present on the ice for the light drills donning their new teams’ colors and gear.
Mantha signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Calgary Flames on the first day of free agency in July after he spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights. The 29-year-old winger bounced back last year to score 20 goals in a season for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign when he was a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
Washington used that newfound scoring confidence to net two draft picks from the Golden Knights in early March. Mantha would chip in 10 points (3g, 7a) in 18 regular season games for Vegas, but then went scoreless in three postseason games. He was healthy scratched by Golden Knights bench boss Bruce Cassidy for the last four games of their first-round series against the Dallas Stars.
Jensen was dealt to the Ottawa Senators on July 1 in a trade that saw Jakob Chychrun go the other way to the Capitals. The 33-year-old, right-handed rearguard recorded 14 points (1g, 13a) in 78 games for Washington last year and skated on average the third most minutes per game (19:38) on the team.
The Minnesota native has two years remaining at a $4.05 million cap hit on the three-year extension he signed with the Capitals in February of 2023.
Aube-Kubel signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres where he will join up with former, fourth-line linemate Beck Malenstyn. In 60 games with the Capitals last season, Aube-Kubel recorded 16 points (6g, 10a).
The Sabres will be Aube-Kubel’s fifth team in four years, following stints with the Philadelphia Flyers, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Capitals. He won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.
All three players are likely still in the area due to still having their primary living arrangements in the area. Jensen is also hosting a charity golf tournament at the Army Navy Country Club in Virginia on August 19.
El-Bashir adds that the group was also joined by an assortment of local college and junior players. The exact dates for the Capitals’ 2024 Training Camp have yet to be revealed. Last year’s camp began on September 20.
