The Washington Capitals are a team in transition. In addition to adding seven established NHLers via free agency or trade over the summer, Washington expects a few roster spots open for the team’s prospects and other bubble players to vie for.
Most of those players are coming off helping the Hershey Bears take home a second consecutive Calder Cup championship and seeking their first real opportunities in the NHL. Capitals general manager Chris Patrick was asked on Thursday, the first day of 2024 Training Camp, to single out names he believes are competing for the prized final spots on his team’s roster this fall.
“I’m going to give you a long list which you probably won’t like,” Patrick said. “You look at the guys that played a key role on that team that were on NHL contracts with us last year and I think they’re all making a case for themselves. Obviously, Miro is a higher-end prospect for us; Pierrick Dubé had a great year.
“Even maybe not as noticeable but a guy like Bogdan Trineyev or Henrik Rybinski – those guys were key parts of their Cup run… Ethen Frank, as well. It’s a lot of guys – we want a lot of guys competing for a couple spots, and that’s, to me, a formula you can have success with.”
Ivan Miroshnichenko, the first forward Patrick listed, received the most extended look in the NHL last year of any of the names mentioned. The young Russian received a sweater for 22 games across the regular season and postseason, recording six points (2g, 4a) before being returned to Hershey. He then scored seven goals in 20 playoff games for the Bears.
While Miro has previously stated his own lofty goals for the 2024-25 campaign, scoring 20 NHL goals, the Capitals have preached caution regarding his development path. Head coach Spencer Carbery has previously stated he would like the top prospect to get the vital ice time he needs to turn into a star rather than languish on a fourth line or press box. Patrick echoed some of those same thoughts.
“I think [these few weeks are] important for everybody that’s not a returning veteran that knows where he’s going to be,” Patrick said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s high stakes [for Miro]. You look at Connor McMichael a couple of years ago, right? He won a spot out of camp and was playing and probably not playing to the level that he would like to play at. So we sent him to Hershey to get his legs under him a little bit, and he ended up having a really good year, and then last year, he was a big contributor on our team.
“I think, from Day 1, Miro looked great out there. I hope he keeps it up, but I don’t look at it as an all-or-nothing kinda thing.”
Patrick also mentioned Hershey’s two leading goal scorers last season, Pierrick Dubé and Ethen Frank. Frank led the Bears in goals for the second straight year with 29, and Dubé was right behind him with 28. Dubé received his NHL debut and played three games with the Capitals, but Frank is still waiting for his first chance at the highest level.
While those two players are more suited for scoring roles, Bogdan Trineyev and Henrik Rybinski excelled on Hershey’s fourth line down the stretch and could be deployed similarly by Washington. The Capitals saw Beck Malenstyn and Nicolas Aube-Kubel depart the team this offseason, both players who killed penalties and played on the club’s checking line with Nic Dowd.
Patrick’s comments on the 2023-24 Bears standouts come a handful of days after Todd Nelson, Hershey’s head coach, delivered his own thoughts on Hendrix Lapierre, Miroshnichenko, Frank, and defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell.
“There’s a lot of question marks going in,” Nelson said. “We’re just talking to the coaching staff and there’s some openings to see who’s going to fit in, in these certain spots.”
All five players mentioned by Patrick are already under contract for next season, but they will be involved in a battle with Jakub Vrana, who does not yet have a contract for this season. Vrana played five seasons in Washington, winning the 2018 Stanley Cup before being dealt to the Detroit Red Wings in 2021. The 28-year-old Czech is on a professional tryout agreement at this year’s camp after splitting time between the St. Louis Blues and Springfield Thunderbirds last year.
“What I saw [from Vrana] today was good,” Patrick said. “He was working hard. You can tell he’s taking this seriously. He doesn’t think anything is being handed to him and that was kind of the point. We want to have a competitive camp. We don’t want to just give away spots to guys, we want them to earn it. He’s in a group of several players that are in that position, fighting for one or two spots.”
Depending on how many defensemen the Capitals want to carry into the season, there could be just one spot available up front to vie for, assuming Lapierre makes the full-time leap he is expected to make. Washington will have six preseason games to sort everything out over the next two weeks.
