ARLINGTON, VA — The Washington Capitals lead the Eastern Conference nearly two-thirds of the way through the season, but several of their players have watched most of the year from the press box. Dylan McIlrath and Alex Alexyev have not played since early November (excluding a December 23 game where the Capitals played seven defensemen and McIlrath got just 1:45 of ice time), while Jakub Vrana last hit the ice on January 6 in Buffalo.
With just two games remaining before a 12-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters Wednesday that he wanted the trio to get a chance at some in-game action down the road.
“It’s not easy decisions every game, and we’d love to get them in and have them play in games, but just unfortunately, that’s the way it’s played out with a bunch of different circumstances and it hasn’t materialized,” Carbery said.
A confluence of factors have contributed to the team’s relatively stable lineup. The Capitals’ defense corps has remained largely healthy this year, losing just 15 man games to injury, while strong play by rookie Ethen Frank has pushed Vrana out of the lineup.
“There has been (a desire to play them), it’s just been really difficult,” Carbery said. “Knock on wood, with our lack of injuries and the success that we’ve been having, and Franky coming in and playing so well, I don’t like that these guys have sat for as long as they have, but we just haven’t had a situation (to put them in games).”
With the Capitals nine points ahead of the second-place Carolina Hurricanes for the Eastern-Conference lead, switching fresh players into the lineup could help rest several of the Caps’ veterans in the final few months of the regular season, but Carbery hasn’t seen a need to do so just yet.
He pointed to 35-year-old John Carlson as an example — Carlson leads the Caps in ice time by more than 200 minutes and his average TOI of 23:49 ranks 20th league-wide, but Carbery has remained confident playing him every game.
“Even though as a coach sometimes you’re managing minutes and workload, we still haven’t even got to that point where we feel it’s important to hold John Carlson — I’m just throwing an example out, right — to give him a rest, and no one performance-wise deserves to come out of the lineup,” he said.
As the season goes on, Carbery recognizes the toll sitting out of games takes on his players — the Capitals sent down both Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre in part to get them game time in Hershey rather than healthy-scratching them in DC. He highlighted how well Vrana, McIlrath, and Alexeyev had all handled the season as they’ve watched their teammates succeed from afar.
“You’re trying to be as positive as you possibly can in a tough situation, because they all want to be playing in games,” he said. “Sitting’s okay for 1, 2, 3 (games), when it gets to this length, it gets mentally, really, really — it’s a battle every day to show up and know that you’re probably not going in the lineup. They’ve been great, though. These are pros. I could go on at length about Alexander Alexeyev, Dylan McIlrath, Jakub Vrana, and the work they put in on a daily basis to stay prepared.”
Carbery didn’t tip his hand as to when he planned to put the trio back in the lineup, but he knows the moment could come at any time, something the Caps saw firsthand last spring. A slew of injuries had decimated the team’s defense corps by the time they faced the New York Rangers in the playoffs — of the 11 defensemen signed to NHL contracts with the Capitals, 9 played at least one game in that series.
Washington’s healthy scratches may have had light duties thus far, but Carbery wants them to be ready to seize the opportunity once it finally arrives.
“The most hopeful thing I can tell them is, ‘You remember last year, Game 1 in Madison Square Garden? Dylan McIlrath was playing in that hockey game, Vinny Iorio was already playing in that hockey game.’ Hopefully they’re in before that, but that’s just staying ready and being ready for the moment whenever that comes.
“Whether it’s Game 1 in Madison Square Garden or Game 54 against Utah Hockey Club, just trying to do everything you can to stay ready for when your number’s called and take advantage of it.”
