Sonny Milano participated in his first skate with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday wearing a regular practice jersey for the first time in almost four months. The 28-year-old winger has not played since November 6 against the Nashville Predators and was placed on long-term injured reserve due to an upper-body injury on November 20.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery admitted Milano has progressed toward a return to the team’s lineup but also stated that he still has no conclusive information on when exactly that might occur.
“Yeah, step forward for Sonny, so he’ll start to resume practicing in a non-contact,” Carbery said Wednesday. “This is just arguably the final step, or one of the final steps, towards him being able to play. So it’s a positive day. But still no definitive timeline.”
Milano has ramped up his participation in practices since early January after spending weeks skating on his own with skills coach Kenny McCudden. He has gotten into just three games this year after posting 23 points (15g, 8a) in 49 games last season.
Since Milano has already missed more than 10 games and 24 days, he is eligible to come off of LTIR as soon as Washington believes he is cleared for a return to active duty. Milano’s main competition for a lineup spot likely comes in Ethen Frank, who has five points (4g, 1a) in 17 games since being recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears last month.
Washington currently has a full 23-man roster, meaning they’ll need to create an open spot for Milano once he is activated. Jakub Vrana, Dylan McIlrath, and Alex Alexeyev have all served as regular healthy scratches during the season.
Milano will end the season with one year remaining at a $1.9 million cap hit on the three-year extension he signed with the Capitals in February 2023.
