The Washington Capitals made another four cuts to their training camp roster on Wednesday afternoon.
Bogdan Trineyev, Henrik Rybinski, Graeme Clarke, and Louie Belpedio were all placed on waivers with the intention of heading to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. The four skaters are among a large group of 38 players waived by their respective teams on Wednesday.
If all four go unclaimed by the other 31 NHL teams over the next 24 hours, they’ll be assigned to the AHL. The Bears got their first training camp under new head coach Derek King underway on Sunday, and play their first preseason game on Wednesday night.
Trineyev, 23, signed a one-year extension with the Capitals this past April and is scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 campaign. The Russian winger had a career-best season in Hershey last year, recording 22 points (14g, 8a) in 62 games. He also posted seven points (5g, 2a) in eight playoff games.
The Capitals selected Trineyev, a 2024 Calder Cup champion, with a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He played in three preseason games for the Caps this fall, scoring one goal, firing five shots, and throwing six hits.
Rybinski, 24, was also extended one year by the Capitals over the offseason, but unlike Trineyev is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. The Vancouver native, also a 2024 Calder Cup champion, hit the 30-point threshold as a pro for the first time last season, notching 35 points (10g, 25a) in 60 games for the Bears.
The Capitals signed Rybinski, a Florida Panthers 2019 fifth-round pick, to an entry-level contract in March of 2022. He featured in two preseason games in September, averaging 14:07 of ice time.
Clarke, 24, and Belpedio, 29, were both signed to NHL deals by the Capitals over the summer. Both players are set to begin their first years in the team’s organization, with Clarke most recently playing for the Iowa Wild and Belpedio most recently playing for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Capitals also loaned prospect goaltender Garin Bjorklund to the Bears earlier on Wednesday. The club will have to make further decisions regarding waivers in the coming days as they continue to trim their roster down to a final 23 players by October 6.
