Bogdan Trineyev will never forget his night at Canada Life Centre on Saturday, even if the final score might make one grimace.
The 23-year-old forward prospect realized his childhood dream and made his NHL debut against the Winnipeg Jets, becoming just the 18th player from the 2020 NHL Draft selected in the fourth round or later (fourth-round pick, 117th overall) to play in an NHL game. Trineyev skated on the fourth line with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime and received 11:45 of ice time from Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery.
“I thought he was really good,” Carbery said postgame. “It’s hard, hard, hard to evaluate an individual in these games, but didn’t mind his game at all.”
Trineyev had one shot attempt, one individual scoring chance, one individual high-danger chance, and one shot block. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals led 15-8 in shot attempts, 9-4 in shots, 7-3 in scoring chances, and 2-0 in high-danger chances.
The Capitals’ rookie was one of a few net positive players on the night and never looked out of place on the fourth line. He was on the ice for two of the three Capitals’ five-on-five high-danger chances and none of the 17 the Jets had on the evening. Those numbers earned Trineyev the second-best game score on the team by night’s end.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2025-12-13
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Pregame, Trineyev also got special attention from the team — and some ribbing. As he approached the circle to participate in the team’s sewer ball game, the players gave him a loud ovation. Then they kicked him out of the game.
Later, as the team readied itself for warmups, the team screamed as Trineyev approached with his slicked-back hair.
“Oh my god,” Tom Wilson could be heard saying, stunned. “What a slick! Water or gel?”
Alex Ovechkin then gave his new no. 87-wearing teammate a nickname: “Bogdan Crosby!” The two Russians hugged.
Minutes later, the Capitals let the 2024 Calder Cup champion lead the team out onto the ice first, watching him take several bucketless laps around the ice before joining him for warmups.
All in all, minus the 5-1 score, it was a fairytale night for Trineyev.
