ARLINGTON, VA — Ivan Miroshnichenko will play his first Capitals game of the season on Saturday in a matinee matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. Miroshnichenko draws in for Bogdan Trineyev, who made his NHL debut in Winnipeg last week.
But while the Caps opted to send Trineyev back to the Hershey Bears on Friday, that doesn’t mean they weren’t happy with his play. Rather, head coach Spencer Carbery pointed to both Miroshnichenko’s strong AHL play and a peculiar quirk of the NHL’s holiday roster freeze.
The CBA-mandated roster freeze took effect on Saturday, preventing nearly all transactions between now and December 28. The rule gives players relative stability over the week of Christmas, but it proved problematic for the Capitals as winger Ryan Leonard nears a return from injury.
After returning to practice and resuming contact, Leonard could be ready to play within days, and the Capitals would need to clear a roster spot to activate him off injured reserve. Trineyev, who has been with the Caps since December 7, would be protected by the roster freeze, but CBA Article 16.5(d)(ii) makes a loophole for players called up shortly before the freeze begins.
The relevant section reads, in part (emphasis added):
A Player on emergency Recall may be Loaned during the roster freeze period and a Player who was Recalled after December 11 may be Loaned through 11:59 p.m. local time on December 23, provided such Player is not required to be placed on Waivers during the roster freeze period in order to effectuate such Loan.
Thus, if Leonard is ready to play before the freeze ends on December 28, the Caps would be able to send Miroshnichenko down to open a roster spot.
Carbery cited the rule when explaining Washington’s motivation for the recall.
“So I was impressed (with Trineyev), and he did a real good job,” Carbery said. “With the roster freeze, and the potential of Ryan Leonard being activated at some point, we needed a roster spot to be able to (activate him). “Couldn’t send Bogdan down after today, so wouldn’t have been able to activate Ryan Leonard.”
Miroshnichenko has nine points (4g, 5a) in 12 games with the Hershey Bears this season, play that helped earn him a chance in DC.
“Miro has done a really good job down in Hershey thus far this year,” Carbery said. “We’ve been following him from all the reports that we’ve gotten from the coaches down there. He’s been competing extremely hard. Details getting better in his game. He’s gotten off to a real good start. So we’ve sort of been tracking that and looking for an opportunity to get him up and get him into our lineup at some point.”
Per Carbery, Miroshnichenko will play on the fourth line with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime against Detroit. Puck drop is set for 12:30 pm at Capital One Arena.
