The Washington Capitals will be back with a full complement of forwards against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night. After dressing just 11 up front in a win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, the Caps recalled Brett Leason from the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and he’ll make his season debut on the team’s fourth line.
Leason will play his first regular-season game for the Capitals since March 20, 2022, which was coincidentally also against the Stars. He has 14 points (6g, 8a) in 20 games for the Bears this season since signing a one-year contract with the Caps in late October.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery knows Leason well, having served as head coach in Hershey during Leason’s first two professional seasons.
“Full circle moment,” Carbery said Wednesday morning. “He came into the organization as a second-round pick, worked with him a lot, have a great relationship with him. Him coming back to the organization was a pleasant surprise because it wasn’t in the offseason. It was sort of at the beginning of the year when some things happened in Hershey. He’s played real well down there.
“I think just for where our forward group is right now and how lines are taking shape, I think he’s a bigger guy, someone that can help us a little bit. Stability, bottom-six role, potentially penalty kill, forecheck, strong on the walls. That’s sort of what we’re looking at to give him an opportunity. He’s played real well, so excited to get him back in the fold.”
Leason has played in 220 career NHL games over the past four seasons, primarily with the Ducks. He has 54 career points (25g, 29a) and averaged 12:58 of time on ice per game last season with Anaheim.
The Capitals will also keep Dylan McIlrath in the lineup against the Stars. McIlrath got into a fight with Ducks forward Ross Johnston on Monday, which Carbery highlighted postgame as one of the most important parts of the team’s win.
“I just thought he was solid,” Carbery said of McIlrath Wednesday. “I know he didn’t play a ton. We played seven D-men. I think he deserves and earned an opportunity to play again tonight, so that’s the decision there. Obviously, we’ve got eight good defensemen back there that all can make arguments to be in the lineup, and Mac is going to get an opportunity to play tonight.”
With McIlrath and Leason in, Declan Chisholm and Trevor van Riemsdyk will be the team’s healthy scratches. Carbery confirmed that, besides Leason coming in for Chisholm, he planned to keep the Caps’ lines intact from their 7-4 win over the Ducks on Monday.
Capitals lineup for 1/7 game against Stars
Logan Thompson will start in net for Washington after Charlie Lindgren secured a 41-save win against the Ducks. In four career appearances against the Stars, Thompson is 1-2-1 with a 1.77 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
The Stars come into Wednesday’s contest on the back of a 6-3 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. Overall, they have lost six games in a row, with their last win coming before Christmas, and the Caps know they’ll be highly motivated when they hit the ice in DC
“(I expect) an angry Dallas Star,” Carbery said with a wry grin. “Hate that.”
