The Washington Capitals return to play on Wednesday night after a nearly three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Before they take the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers, the team will need to make a roster move of some sort. Connor McMichael, placed on injured reserve ahead of the break, is ready to play against the Flyers, and the Capitals are currently carrying a full complement of 23 active players on their roster.
The team did not waive anyone on Tuesday afternoon, so it appears they will activate McMichael through one of two remaining ways. They can either place veteran defenseman John Carlson on injured reserve if he’s not ready to play or utilize a newly introduced rule from the NHL that says returning Canadian Olympians Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson can be designated as non-roster players for their first game back if they do not dress.
“The league has allowed [teams] to non-roster players that were in the Gold Medal Game,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said Tuesday. “I believe they came out with that yesterday. So, there’s a lot of teams, like obviously with the U.S. traveling around a little bit, there’s some teams that are having to non-roster, so it doesn’t count as a roster spot.”
Wilson and Thompson arrived back in the United States on Monday and had their CBA-required day off on Tuesday. Wilson not being able to play against the Flyers wouldn’t factor in as much as Thompson, because the Capitals would need to recall a goalie from the AHL’s Hershey Bears if Thompson is unable to at least back up Charlie Lindgren.
If both players don’t play, the Capitals could freely activate McMichael and postpone making a further decision for at least one more day. However, the Caps are likely going to need to send someone down in the near future, and Bears head coach Derek King recently commented on that impending move.
“I’m trying to just work with what I have here,” King said Saturday per RMNB’s Ian Oland. “Obviously, any help we could get right now is going to be… we’ll take it. But what we have here is a young group, a couple of vets. And, you know, I think they work hard enough to win games. It’s just we’ve got to work a little smarter.”
Given how Carbery has handled playing time and healthy scratches, the most likely candidates for that move are forwards Sonny Milano and Hendrix Lapierre. Both would need to clear waivers to make it to Hershey. The only waivers-exempt player currently on the team’s roster is winger Ryan Leonard, and he has already become a staple in the club’s lineup during his rookie campaign.
The crowded Capitals’ roster comes due to the team finally nearing full health with top-six centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois returning from a long-term injury in the game before the Olympic break.
