ARLINGTON, VA — The Capitals will go without Martin Fehervary for the remainder of the playoffs, announcing Tuesday morning that he was done for the season after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee.
Fehervary has been a key part of Washington’s blue line this season — though he lacks the offensive flash of a Jakob Chychrun or a John Carlson, he’s stepped up as one of Washington’s top defensive players. For head coach Spencer Carbery, seeing an under-recognized player sidelined added even more insult to the injury.
“My heart hurts for him because he’s an unsung hero for our team,” Carbery said Tuesday. “If you know the Washington Capitals and if you’re around our team and if you watch our team, he’s someone that goes unnoticed, that the rest of the hockey world probably doesn’t pay much attention to, but he’s a big part of our team.
“He competes his butt off every single day, every single night. Lays it on the line. When you talk about sacrifice for your teammates, ask any one of our guys: Marty Fehervary is at the top of the list.”
Fehervary sustained the injury on April 15, going down against the New York Islanders when he tried to block a shot in the first period. He returned to the game in the second but has not played since.
The absences have marked the first games he’s missed all season — despite facing a litany of blocked shots and at least three facial injuries, he was one of just eight Capitals players to play 81 straight games to start the campaign. He ended the year with a career-high 25 points (5g, 20a) and recorded an average of 19 minutes of time on ice per game, leading the team in both total penalty kill time (232:37) and shots blocked per game (1.85).
“It’s tough,” Matt Roy, Fehervary’s most common defense partner this season, said of the injury. “It’s obviously a huge loss for us. He’s had such a good year and he competes hard for us, so he’s definitely going to be missed.”
Alex Alexeyev filled in for Fehervary in the lineup for Game 1, slotting in on the third line while Rasmus Sandin moved to the second line with Roy. Carbery confirmed Tuesday that Alexeyev was expected to play in Game 2 despite undergoing “significant dental work” Monday night after taking a stick to the face.
While less common than the Fehervary-Roy pairing, Roy and Sandin have had a fair amount of experience playing together this season as the Capitals shuffled their defensive combinations, logging 392:36 on ice in 69 games.
Roy said those regular-season minutes and the team’s larger flexibility with defensive pairings have laid a foundation for the his postseason duo with Sandin.
“We’re all a little bit familiar with each other, some guys more than others,” he said. “Me and Sandy have played together quite a bit as well. But I think the transitions should be pretty seamless and it’s just a matter of competing and executing.”
Alexeyev will continue to slot in for Fehervary in the lineup, but he won’t be solely responsible for replacing Fehervary’s contributions. After playing with only five defensemen in the final game of the regular season, the Capitals got their first proper test of a Fehervary-less blue line in Game 1 against Montreal.
Asked who needed to step up with Fehervary out, Carbery named nearly every defenseman on the team, highlighting Fehervary’s role on the penalty kill.
“The easy answer is Alexeyev, who steps into the lineup, and then it’ll be a shared workload,” he said. “It’ll be Riemer (Trevor van Riemsdyk), it’ll be Johnny (John Carlson), Jakob Chychrun. Now you’ve got some different PKs. Marty Fehervary is a first over the board penalty killer for us. So now that changes. Matt Roy now steps in with John. So I wouldn’t say one sole person — one more person comes into the lineup and then the minutes get shared amongst.”
Though Carbery has only been an NHL head coach for one other playoff series — last year’s loss to the New York Rangers — he already has plenty of experience dealing with a injury-ridden defense corps. Rasmus Sandin, Nick Jensen, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Vincent Iorio all missed part of the series as the Capitals dug deep into their organizational depth, at one point recalling all but one defenseman under NHL contract.
The Capitals ultimately lost to New York in a sweep, but Carbery believes that series can serve as a learning experience as the team grapples with injuries on a smaller scale. Beyond even just defensemen, he argued the whole team would need to contribute more in Fehervary’s absence.
“Marty is a great player,” he said. “He’s a big part of our team. But we absolutely can still win, no disrespect to Marty. We can absolutely play well and still win hockey games without him. That’s not meant in a disrespectful way. That means we have guys that can step into the lineup like Alexander Alexeyev and pick up the slack.
“Everybody inside of our group, not just our D-core, everyone inside our group, forwards included, coaches included, goaltenders included, can do a little bit more to make up for losing a significant player. That’s the way we look at it. Maybe we take something from last year…Didn’t come to fruition last year, but I think that’s the mindset of our group. We feel awful for him, but we know everybody is going to do everything they can to pick up the slack.”
Between the defensemen lost in the 2024 postseason and the variety of other injuries the Capitals have dealt with in recent years, Nic Dowd thinks the team is up to the task.
“The good thing about our organization — well the unfortunate thing is that we’ve had so many injuries over the past three, four years that we’ve had guys that have already stepped into those roles at times and they understand what it takes to play in those roles and what it takes to be successful,” he said. “Obviously that’s unfortunate that we had guys injured, but saying that, I think we’re ready for that.”
