Ivan Miroshnichenko made the most of his first game of the season with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, scoring a goal and, apparently, further catching the attention of teams around the NHL.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, multiple clubs are monitoring the 22-year-old winger’s status in Washington. With the Capitals’ forward group crowded with talent, Miroshnichenko has struggled to find a regular spot in the lineup, only dressing against the Montreal Canadiens due to Pierre-Luc Dubois‘ ongoing illness.
“I was texting someone, and there’s someone I talked to about: if you’re someone who’s been out of the lineup or been hurt or you haven’t been playing well, do something to get noticed,” Friedman said on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. “I said, ‘Boy, you know, Miroshnichenko is following your rules right here. He’s getting noticed.'”
Miroshnichenko scored Washington’s second goal and recorded two drawn penalties, one hit, and one shot block in 10:01 of total ice time. The hit he threw was a big, open-ice one on star Habs winger Juraj Slafkovsky that, after review, led to a Capitals power play.
Ivan Miroshnichenko scores against Canadiens
The young winger’s night was so impressive that head coach Spencer Carbery singled him out during his usual victory speech to the Capitals locker room and during his postgame media availability. “Hell of a job, Miro,” Carbery said.
The Capitals selected Miroshnichenko with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He has since played in 53 career games with the team, recording 14 points (6g, 8a). Over the past three years, he’s spent most of his time in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, registering 101 points (46g, 55a) in 141 games.
Miroshnichenko, who signed a two-year, $1.85 million extension with the Capitals last October, made the team out of training camp this fall. The Caps needed him to put together a good showing as he is no longer waivers-exempt, meaning Miroshnichenko cannot be returned to Hershey without risking a claim from the 31 other NHL teams. And, according to Friedman, the Capitals probably cannot take that risk.
“He’s good enough to play in this league,” Friedman said. “And the reason he hasn’t played so far is that the Capitals are so deep. But I heard, and this guy told me, there’s a bunch of teams watching him because they think he can play. And you know what? If the Capitals can’t find room for him, you’ve got to put him through waivers, right?
“He just said, look, it’s one of those situations. Young kid wants to play, ready to play, deserves to play. Is there a role for him on this team with how loaded they are? And to me, he was just saying there’s a bunch of teams out there saying we better be ready and watching in case he’s available at some point.”
With his big game against the Canadiens, Miroshnichenko has bought himself more time to show what he can do early in the 2026-27 campaign. However, his spot in the lineup for future games still likely depends on if other players are healthy or not.
The Capitals next play the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon, and if Miroshnichenko draws in again, they clearly won’t be the only team watching to see if he can build on his first game this season.
