Washington Capitals: Beck Malenstyn suffers Achilles injury
Washington Capitals prospect Beck Malenstyn is out six to eight months.
The Washington Capitals announced some bad news on Saturday night. Their prospect forward, Beck Malenstyn, was expected to compete for a roster spot and was a dark horse. But now he’s going to likely miss the entire 2021 season with a torn Achilles tendon as he’s out 6-8 months. Malenstyn suffered the injury while training at home in Vancouver.
The 22 year old played in three regular season games for the Caps last season which gave him his first taste of NHL action. He also made the Caps playoff roster and joined the team in the bubble in Toronto. He even made his own blog to document the experience.
The 2016 fifth rounder recorded 15 points with eight goals and seven assists in 46 games with the Hershey Bears. Malenstyn suffers this injury less than a month after he proposed to his girlfriend Annie Plant. Congrats to him in that regard.
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The Caps now have two players on injured reserve as Malenstyn joins Michal Kempny. Kempny tore his Achilles tendon while he was training in the Czech Republic.
This is a big blow to a player that was likely to be an extra forward on this Caps roster. Malenstyn was selected in the fifth round at 145th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He had also just completed his second season with the Hershey Bears.
Malenstyn would’ve been an ideal depth forward in a fourth line role. He was high on the prospect rankings and many thought he was ready for the jump to the NHL this upcoming season.
Zack Fisch, the voice of the Hershey Bears, said this on the Capitals Talk podcast last month:
"“[Malenstyn] might be the best fit out of everybody because he plays on a fourth line in Hershey a lot, he can move up if needed, grinds, hits hard, fearless shot-blocker and penalty killer and is tough as nails. He can drop ’em, he’ll stand up for his teammates and is just a really good guys that fits right in anywhere.”"
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We wish the best to Malenstyn and that he makes a speedy recovery.