Washington Capitals assign Connor McMichael to Hershey

The Washington Capitals roster is not officially out yet but they made a few moves that could indicate the direction the team is going in ahead of opening night. They designated Nicklas Backstrom as an injured non roster player while assigning forwards Beck Malenstyn and Connor McMichael to the Hershey Bears.

According to the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), injured non roster players don’t count against the 23 man roster but still count against the salary cap. That means the Caps will still have Backstrom’s $9.2 million cap hit on the books. They now have just $107,000 remaining in cap space per CapFriendly.com.

The Caps saved some cash by assigning Michal Kempny to Hershey. There are now 22 players on the roster including rookie Hendrix Lapierre. It is likely we could see Lapierre make his NHL debut on Wednesday night as he’s been centering the third line between T.J. Oshie and Conor Sheary during practices. Lapierre can play up to nine games in the NHL before returning to the QMJHL.

Lapierre told the media after practice:

"“I just want to make sure I’m ready each and every day. I’m really excited, really really excited. I’ve been here for a while and each and every day is really special. Coming to the rink, I feel like it’s a privilege… I really want to just prove that I can be an effective player, that I can play.”"

Now McMichael going to Hershey may not entirely mean he will start the season there. JJ Regan of NBC Sports Washington tweeted that the move could’ve simply been a paper transaction before the team places Nicklas Backstrom on long term injured reserve.

There will be more transactions that will be made and the team will announce them tomorrow morning. They’ll also officially announce the 2021-22 opening night roster. Stay tuned.