What the Brett Leason recall means for the Capitals

The Washington Capitals have added Brett Leason to their playoff roster, recalling the forward from the Hershey Bears. The 23 year old made his NHL debut on Oct. 29, 2021 against the Arizona Coyotes and recorded six points with three goals and three assists in 36 games with the Capitals this season. The six foot five, 218 pound forward also recorded 13 points in 31 games with Hershey with six goals and seven assists.

The Calgary, Alberta, native recorded 20 points with nine goals and 11 assists in 33 games during the 2020-21 season with Hershey, including 13 points in his final 15games with five goals and eight assists. He surpassed his rookie point total of 14 set in 2019-20 (three goals, 11 assists) in 17 fewer games in 2020-21 while also tripling his goal total.

Leason also ranked fourth on Hershey in goals in points and second in shots with 74. In addition, Leason was one of five skaters to appear in all 33 of Hershey’s games and was the only Hershey player to record a power play goal, shorthanded goal and game winning goal (two).

The Caps selected Leason with their second round pick at 56th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He’s another player from the 2019 draft class who could easily make an impact on this roster. So what does this call up mean?

Well it could probably mean that Tom Wilson is day to day with a lower body injury. He was not on the ice for morning skate ahead of Game 2 tonight. Leason skated on the fourth line with Johan Larsson and Nic Dowd. Connor McMichael continues to sit in the press box.

Garnet Hathaway meanwhile gets bumped up to the third line which bumps T.J. Oshie up to the second. So why is Head Coach Peter Laviolette juggling his lines after a win? He rarely does that in these instances but I guess the injury to Tom Wilson certainly played a factor.

Yesterday Laviolette said he would be a game time decision but after morning skate it doesn’t look like that will be the case. Game 2 is tonight at 7:30 p.m.