In the wake of the Connor Brown injury news as well as the one game suspension of Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Washington Capitals recalled Beck Malenstyn for their road trip to Ottawa. Malenstyn comes up from the Hershey Bears of the AHL.
The 24 year old is in his fifth season with the organization. Brown took a hit to the boards and was diagnosed with a lower body injury. Kuznetsov was suspended for a high stick yesterday by the NHL Department of Player Safety. Both the injury and suspension came in Monday night’s 6-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette was on the air this morning with the Sports Junkies of 106.7 The Fan. He said this on Connor Brown:
"“Connor Brown, we’re still evaluating him. He suffered a lower-body injury and so the doctors were looking at him yesterday. I think we’ll probably have some information out today. Certainly not what we wanted to see with him. He’s such a hard-working and competitive guy on the ice. That was tough to see him leave the game. I’m sure we’ll know more when we go in today.”"
Malenstyn has appeared in two games with Hershey this season. The six foot three, 200 pound forward scored one goal in 12 games with the Capitals last season.
Malenstyn recorded his first career NHL goal and point on Nov. 30, 2021 against the Florida Panthers and was one of nine Capitals rookies to score his first career goal during the 2021-22 season. He has suited up for a total of 15 NHL games, all with the Capitals in his career.
The Delta, British Columbia, native recorded 16 points with 10 goals and six assists in 65 games with the Bears last season which established an AHL career high in goals and tied a career high in points.
Here’s hoping Malenstyn can make an impact no matter how long he’s up in the big leagues for.