Rasmus Sandin gets injured in IIHF World Championship tournament

Only one player represented the Washington Capitals in the IIHF World Championship this year. That was 23 year old defenseman Rasmus Sandin. Sadly though he got hurt today and who knows what this means for the offseason or next season.

Today in Team Sweden’s game against Team USA, Sandin was the victim of a knee on knee hit from USA’s Michael Eyssimont.

Sandin would hobble to the Sweden locker room just five minutes into the first period. Eyssimont received a five minute major penalty and was ejected from the game.

Sandin was attempting to make a pass up the ice out of his own zone on the play. Eyssimont eyed him for a check along the boards only making contact with his knees. He also seemed to extend a bit to make sure the contact happened. Textbook definition of a dirty hit. He rightfully got ejected.

Sweden would score on the five minute power play from Leon Carlsson.

Sandin has recorded one assist in the prior six games for Sweden as today was the final game of their group play. He even skated on the top defensive pairing.

There are no updates from Sweden and no updates from the Caps on the condition of the injury as of this writing. I imagine the Caps would send an update once they hear from Team Sweden.

Sandin was acquired just days before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline in a deal that sent him to Washington from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Erik Gustafsson.

Fans and the team became quickly high on the 23 year old blue liner as he has 15 points in 19 games. Injuries were what did the Caps in last year missing their first playoff appearance since 2014.

The last thing the team wants is to lose their young defenseman over an injury that didn’t even happen during the NHL season.