By now we know who made and didn’t make the Washington Capitals. We are getting a clearer picture of what the lineup could look like each day of practice. At morning skate it’ll be crystal clear.
Here’s what the lines looked like the last few days at practice:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
McMichael-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Milano-Strome-Protas
Malenstyn-Dowd-Mantha/Phillips
Sandin-Carlson
Johansen-Jensen
Fehervary-TvR
Alexeyev
Kuemper
Lindgren
Now let’s break down the top 3 reactions I had to the roster:
#3 Hardy Haman Aktell didn’t make the team
A dark horse that could’ve made the sixth defenseman spot was Hardy Haman Aktell. In the end, he got sent to Hershey. In the process, Alex Alexeyev and Lucas Johansen both made the team.
Haman Aktell had a good showing at training camp and the preseason and this shocked Caps fans in a way. The reasoning behind Haman Aktell beginning the season with the Bears is the salary cap.
The Caps placed Max Pacioretty on LTIR and Joel Edmundson on IR but Haman Aktell’s cap hit would’ve put the team over the salary cap. Edmundson would not go on LTIR because he will not be missing at least 10 games following his surgery. So that’s what put the Caps in salary cap hell to the point they had to send one of their studs down to the minors.