The Capitals bench boss shares the advice he gave to D.C.'s two rising prospects as they prepare for their NHL preseason debut on Thursday.
Top Washington Capitals prospects Ivan Miroshnichenko and Andrew Cristall will get to live out part of their NHL dreams on Thursday, as both will play in their first NHL game as the Capitals face the Detroit Red Wings in a preseason showdown.
For head coach Spencer Carbery, the game carries a lot of significance, especially with both forwards making a strong impact during camp and several regulars expected to suit up for action as well.
After Wednesday's practice, Carbery met with Miroshnichenko to outline his expectations and had an encouraging message for the 19-year-old ahead of his first taste of North American pro hockey.
"I told him in my most elementary English as I possibly could, 'Systems? Don't care. Structure? Don't care.' I don't want him overthinking it. I don't want him thinking he's in the wrong spot, 'where should I be, what I should do?' I want to see him go out and compete his butt off and work all over the ice," Carbery said, adding, "I wanna see him skate, compete, play with a ton of pace, play with a ton of urgency up and down at both ends of the ice."
Miroshnichenko will be skating in a bit of unfamiliar territory and playing on the right wing alongside Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom on that top line. Carbery purposefully put him with Ovechkin, who has taken Miroshnichenko under his wing and has helped translate while serving as a mentor and helping him adjust to life in the States.
"Giving him that comfortability... that overrode putting him on the left side," Carbery explained.
The young Russian, who had a stellar KHL campaign following his return from Hodgkin's Lymphoma, is looking to win a spot with the Capitals, and Carbery wants to give him the best chance to show what he can do as he looks to prove he deserves a spot on the opening night roster. That starts with giving him all the resources to succeed, including veteran linemates.
"That's what we ultimately want to give him: a good opportunity to play with some veteran players that can help him through a game that are very, very intelligent, that have been through this thousands of times and can set himself up for success... hopefully he can show what he's capable of," Carbery added.
As for Cristall, who will play on the fourth line with Mike Sgarbossa and either Pierrick Dube or Alexander Suzdalev, Carbery wants him to carry over what's been a strong first training camp to real-time NHL action. The 18-year-old has been among the standouts for Washington so far leading up to the regular season, and the team wants to see him make his mark before heading back to the WHL's Kelowna Rockets to continue his development.
"I've been impressed. I think the thing that sticks out for me is he's a young, young player, and he looks it. He's gonna grow and mature and all that stuff. I find, though, when he's out on the ice, things happen, Carbery said. "He's around the puck, good things happen, he's constantly a scoring chance... somehow it's on his stick, it ends up on someone else's stick and it's a scoring chance for. I just found it's constantly caught my eye.
"I'm looking forward to seeing that is what is he able to do against established pros; being able to create some of that and use his creativity. He's so smart, he's so crafty and you can see the stick skill... he's gifted. To see some of that on display for him would be great."