ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals appear to have their opening night roster set, as they've made a final round of cuts going into the regular season.
Washington has placed Jonny Brodzinski, Spencer Smallman, Louie Belpedio and Clay Stevenson on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL's Hershey Bears, as Ethen Frank and Ivan Miroshnichenko avoid the wire and will stick around in D.C.
Brodzinski had three goals in two preseason games, and Stevenson was also knocking on the door for an NHL chance. However, the Capitals ultimately chose to avoid placing Frank or Miroshnichenko on waivers, and is sticking with Charlie Lindgren as their backup going into the 2026-27 campaign.
In addition to those moves, Washington also loaned Eriks Mateiko, Andrew Cristall, Theodor Niederbach, Terik Parascak, Lynden Lakovic, Alexander Suzdalev, Petr Sikora, Tyler Kopff, Cam Allen, David Gucciardi, Leon Muggli, Ryan Chesley and Jon McDonald to the Bears.
Goaltender Cal Petersen, who came to Capitals camp on a professional tryout, has been released from his PTO and will report to Hershey. He will likely start the year with the Bears if Stevenson doesn't clear waivers.
Washington's roster now sits at 24 players, including Rasmus Sandin, who is expected to go on injured reserve when the season starts to give Washington a 23-man roster by Monday's 5 p.m. deadline.
Here is the projected opening night roster:
Forwards: Anthony Beauvillier, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Ethen Frank, Boone Jenner, Jordan Kyrou, Ryan Leonard, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Alex Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas, Ilya Protas, Justin Sourdif, Dylan Strome, Alex Tuch, Tom Wilson
Defensemen: Jakob Chychrun, Vincent Desharnais, Martin Fehervary, Cole Hutson, Timothy Liljegren, Dylan McIlrath, Matt Roy, Rasmus Sandin (injured)
Goaltenders: Charlie Lindgren, Logan Thompson
The Capitals are headed to Annapolis for a couple days of team building before returning to Arlington for a handful of practices. They then start the season on Oct. 2 on the road with a back-to-back against the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.
