The Capitals recalled Ivan Miroshnichenko from Hershey on Tuesday.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Ivan Miroshnichenko smiles wide as he sits in his stall at the Washington Capitals practice facility. Despite the language barrier, it's easy to tell what the Russian is feeling: excitement, nerves and adrenaline.
As he reflects on his call-up with the help of fellow Russian speaker Aliaksei Protas, the smile that hadn't left his face through practice remains intact.
"I was so happy and nervous at the same time when I hear the news," Miroshnichenko said, translated by Protas. "Just enjoy being around here right now, just so happy to be here."
Miroshnichenko's recall comes following an impressive start to his rookie year in North America with the AHL's Hershey Bears. Through 27 games down in the minors, he picked up eight goals and seven assists for 15 points, the most among Hershey's freshmen.
It's been a learning curve for the 19-year-old, though. Not only is he adapting to a different beast of a game than the hockey he was used to playing back home, but he is continuing to learn English and get used to the pro life. For Miroshnichenko, though, it's been an enjoyable experience.
"The two biggest things I got used to: life in North America, first of all, and for sure North American because it’s a little different compared (to) like, man in NHL, man in KHL. Little different game because more like physical, and guys a little bit faster and more physical at the same time in AHL trying to prove themselves," Miroshnichenko said. "So it helped me a lot too. That’s probably like two biggest things.”
Not only has it been enjoyable, but it's been the ultimate reward given the long road to get to this point. In 2020, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which put his career on hold and led to questions and a drop in draft stock. Still, Washington took him at No. 20. Then, he went into remission and rose up the ranks to make a full recovery and, ultimately, get to this point of living out his dream.
"Basically, I went through so many circumstances and different situations in my life, working for that for my whole life and everybody nervous, family’s nervous, so just so excited about tomorrow," Miroshnichenko said.
Head coach Spencer Carbery wouldn't confirm if Miroshnichenko would be making his NHL debut on Wednesday against the New York Islanders, but all signs point to it with him playing on the third line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Hendrix Lapierre while he was also skating on the second power-play unit. T.J. Oshie and Sonny Milano are also out through the holiday break, meaning there's time for him to play.
Ultimately, though, Miroshnichenko said he is ready to show what he can do whenever his debut may come.
"I think these two months in Hershey got more confidence to (me) playing North American hockey because it’s regular season; it’s a different game (than preseason)," Miroshnichenko added.
And with Kuznetsov by his side, the confidence is even higher.
"I'm so happy to play with such a star player like Kuzy. Good thing he’s Russian speaking so he can help me a lot to play in the upper level and he will help me and that’s good," Miroshichenko said, grinning, "I hope I’ll assist on his couple goals and he'll assist on mine."