Washington Capitals hockey will officially be back on Thursday, as the team will hold its first day of training camp, officially putting an end to informal skates and the dog days of the offseason.
Washington's training camp features 52 total players, a total cut down from the past with camp being shorter, that includes 29 forwards, 17 defensemen and seven goalies. There will be only two groups, as opposed to three. Players will undergo physicals on Wednesday.
Here is the full training camp roster:
Forwards: Anthony Beauvillier, Jonny Brodzinski, Andrew Cristall, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Dunne, Ethen Frank, Boone Jenner, Tyler Kopff, Jordan Kyrou, Lynden Lakovic, Eriks Mateiko, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Theodor Niederbach, Alex Ovechkin, Terik Parascak, Ludwig Persson, Aliaksei Protas, Ilya Protas, Maxim Schäfer, Petr Sikora, Spencer Smallman, Justin Sourdif, Dylan Strome, Alex Suzdalev, Patrick Thomas, Bogdan Trineyev, Alex Tuch, Tom Wilson
Defensemen: Cam Allen, Louie Belpedio, Jérémie Biakabutuka (AHL contract), Ryan Chesley, Jakob Chychrun, Vincent Desharnais, Martin Fehervary, David Gucciardi, Justin Holl, Cole Hutson, Timothy Liljegren, Jacob MacDonald, Jon McDonald, Dylan McIlrath, Leon Muggli, Matt Roy, Rasmus Sandin (injured)
Goaltenders: Garin Bjorklund (AHL contract), Mitchell Gibson, Ben Kraws, Charlie Lindgren, Cal Petersen (PTO), Clay Stevenson, Logan Thompson
Notably, there are no free agent invites attending camp this year with the organization having built a lot of depth over the summer. Only three under AHL contract in forward Tyler Kopff, defenseman Jérémie Biakabutuka, nephew of former Carolina Panthers running back Tim, and goaltender Garin Bjorklund, will be attending camp.
That said, there will be intense competition up front and on the backend.
Washington's forward group has little to vacancy up front, and the only spots really up for grabs are on the fourth line or as an extra. Anthony Beauvillier's role will certainly change as he'll have to battle to maintain a full-time spot in the lineup, and Ethen Frank, who got the full-time promotion to the NHL ranks last year, will be looking to stick around. Jonny Brodzinski, meanwhile, has looked strong at informal skates and will do what he can to stick on the main roster after getting a full time promotion to the Show with the New York Rangers last season.
All the while, Ivan Miroshnichenko has been champing at the bit for his full-time NHL opportunity and is no longer waiver exempt. Bogdan Trineyev, who got some NHL games last season, too, will also want to stay put. Then, there are dark horses and young guns who want to try and force the coaching staff's hand and win a spot in Andrew Cristall and Lynden Lakovic, who's entering his first pro season.
On defense, Rasmus Sandin will begin the season on the long-term injured reserve. He was filling in nicely on the right side last season, so Matt Roy and Vincent Desharnais will look to fill those voids on the top-4 while Timothy Liljegren, returning on a two-year extension following his trade to D.C., will round things out.
Then, there's the extra defenseman. D.C. could carry two if they choose not to hold onto two extra forwards, meaning Dylan McIlrath and Justin Holl, who signed a one-year deal this summer, could stick around. However, if the team only keeps one, it will be a tight battle to see which RHD fills that void as the extra go-to guy.
This will also mark the first NHL training camp for defenseman Cole Hutson, who is entering his true rookie season after getting 14 games up with the team at the end of last season following his run at Boston University.
Shifting to goal, Cal Petersen is the only player attending camp on a professional tryout and is one of seven goaltenders who will participate. Connor Leslie, the team's new full-time emergency backup goaltender (EBUG), will be on the ice as well.
The Capitals go-to tandem is still Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren, but expect Clay Stevenson, the rising netminder who is not waiver exempt, to try and make noise, too.
Our full training camp primer will be out on Wednesday. Here the first part of camp schedule:
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Medical/Testing
Thursday, Sept. 17 (First day of camp/media day)
9 a.m. - Group A practice (Arlington Rink)
9:35 a.m. - Group A practice (Capitals Rink)
11:45 a.m. - Group B practice (Arlington Rink)
12:20 p.m. - Group B practice (Capitals rink)
Friday, Sept. 18
9 a.m. - Group A practice (Arlington Rink)
9:35 a.m. - Group A practice (Capitals Rink)
10:30 a.m. - Group A off-ice workouts
11:45 a.m. - Group B practice (Arlington rink)
12:20 p.m. - Group B practice (Capitals rink)
1:10 p.m. - Group B off-ice workouts
Saturday, Sept. 19
9 a.m. - Group A practice (Arlington Rink)
9:35 a.m. - Group A practice (Capitals Rink)
10:30 a.m. - Group A off-ice workouts
11:45 a.m. - Group B practice (Arlington rink)
12:20 p.m. - Group B practice (Capitals rink)
1:10 p.m. - Group B off-ice workouts
Sunday, Sept. 20 (First preseason game)
9 a.m. - Non-game group practice (both rinks)
10 a.m. - Non-game group scrimmage (Capitals rink)
5 p.m. - Capitals vs. Boston Bruins at TD Garden
Monday, Sept. 21 (Hershey preseason game)
10:30 a.m. - Game group morning skate (Capitals rink)
11:45 a.m. - Non-game group practice (Arlington rink)
12:25 p.m. - Non-game group practice (Capitals rink)
7 p.m. - Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers at GIANT Center
