The Capitals must submit their 23-man roster on Monday by 5 p.m.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals face some more tough decisions on Monday with them needing to submit their 23-man roster to the league by 5 p.m. ET, and at practice, the team's roster continued to take shape.
Ivan Miroshnichenko was absent, as it appears he is headed down to the AHL's Hershey Bears to begin his pro career in North America, and Anthony Mantha remained the odd man out as the team — for the most part — stuck with its lines from the regular season finale.
Matthew Phillips, who has all but won a roster spot, kept his place on the third-line wing with Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano. Meanwhile, Connor McMichael remained on the top-6 with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, while Beck Malesntyn and Aliaksei Protas worked on Nic Dowd's wings.
The blue line got interesting, as there are still several fringe defensemen trying to make a run for a spot. Hardy Häman Aktell, who has been one of the team's top surprises from camp, was working with Alex Alexeyev, while Lucas Johansen, who is the closest he's been to making the roster in years, operated with Nick Jensen in the top-6.
Here were the lines:
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie
Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Aliaksei Protas
John Carlson-Rasmus Sandin
Martin Fehervary-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Lucas Johansen-Nick Jensen
Hardy Häman Aktell-Alex Alexeyev
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Washington will likely announce more moves before the deadline, which could also include Max Pacioretty and potentially Joel Edmundson going on the long-term injured reserve.