Capitals' Sandin Leaves Team Sweden Practice Hurting After Being Listed As Day-To-Day

The Capitals blueliner was initially a full participant in practice before exiting in visible discomfort.

The Washington Capitals appeared able to breathe a sigh of relief on Wednesday when Rasmus Sandin was listed as day-to-day following a scary knee-to-knee collision at the IIHF World Championship on Tuesday. However, new developments at Team Sweden's practice are raising more questions surrounding his status.

Per SportBladet, Sandin started off practice as a full participant and taking contact. However, after the start of the skate, he went to the bench and sat in visible pain before "limping" to the dressing room. He will not play in the quarterfinal against Latvia.

It's not a good sign for the Swedes, who rely on Sandin as one of their ice time leaders and playmakers from the blue line.

Sandin suffered what the team is calling a lower-body injury on Tuesday in the first minutes of play against Team USA when Mikey Eyssimont laid a knee-on-knee hit on him. The 23-year-old stayed down and got help down the tunnel. He did not return., and Sweden fell 4-3.

"It's ugly. It's knee-to-knee and it hurts. What the intention is, I don't know," Sweden head coach Sam Hallam told hockeynews.se.

Meanwhile, the Capitals now have to wait and see if the injury turns out to be more serious than initially thought. Washington is already in for a busy offseason, but the blue line wasn't among the priorities, with Sandin impressing and proving he can be a top-4 defenseman after being acquired prior to the trade deadline.

In 19 games to close out the season in D.C., Sandin had 15 points in 19 games. He also told The Hockey News that he wants to remain with the organization for a long time.