The Capitals winger faces some tough internal competition with several forwards vying for spots.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — When asked to assess Sonny Milano's training camp, Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was honest — albeit, blunt.
"It's just okay. Just okay," he said.
Of course, this isn't Milano's first rodeo, as this marks his 10th NHL training camp. Considering that, as well as his proven production — he had 15 goals in 49 games last season — he gets what Carbery calls "benefit of the doubt" as he shakes off the rust from the summer.
"Veteran players as they get up to speed and their training camp is sort of ramping up and they want to hit their peak right at opening night. Like that's what they're trying to do is ramp it up. Ramp it up, ramp it up. So he gets a bit of a pass," Carbery said. "He's trying to ramp it up, get back into the good habits that he has to play with, things offensively, that he does."
Still, the 27-year-old has to keep his guard up. There's a lot of competition heading into these final days of training camp, especailly on the bottom-6 wing where Milano's projected to line up. Jakub Vrana's itching to return to the District, and Andrew Cristall also wants to stick around a bit longer.
That said, Carbery wants to start to see more from Milano down this final stretch.
"Now, he's got to turn it on... definitely going to need to see him get into his full regular season game more quickly," Carbery said, adding, "There's also a point where we need to see your best, and it's got to start to get to that point or else opportunity will show up for other guys to take advantage of it."
The Capitals open their regular season on Oct. 12 at home against the New Jersey Devils.
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