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Capitals Bring Roster Down to 23 Players with Final Moves

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The Washington Capitals have officially trimmed their roster down to 23 players ahead of the 2024-25 season. The team announced they loaned forward Ivan Miroshnichenko to the Hershey Bears and forward Andrew Cristall to the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League (WHL). They also sent goalie Hunter Shepard on waivers to place him in Hershey (which he is now officially loaned to the Bears).



No Contract Yet for Jakub Vrana

With Andrew Cristall and Ivan Miroshnichenko officially off the Capitals roster, this means that Jakub Vrana has won a spot in Washington. However, as things stand right now, he is still on a professional tryout agreement (PTO). A contract announcement could come soon. The club’s fans have welcomed Vrana’s return to the Capitals since he signed his PTO in August.

Longtime Capitals forward Tom Wilson said weeks ago that Vrana still had game, and the organization appears to echo those sentiments. Wilson said at the beginning of training camp on Vrana, โ€œHeโ€™s one of the best skaters out there and heโ€™s got a ton of skill. Heโ€™s had some ups and downs in his career, like a lot of us, but he seems like heโ€™s in a good spot right now, and I want him to do well. Iโ€™m excited to have him around. Itโ€™s been fun to just hang out with him, get him back in a Caps uniform, and Caps T-shirt, and hang out at the rink and stuff.โ€

Wilson also said on Vrana, โ€œHeโ€™s a guy that just lights up the room when he walks in. It feels like old times having him around. You go through a special thing together and win a championship, and you have a bond for life, and just seeing him walk in the first day was a really cool feelingโ€ฆโ€

Jakub Vrana, currently still on a PTO, has made the 23-man roster for the Washington Capitals. He should be signed to a contract soon. (Nathan Moser/Washington Hockey Now)

Vrana played in 284 games during his first stint with Washington. He scored 76 goals and registered 81 assists for 157 points. He was also a member of the 2018 Stanley Cup championship team.

McIlrath Makes the Defense

The defense is also solidified for this upcoming campaign. One of the defensemen in training camp who had gained attention was Dylan McIlrath. He captained both of the back-to-back Calder Cup championship teams for the Hershey Bears in 2023 and 2024. The Bears will need a new captain now, as McIlrath is not leaving D.C. He joins a blue line that also consists of John Carlson, Jakob Chychrun, Rasmus Sandin, Matt Roy, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Martin Fehervary, and Alexander Alexeyev. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery discussed McIlrath earlier in training camp and the fact that he was making a push for a roster spot.

Carbery said, โ€œHe definitely is, and based on what he did last year for us, when he played, and based on his training camp, and based on what heโ€™s done in Hershey, and all the intangiblesโ€ฆhe probably said it best to me earlier in camp. He feels like his game individuallyโ€ฆhe feels like heโ€™s just gotten better and better and better as heโ€™s gotten older, which is a great qualityโ€ฆHe feels like heโ€™s a better defenseman than he was when he started.โ€

Carbery also added on McIlrath, โ€œโ€ฆHeโ€™s a physical guy. Will stand up for his teammates. Has a presence about him. People around the league know who he is and have to be aware of him when heโ€™s out on the ice. And I think, too, heโ€™s just such a great personality and person to be aroundโ€ฆโ€

Alexeyev Also Makes Washington’s Blue Line

Alexander Alexeyev was another defender who I discussed as a possible talent to take one of the available defensemen positions. The 24-year-old has suited up in parts of three campaigns already for the organization. In 72 games, he has a goal and seven assists for eight points. Alexeyev will be potentially taking that next step in 2024-25. Carbery and his staff will have to decide how often they want to rotate him in the lineup. This could be a big season for him, especially if he is able to get a substantial amount of NHL games under his belt.

Two Goalies on the Capitals

Washington will go with Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren as their netminders to start 2024-25. Hunter Shepard remained at Capitals training camp until he was waived on Sunday. Now, it will be interesting how Carbery chooses to use both Thompson and Lindgren. Thompson discussed the goalie competition on Friday. It was something he was used to when he was with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Logan Thompson became a solid goalie with the Vegas Golden Knights, before coming to the Washington Capitals.

Logan Thompson, shown here with the Vegas Golden Knights, is one of the two goalies for the Washington Capitals to start the 2024-25 campaign.

Thompson said, โ€œโ€ฆIโ€™m really kind of used to it by now. I mean I think every year in Vegas, thereโ€™s always a goalie battle it seemed like. Thereโ€™s always something going on in that department. So, I am used to it from that standpoint. From coming in hereโ€ฆobviously, I know that me, Chuckie, and Shep are all up and, you know, I just want to be a good teammate. I want to do my part and do what I can to help this team win when Iโ€™m in net, and when Chuckie is playing, I want to be his biggest cheerleader and support him. I think thatโ€™s kind of my goal this season. Just being a good teammate. Not worrying about things off-ice or on the ice, and just letting everything happenโ€ฆโ€

The Capitals play their first regular season matchup on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against the New Jersey Devils. Their divisional opponent already has two wins in the regular season, as they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in back-to-back matchups while in Prague. It will not be long before Washington fans know which goalie Carbery puts in for that game.

Nathan covers the Washington Capitals for Washington Hockey Now. He has been a hockey fan for most of his life, and played the game himself for more than six years. He graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2018, with a bachelor's in Broadcasting & Mass Communication. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @NateMoserSports and on Instagram @nathanmosersports.

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