New Dad Kuemper May Miss Opening Night; Capitals Promote Goalie

NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect recent roster moves.

Washington Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper may miss Friday’s opener against Pittsburgh, and for good reason.

Kuemper and his wife Sydney welcomed their first child Thursday night, a boy.

Congratulations to the Kuemper family on their addition to the family overnight!

Mom and baby boy are doing great.

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 13, 2023

“They were at the hospital last night, so we’ll see how today goes,” head coach Spencer Carbery said at Friday’s morning skate. “If we have to make some adjustments lineup-wise, we will this afternoon.”

Kuemper is entering his second year in Washington, looking to rebound after allowing 154 goals last season — the most in a season during his career. If Kuemper is unable to go, Charlie Lindgren would receive the start.

The Capitals recalled goalie Clay Stevenson from Hershey, pointing to Kuemper likely being unavailable.

“We just want to be mindful of the fact that we want to put [Kuemper] in a position to have success, so we’ll figure that out this afternoon and may have to make some according lineup decisions based off of that decision.”

At Thursday’s skate, the team’s lines were as follows:

Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-TJ Oshie

Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Anthony Mantha/Matthew Phillips

Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson

Martin Fehervary-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Lucas Johansen-Nick Jensen

Friday’s regular season opener against Pittsburgh is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.