Capitals Place Carlson On LTIR, More Moves Coming With Backstrom, Wilson Back

ARLINGTON, V.A. — With Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson back in the mix for Sunday, the Washington Capitals are now getting busy making moves to open space for them to be activated against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Washington placed John Carlson, who is out indefinitely after taking a slapshot to the face, on the long-term injured reserve on Saturday, which makes the necessary cap space needed to activate Backstrom (Wilson is already going against the cap).

However, the team also announced there will be two more roster transactions in order to open up spots for Backstrom and Wilson to return. The Capitals can only have 23 skaters, so there will need to be two cuts made to accommodate them.

The most logical and likely move is that Aliaksei Protas will be assigned to the Hershey Bears, as he is the only waiver-exempt player on the roster, and there would be no risk of losing him if he's reassigned. He has 10 points through 41 games this season and could benefit from more ice time at the AHL level, while he would also get a chance to bring his NHL experience back with him and add to the already-stacked Bears roster.

After that though, someone will have to go on waivers, and it looks like Joe Snively and Nicolas Aube-Kubel are two most likely names on the fringe. NAK was a waiver pickup in November with the team needing reinforcements on the forward front, and Snively has played in just six games this season. Sonny Milano is also at risk of losing his spot, though his strong play of late makes it difficult to take him out of the mix completely.