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Capitals Notebook

Capitals Notebook: Blue Line Shakeup At Trade Deadline Practice

The blue line looks a lot different and the Washington Capitals were back to work amid injuries and the trade deadline.

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The Washington Capitals took the ice for a somewhat strange practice in San Jose as the clock ticked down to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, and they saw quite a few changes as well.

All players, with the exception of injured defensemen Martin Fehervary (lower-body) and Nick Jensen (upper-body), were accounted for as the Capitals stayed quiet on deadline day following a sell-off. Conor Sheary and Trevor van Riemsdyk are among the pending free agents who will not be on the move, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel also earned a one-year extension.

Meanwhile, defensive recalls Vincent Iorio and Gabriel Carlsson also drew into the mix, while Dylan McIlrath returned to the AHL's Hershey Bears. It is unclear what the severity of Fehervary and Jensen's injuries is at this time.

With those two blueliners hurting, there are exactly six defensemen left in the mix with John Carlson still on the long-term injured reserve (slapshot to the face) and Dmitry Orlov and Erik Gustafsson shipped out in pre-trade deadline deals.

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As a result, Rasmus Sandin skated on the top pairing with Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Carlsson and Iorio, who played together on a pairing down in the minors, stuck together. Sandin's immigration and visa issues have been sorted out, and he's expected to make his Capitals debut on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.

Here is what the defense looked like, per The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir:

Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Alex Alexeyev-Matt Irwin

Gabriel Carlsson-Vincent Iorio

The forward lines also stayed as they were for the win over the Ducks:

Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Anthony Mantha-Nicklas Backstrom-Craig Smith

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-T.J. Oshie

Conor Sheary-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Washington faces San Jose in a 6 p.m. ET matinee on Saturday.