The Washington Capitals plan to head into their 2025 Training Camp with a few open roster spots.
While the Capitals did some light offseason work, acquiring Justin Sourdif and Declan Chisholm and re-signing Anthony Beauvillier, general manager Chris Patrick doesn’t sound like he has any intention of doing much further this fall. Instead, the club plans to evaluate its young players and prospects to see if any of them are ready for a permanent jump to the NHL.
“If it’s not working or if we feel like the team is in a spot where we need to add a veteran guy, then we’ll go out and be aggressive to do that,” Patrick told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. “But I think we need to see what we have with some of these guys and then make our decisions based off that. I feel pretty confident in the team around them.”
At the beginning of July, Patrick highlighted several names that he believes are closest to making a full-time jump to the NHL, and the list included Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank, Bogdan Trineyev, and Henrik Rybinski. Other more recent draft picks like Ryan Leonard, Andrew Cristall, and Ilya Protas will also be looking to make their mark, with the latter two set for their professional debut seasons.
The Capitals chose to go through a similar process last season when Lapierre made the club out of camp and was assigned the third-line center role by head coach Spencer Carbery. He struggled to find his footing, posting just eight assists in 27 NHL games before being sent back to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Lapierre’s inability to stick in the league led to Patrick exploring the trade market and eventually re-acquiring veteran pivot Lars Eller from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Eller held down the position for the remainder of the season, but Carbery utilized the group far less than any other of his forward lines.
Miroshnichenko, Frank, and Rybinski also all saw varying amounts of time on the Capitals’ roster. Patrick has spoken specifically about Miroshnichenko a few times over the offseason, hinting that the 2022 first-round pick will be given a real opportunity to stick with the Caps for a full season.
“I think [Miroshnichenko] needs to come in and have a really good camp,” Patrick said in June. “I think he needs to show the NHL coaches he’s ready to take the next step. When he gets chances to score goals, get good shots on net, don’t bobble pucks, and really be on your game.”
The 21-year-old Russian winger has played 39 NHL games over the past two seasons but has been unable to completely graduate from the Bears, where he has played 100 games. Miroshnichenko ended the 2024-25 campaign as Hershey’s leading goal scorer, scoring 23 goals in 53 games, but had several key defensive miscues in the playoffs.
The Capitals will get a first look at their prospects late next week, with Rookie Camp set to begin on Friday, September 12. The team’s main Training Camp gets underway on Thursday, September 18.