The Washington Capitals lost two important players at the end of their four-game road trip.
Rookie forward Ryan Leonard is out long-term due to a blindside hit he received from Jacob Trouba, while goaltender Charlie Lindgren suffered an upper-body injury and will be out of the lineup for a spell. Both players were placed on injured reserve Sunday morning.
In response, the Capitals called up winger Bogdan Trineyev and goaltender Clay Stevenson from the Hershey Bears. Trineyev was previously with the Capitals from November 26 through December 3 on a separate stint and did not make his NHL debut, while this will mark Stevenson’s first appearance with the Capitals this season.
“Similar to the previous decision, [Trineyev] has played really well from all indications down in Hershey,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery explained after the team’s morning skate. “We sort of had envisioned the lineup is what it’s going to look like forward-wise tonight (against the Columbus Blue Jackets), and he wasn’t going to play. So it was a situation where – bring Bogdan up, if we need an extra forward, he’s here and can go into the lineup, and then we’ll assess after tonight.”
What Carbery means by assess is unclear. He could be referring to Trineyev possibly playing in the future and slotting onto a line. Management could also consider a longer-term solution to fill Leonard’s hole in the lineup, such as Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ilya Protas, or Brett Leason. After playing the Blue Jackets, the Capitals will have ample time to decide, as they do not play again until Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
In Hershey, Trineyev has recorded 12 points (6g, 6a) in 16 games this season. The 6-foot-3, 206-pound forward plays in all situations and ranks first on the Bears in plus-minus rating (+7), second in goals, and third in points.
Carbery was also asked about the team’s goalie plans and whether Stevenson might figure into a game. With Hershey this season, Stevenson is 7-4-0 along with a 2.54 goals against average and 0.913 save percentage.
“Things have changed, right — with that plan, with Chuckie going down, so now we just have to pivot a little bit,” Carbery said. “It doesn’t mean that Clay’s not going to get into the net because I’m not going to guarantee it, but I’m assuming he’s going to get in at some point.”
Stevenson made his NHL debut during the Capitals’ final regular-season game of the 2025-26 campaign. Despite surrendering five goals to the Penguins in a 5-2 loss, Stevenson earned high praise from Carbery for his performance.
“I thought he was fantastic all night,” Carbery said then. “Just laid it on the line for us. First start, to be put in that situation and playing that game, he was really, really proud of the way that he fought and how he competed and how he played. He was fantastic.”
Stevenson was held out of Hershey’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night as Mitch Gibson served as the backup to Garin Bjorklund in the Bears’ 4-1 loss.