The Washington Capitals made a significant round of cuts to their training camp roster on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
After losing their first game of the preseason on Thursday night to the Boston Bruins, the Capitals cut six players, trimming their roster to just 27 names. Among the cuts are five skaters who took part in the loss to the Bruins, highlighted by Andrew Cristall and Ilya Protas.<\/p>\n
Five of the six cuts have been immediately placed on the AHL\u2019s Hershey Bears roster, while the sixth, forward Sheldon Rempal, will need to clear NHL waivers over the next 24 hours before reporting to the Bears.<\/p>\n
Players waived for purpose of loan to Hershey Bears<\/p>\n
Players loaned directly to Hershey Bears<\/p>\n
Andrew Cristall, F
\nIlya Protas, F
\nEriks Mateiko, F
\nRyan Chesley, D
\nLeon Muggli, D<\/p>\n
Cristall, 20, heads to Hershey to begin his first pro season after playing in four exhibition games this fall, the joint most on the team. The 2023 second-round pick, now affectionally known as \u201cLoaf\u201d by his teammates<\/a>, scored two goals in the four outings to give him four career NHL preseason goals in eight games.<\/p>\n The Vancouver native was the final cut from last year\u2019s training camp, but unlike in the 2024-25 season, Cristall can immediately play AHL games this year without first returning to the WHL. In his last junior season split between the Kelowna Rockets and Spokane Chiefs, Cristall led the entire WHL in scoring. He recorded 132 points (48g, 84a) in 57 regular-season games, later posting 41 points (21g, 20a) in 19 playoff games for the Chiefs.<\/p>\n Protas, 19, played his final preseason game this year as the center on a line with Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and 2022 first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko. Lil Pro, five years junior to his older brother Aliaksei Protas, is also set to experience his first pro season after playing one year in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires.<\/p>\n The Belarusian prospect, who has grown to the same height as his brother<\/a>, got to play with Aliaksei for a game in Hershey last week<\/a> against the Philadelphia Flyers. He\u2019ll now return to Giant Center as a member of the Bears after posting 124 points (50g, 74a) in 61 OHL games for the Spitfires last year.<\/p>\n Mateiko, 19, is the last of the six players yet to make their pro debut, having spent the past three seasons in the QMJHL with the Saint John Sea Dogs and Rimouski Oceanic. The Latvian standout recorded 41 points (26g, 15a) in 47 games during his final junior season last year.<\/p>\n Chesley, 21, and Muggli, 19, have already turned pro, with Chesley playing four games for the Bears at the end of last season and Muggli playing against men in Switzerland for the majority of the past two years. Muggli also made his AHL debut for Hershey last spring, getting into two games.<\/p>\n