NHL Hockey Player News

Devan Dubnyk missed Wednesday's practice for personal reasons, so Kahkonen comes up and will likely serve as Alex Stalock's backup on Thursday.

Dubnyk missed Wednesday's practice to deal with a "family issue" and is questionable for Thursday's game. Alex Stalock is coming off of a win in Buffalo on Tuesday, so they won't hesitate to let Dubnyk have the night off with Stalock starting and Kaapo Kahkonen backing him up.

The Senators and the NHLPA did not elaborate any further, so Ryan is out indefinitely until we hear otherwise. It has been a tough season for Ryan, who has had to deal with being regularly scratched but clearly there are things that are more important than hockey.

Kakko missed the last games with an illness but will play Wednesday vs. the Capitals. Kakko was starting to heat up before falling ill, scoring three goals in his last two games and five in his last seven.

Dowd's move to IR means he will miss at least one more game and it opens up a roster spot to call-up a forward to fill-in for Nicklas Backstrom, who is now dealing with an upper-body injury of his own.

Hagelin has been out since November 7th due to an upper-body injury and his move to LTIR means he'll have to miss at least four more games. The move helps the Capitals financially, as they're able to recall reinforcements from Hershey (AHL) to help fill the gaps left by injuries to Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Nicklas Backstrom.

Backstrom will not be in the lineup when the Capitals take on the Rangers on Wednesday night. This is the first we've heard about an upper-body injury for Backstrom, but Washington is labelling him as day-to-day for now. Lars Eller will likely move up to the second line and Michael Sgarbossa will draw into the lineup to replace Backstrom.

Gettinger is a fourth-line banger that will replace Lias Andersson, who was sent the other way. Gettinger is 6-foot-6, 218 lbs. who has registered four goals with two assists in 17 AHL games so far this season. He appeared in four games with the Rangers a year ago.

The former No.7 overall pick has been limited to a fourth-line role and has recorded just one assist in 17 games this season. He goes to Hartford where he will be able to play big minutes and Tim Gettinger comes up to eat the fourth-line ice-time.

Vanecek came up to serve as Braden Holtby's backup for a couple of games but will be replaced by Ilya Samsonov in New York. The 23-year-old returns to Hershey, where he has gone 4-2-2 with a 2.65 GAA and .894 SV% in eight games.

Lewington has been called up several times this season and has appeared in a total of six NHL games and two AHL games, failing to record a point in all eight games. He will likely serve as an extra defenseman in New York on Wednesday night.

Sgarbossa has spent most of his career in the AHL, where he's been a prolific scorer, but has just 10 points (2G / 8A) in 48 career NHL games with the Avalanche, Ducks and Panthers. The 27-year-old forward has 14 points (7G / 7A) to lead Hershey through 17 games this season. He could replace Garnet Hathaway in the lineup on Wednesday if Hathaway gets suspended.

Washington continues to dance around the salary cap and Malenstyn is among their latest call-ups. The 2016 fifth-round pick has three goals and three assists (six points) in 18 AHL games this season and doesn't figure to make his NHL debut on Wednesday.

Washington was forced to send Samsonov to the AHL because they needed a 12th forward and Samsonov's cap-hit is higher than Vitek Vanecek's who backed up Braden Holtby for the last two games. Samsonov will likely reassume that duty on Wednesday night.

Mrazek allowed four goals on 33 shots in the Hurricanes win in Buffalo last Thursday. James Reimer gave him the night off on Saturday, so they'll come back to Mrazek in Chicago. He has struggled outside of Carolina, going 2-2-1 with a 3.53 GAA, .882 SV% and one shutout in five road outings this season.