Capitals place Dylan McIlrath on waivers

The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Dylan McIlrath on waivers for the purpose of re-assigning him to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

McIlrath finds himself on waivers in the wake of the trade the Capitals made earlier on Sunday to acquire goaltender Remi Poirier from the New Jersey Devils. With the addition of Poirier, Washington was over their 23-man roster limit, so a player needed to be sent down to accommodate the trade, with McIlrath being the eventual choice. Only Cole Hutson, Ryan Leonard and Ilya Protas are exempt from waivers on the Capitals roster, but all are promising young players that Washington wants to get NHL minutes, so it made sense to opt with the veteran defenseman in McIlrath.

McIlrath especially made the most sense as the player to send to the minors, as he had mostly spent the season as a healthy scratch, playing in just four of the Caps’ 12 games before the waiver placement. While he has spent a majority of his career between the NHL and AHL, this will be his first time in the AHL since the 2023-24 season.

McIlrath is now available to be claimed by the other 31 teams in the league. With the calendar officially flipping to November 1st, that means Sunday is the first day where the waiver priority order is based on the inverse standings of this season. Prior to that, it was based on the inverse standings for the 2025-26 season.

Of the other teams able to claim McIlrath on waivers, four teams would be unable to without making other roster moves to accommodate. While no teams are currently at the 50-player contract limit, four have less cap space available than McIlrath’s $850,000 cap hit: the Colorado Avalanche, the Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights.

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Nick Jensen, the only player placed on waivers on October 31st, cleared waivers and will be assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.