Brooks Laich News

Laich (groin) will return to the Capitals lineup tonight.

Laich has missed the last 11 games after suffering a groin injury in last November. He has four goals and two assists in 25 games. Laich will skate on the fourth line.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich (groin) skated Sunday, but hasn't since.

Laich will miss his sixth consecutive game tonight and not participating in skates suggests that he is not getting any closer to a return. He had four goals and two assists in 25 games.

Brooks Laich
Laich (lower-body) will not play tomorrow.

Laich will miss his third straight game on Tuesday. Jay Beagle will remain in the lineup after two strong games in Laich's absence. Consider him day-to-day, as the injury is not believed to be all that serious.

Brooks Laich
Laich (lower-body) did not skate this morning.

The Capitals said that Laich is being cautious with his lower-body injury and decided to take the morning off. It sounds like Laich will will be a game-time decision tonight. He has struggled this season, posting just three goals and two assists with a minus-10 rating in 24 games.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich, who was bothered by a hip flexor throughout the preseason, said he is playing in the opener.

"I'm in," Laich told reporters at Kettler Capitals Iceplex Monday. "Oct. 1 was the date that I had circled to be ready for. I would like to have had a couple more [preseason] games, but I felt great out there [Monday] and I'm in as far as I know. It's their call, but 100 percent, I feel great and I'm ready to go." Laich will likely be the second-line left wing alongside Mikhail Grabovski and Troy Brouwer.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich left practice early after experiencing some tightness in his left hip flexor again.

Laich made his preseason debut last night after missing the start of training camp with the hip flexor injury. This could just be a precautionary measure to make sure that Laich will be healthy for the Caps season opener on October 1st.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich — coming off an injury-ruined season — left the ice after just 10 minutes, saying he had a "flare-up" of a strained hip flexor suffered a week ago on his first day in Washington after a summer of successful rehab of a pulled groin.

Laich, one of the Capitals' locker room leaders, was anxious for the start of camp after playing only nine games last year. Laich's status is day-to-day. Neither general manager George McPhee nor coach Adam Oates sounded particularly concerned. Laich could be a sleeper this year as long as he can stay on the ice. He had close to 50 points for four straight seasons between 2008-2012.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia earlier this month after re-injuring his groin, according to a team source familiar with the forward’s recovery process.

Laich has missed all but nine games this season with a nagging groin injury but there’s optimism within the organization that he could return to the Capitals’ lineup in time for a second-round playoff series or even sooner.

Brooks Laich
Forward Brooks Laich (groin/lower body) similarly didn’t skate and his status is uncertain. He saw Dr. Michael Brunt on Tuesday and was expected to see another doctor, Oates said.

Laich will miss his fourth straight game tonight.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich left Thursday night’s game with an unspecified injury that Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates described as “aching all over.” Oates said it was nothing major.

A bit of mystery here as Laich's absence was described as a coaching decision and not related to injury. Sounds more like Laich wasn't in game shape and needed to sit.

Brooks Laich
Coach Adam Oates said he was probably going to ease Laich in, starting on the fourth line. If taking one fourth-line shift before a promotion to the second line counts, Laich was eased in Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I thought he played very well considering the time off,” Oates said. He took one shift on the fourth line with Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle before Oates bumped him up to the second line with Mike Ribeiro and Troy Brouwer. Laich played 12:51 in his season debut, but expect that to slowly increase as he gets worked back in to the Caps lineup. If he is playing with Ribeiro and Brouwer he could be worth a pickup in the near future.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich back for #Caps tonight.

Laich will in-fact make his season debut on the Capitals fourth line with Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle. Laich could be a solid pick-up once he gets back into game shape and sees time as a top-6 forward.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich is taking line rushes with Jay Beagle and Matt Hendricks. Looks like he might be back tonight for #Caps.

Laich has not played a game yet this season because of a groin injury. It looks like he will play tonight on the Capitals fourth line. Laich had 16 goals and 25 assists in 82 games last season, making him worthy of a roster spot when he is back at 100%.

Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich is close to returning from a groin injury. The Caps visit the Penguins on Tuesday then play back-to-back at Winnipeg on Thursday and Friday. It sounds like Laich could make his season debut during this road trip.

Laich originally suffered the groin injury in November while playing in Switzerland during the NHL lockout.

Brooks Laich