The countdown to NHL’s regular season is officially on. With less than a week until the action starts, many players are ready and ready to go, while others may feel a little more sharp. Training camp grilles are still closed every day while teams prepare their last selection for the start of the season. A team full of extremely talented skaters fighting for a small number of places is the capitals in Washington. Almost every preseason, players in their pipeline start the fight for a lock in the line-up, and only a handful of the regular season schedule from the team. This season is no exception, with Sonny Milano, Andrew Cristall and Hendrix Lapierre to release their best work in the training camp to prove that they belong.
Sonny Milano is coming in big for the prescience matches
There may be no player who fights almost as hard in the preseason as Milano. The veteran attacker played only three games last season, mainly due to an injury in the upper body that had put him offside for several months. This would be the fourth season of Milano with the capitals, in which he achieved a respectable level of success. In his first season with the team, Milano achieved 33 points in 64 games and 23 points in 49 games the following season. If his preseason performance is an indication of his willingness to become a member of the team again, he is more than ready to go after repairing his injury.
The winger came from the gate and noted two goals on just four shots and two assists In his debut for the preseason Against the Boston Bruins. He registered 16:15 in that game and was, not surprising, in the line -up in the next match of the team against the Philadelphia Flyers. Milano did not stop yet and brought another two more goals. His back-to-back multi-goal games have proven that he has shaked off the rust and is more than willing to fight back in the line-up of the capitals.
Andrew Cristall shows NHL tools
Cristall was prepared by the capitals in the second round of the NHL entry 2023. Since he was set up, he has impressed the team, but he has not been completely ready for NHL action. He almost removed from the training camp last season, but was defeated by Jakub Vrana. The attacker has a clear readiness and a desire to connect this preseason to the NHL team. Cristall scored the first goal of the Night team in their 5-1 win against the flyers, a skilled power play goal.
Cristall was suitable for the next two pre -season matches of the team against the New Jersey Devils and the Columbus Blue Jackets. They were successful against the Devils thanks to Cristall, who scored the playing goal in the shootout. He also helped the capitals at the top of the blue coats with another beautiful Power-Play goal. He looks comfortable and confident and has shown his skills.
Head coach Spencer Carbery praised Cristall PostgameSaying: “He again showed what we saw last year. He does things that positively influence the game. And whatever it looks like, he is just creative. He finds space. He is the right place, the right moment.”
This season he plays with the capitals or the Hershey Bears, their branch of the American Hockey League (AHL), after a stunning season in the Western Hockey League (WHL). He led the entire WHL in points, with an amazing 132 (48 goals, 84 assists) in 57 games in the regular season.
Hendrix Lapierre can become a full -time member of Capitals
Lapierre has been with Washington since 2020, when he was set up in the first round. He is no stranger to NHL action, because in the past two seasons he bounces back and forth between the capitals and the bears, spends 84 games with the first and 31 points. However, Lapierre is in the fight to get to the NHL selection full-time, and show his performance that he could be ready for it. In his first preview match against De Bruins, the attacker had three points (one goal, two assists) and won 71.4% of his faceoffs. In the next game he made three assists to help the capitals in their victory over the flyers. He also took the ice against the blue jackets, and although he was kept useless that night, he took 21 services and a handful of faceoffs.
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Lapierre was a point-per-game player in Hershey (32 points in 32 games) last season and helped the team in their play-off run with three points in eight games. He is a playmaker who is reliable, fast and physical. H wants a grid place and is willing to give everything he has for it. “I really want to make this team bad,” Lapierre told reporters during training camp. “I know what I can do, I know what I can achieve, I just have to see it posting.”
All these players have a fighting opportunity to make the full -time selection of the capitals. With two pre -season games, they have to leave a lasting impression on the coaching staff to prevent the latest cuts. Will Milano get a triumphant return? Will Cristall finally get his NHL debut? Will Lapierre end his time in the AHL completely? Time will learn it.
The capitals continue their preseason on Thursday against the Bruins.
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