The injury news wasn’t all that positive—or definitive— on Tuesday, as the Caps began preparing for their November slate of games.
The Capitals have just two games this week, a Thursday home game against the New York Islanders and a Saturday road game against the Boston Bruins,
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Here’s the rundown:
- Winger Brett Connolly, who has missed the past two games with an upper body injury, did not participate in the team’s first practice since returning from their Western Canada trip. “He’s still day-to-day,” Coach Barry Trotz said. “We’ll see where he is tomorrow. Don’t know if he’ll be able to skate tomorrow.”
- Defenseman Matt Niskanen (upper body) is eligible to return from long-term injured reserve next Tuesday in Buffalo, however, it’s unclear if that will happen. He’s been skating on his own at Kettler Capitals Iceplex but Trotz indicated that he’s still a step or two away from being cleared to rejoin his teammates. “I think that’ll be really the doctors assessing it,” Trotz said. “They’ll probably take a few more pictures and go from there.”
- Forward Tyler Graovac (upper body) has missed the past five games and also was not on the ice. He remains week-to-week and Trotz said he did not have an update to share at this time.
- Trotz wasn’t asked about Andre Burakovsky, but we already know he won’t return before December. He’s recovering from a broken thumb that required surgery.
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So, yeah, the injury news wasn't great for a team that couldn’t really afford to lose anyone.
But if there is a bit of a silver lining, it’s that Connolly is still classified as day-to-day and Trotz sounded sorta hopeful that we’ll see him back on the ice sooner rather than later.
