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Capitals shuffle lines with injuries and Rasmus Sandin's potential return
Photo credit: Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
The Washington Capitals are juggling more changes this week as they deal with injuries to Pierre‑Luc Dubois and Ethen Frank while welcoming back Rasmus Sandin at practice. According to beat reporter Sammi Silber, Dubois remains sidelined long-term and Frank continues in a non-contact jersey, but Sandin is in a regular jersey and appears closer to rejoining the lineup.
Dubois's absence has forced the Capitals to rethink their forward deployment. With Frank unavailable on the wing, coach Spencer Carbery bumped up the likes of Connor McMichael and Justin Sourdif into larger roles. McMichael has played well at the second line center role, and Sourdif looked good in his few games at third line center, but skated back in his fourth line right wing role today.
On the back end, Sandin's return injects optimism into the defensive corps. The 25-year-old blueliner, who logged career highs last season, had been limited by an upper-body injury and sat out multiple games. His full-contact jersey at practice signals that Washington might soon get his quick transitional feet and puck-moving ability back.
Washington adjusts lines as injuries force reassignment
With Sandin tending toward a comeback and Frank still working his way up, the Capitals are juggling their lineup in anticipation of next week's stretch. The pairing of John Carlson with Martin Fehervary has held steady, but when Sandin returns he'll likely slot beside Matt Roy or Jakob Chychrun, giving Carbery flexibility on matchups.
Here's the tweet that captured today's status:
https://twitter.com/sammisilber/status/1985379262380061062
https://twitter.com/sammisilber/status/1985379262380061062
It's not ideal to lose a player of Dubois's calibre and to continue being without Frank, but the injection of Sandin sooner rather than later is the kind of win the Capitals need. If the lineup shake-up yields even modest returns, Washington could stabilize instead of slipping further behind in the race.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 3 | 25 ANSWERS Capitals shuffle lines with injuries and Rasmus Sandin's potential return Will the Capitals' new forward-defense alignment hold up during this injury stretch? | ||
| Yes | 13 | 52 % |
| No | 7 | 28 % |
| Only temporarily | 3 | 12 % |
| Needs another call-up | 2 | 8 % |
| List of polls | ||
