Miroshnichenko scored in his debut. Washington's waiver problem just got louder
Friedman says several teams are watching the Capitals winger, who has dressed once in seven games and can't be sent down quietly.
The Capitals have a young winger they don't have room for and can't hide in the minors, and the rest of the league has noticed. Ivan Miroshnichenko has dressed once in Washington's first seven games, by our count, and he scored in that one, which is exactly the kind of evening that gets other organizations interested.
1. The rumor. Friedman floated it this week: a source told him "there's a bunch of teams watching him because they think he can play." Grade: Reported. The interest is real; a deal isn't, at least not yet. File under: Trade winds.
2. Why he sits. "The reason he hasn't played so far is that the Capitals are so deep," Friedman said. That's the diplomatic version of a complicated roster situation.
He made the team out of camp and then sat out the first six games, which is a strange way to treat a player who was good enough to make the team.
3. What the numbers say. He finally got in Wednesday against Montreal because Pierre-Luc Dubois was ill. He played about 10 minutes, scored Washington's second goal in a 5-4 win and drew two penalties.
NHL data has him at 53 regular-season games, 6 goals and 14 points for his career. By our count he's never averaged more than 12.1 minutes a night in a season. The sample is thin because the opportunity always has been.
4. The squeeze. He's no longer waiver-exempt, and that changes the math considerably. Sending him down to Hershey means putting him in front of 31 other teams, any of whom could take him for free. Washington took him 20th overall in 2022, and no GM wants to lose a first-rounder for nothing.
The read: organizational depth is a pleasant problem until it costs you a legitimate asset. If Dubois is back Saturday against New Jersey, Miroshnichenko goes back upstairs, and every night there makes a trade more likely than a waiver run.
5. The case for keeping him. Washington is 3-2 in its last five with a plus-1 goal differential, by our count. The power play is converting at 15.8 percent. He got 1:36 of power-play time Wednesday in his only game. A team that can't finish on the man advantage might decide it needs the shooter more than the chip.
6. Housekeeping. Nobody has named a team yet, so until somebody does, this is a watch list, not a real market.
The read: I'd expect the Capitals to move him before they ever risk waivers. My call: he's dressing for somebody else by Christmas.
