Busy, busy day out at Kettler for a Monday practice. Alex Ovechkin (upper-body strain) skated – albeit with a yellow non-contact jersey. He is definitely out for Wednesday’s game against the Islanders, but could return this weekend against Minnesota or New Jersey. I wouldn’t say that’s likely to happen, though. Just that Ovechkin and general manager George McPhee wouldn’t rule it out. But either way, the injury appears to be getting better, Ovechkin came onto the ice about halfway through practice and afterwards he spent about 15 minutes skating under the watch of strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish.
Meanwhile, forward Michael Nylander cleared waivers and we should know by tomorrow evening if he is indeed headed out of town. Caps will likely still have to pay his salary – or most of it – but he would no longer count against their salary cap. And that would be huge for a team that keeps bumping up against the $56.7 million ceiling. For now, Nylander counts $4.875 million against that cap – the third-highest hit on the team for a player Washington refuses to play under any circumstances. Nylander finished a two-week conditioning assigment at AHL Grand Rapids on Nov. 4. But coach Bruce Boudreau said Monday that Nylander will not practice with the team again – as he had during most of October when he would participate in practice and then watch the games from the press box as a healthy scratch.
In other news, forward Boyd Gordon (back) is progressing. He hasn’t played a game since Oct. 12 against New Jersey and has been on injured reserve since Oct. 15. Gordon went harder than he has recently so tomorrow should be a telling day. If his back still feels good he can continue conditioning work and get back in the lineup soon. Defenseman Mike Green did practice on Monday after missing Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. He described it as “a bruise” and was hopeful he could play Wednesday. Defenseman Jeff Schultz did not practice. He also left Friday’s game against Florida early with a lower-body injury. Boudreau expects him to skate on Tuesday and see how his injury feels then. Alex Semin left practice early on Monday. McPhee noted Semin was banged up during the Florida game and needed a little extra rest. He credited Semin for playing through the pain on Saturday in the rematch against the Panthers.
