The Washington Capitals recalled prospect winger Ivan Miroshnichenko, the club’s 2022 first-round pick, on March 6 after the trade deadline. Since then, Miroshnichenko has practiced with the club but has been a healthy scratch in all six of the team’s games.
After a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night, that run of games in the press box is unlikely to come to an end against the New Jersey Devils on Friday. However, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery is cognizant of how long Miroshnichenko has been out of the lineup and wants to get him back into a game.
“I’ve felt it’s been a little bit disappointing that we haven’t been able to get him in yet,” Carbery said Thursday. “I just feel like, with the health of our forward group, I would have liked to have seen him in the amount of time that he’s been up. I don’t like a guy sitting this long, especially being a young player. So, that is on the horizon and on my mind. I can’t tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, but he’s up here for a reason, and he’ll get an opportunity at some point.”
Miroshnichenko, who has 10 points (3g, 7a) in 43 career NHL games, has gone without a point in the four games he has played this season. In the AHL with the Hershey Bears, he has recorded 31 points (12g, 19a) in 38 games, receiving heavy minutes from Bears head coach Derek King. The 22-year-old Russian forward signed a two-year contract extension with the Capitals on Halloween.
The most notable moment Miroshnichenko has had during his call-up, noticed by Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir, is when he connected with Cole Hutson during a two-on-two drill during Hutson’s first NHL practice. The two are part of a burgeoning youth movement on the Capitals that is just starting to push through onto the team’s roster.
It’s just practice. BUT. During a 2-on-2 drill, Hutson threaded a pass through a couple of defenders for a goal by Miroshnichenko. “Yeah, we all definitely noticed that,” Roy said with a grin. “He was getting some love there. It was really fun to see for us.” #ALLCAPS
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) March 17, 2026
Carbery’s most recent words on Miroshnichenko are more definitive than when he was asked a similar question 10 days ago and declared the young winger’s role down the stretch as still “to be determined.” However, it’s still somewhat puzzling that a healthy, waivers-exempt player who can be returned to the Bears by the Capitals at a moment’s notice has not played for either team since March 3.
The NHL’s 23-man roster limit is no longer in effect after the deadline, and the Capitals only have to worry about staying salary cap compliant. Miroshnichenko is already likely to return to Hershey at some point over the next month, as he was still on the Bears’ roster at the deadline, meaning he remains eligible to play in this year’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Miroshnichenko helped the Bears win the 2024 Calder Cup and has 17 points (10g, 7a) in 28 career AHL playoff games.