Capitals winger finally ready for season debut

The Capitals welcomed one of their key summer signings to the lineup Wednesday as before their game against New Jersey, the team announced that winger Max Pacioretty was cleared to play, meaning he was taken off long-term injured reserve.  He’ll line up on their third line, taking the place of Hendrix Lapierre in the lineup.  To make room on the roster, Charlie Lindgren has been placed on IR, notes Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.

The 35-year-old is working back from his second torn Achilles tendon in less than a year.  As a result, he missed all but five games last season and while the hope was that he wouldn’t miss too much action this season, Pacioretty wound up missing Washington’s first 35 contests.

In the past, Pacioretty has been a capable top-six forward and averaged better than a point per game over his last two seasons with Vegas before being moved to Carolina in 2022 as a part of a salary cap dump move.  However, over those two seasons, Pacioretty missed 77 games due to injury before missing 77 more last year so there are certainly some concerns about how he’ll hold up down the stretch.

Those concerns were addressed with the contract that he received this summer, one that guaranteed a base salary of just $2M, well below what a typical top-six forward receives.  Per CapFriendly, Pacioretty will receive another $1M at the 10-game mark, $500K at 15 games, and another $500K once he plays in his 20th contest so the veteran will need to show that he can stay healthy if he wants to max out those incentives.

Pacioretty’s return will certainly be a welcome one for a Washington team that has struggled considerably offensively this season; only one team has fewer goals than the Capitals.  While it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to make a big impact right away, if he does stay healthy, he could give their attack a bit more depth at a minimum.

As for Lindgren, he missed Saturday’s game against Nashville and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  He’ll now be out for a few more days at least; once he’s cleared to return, Hunter Shepard will likely be returned to AHL Hershey.  Lindgren has done quite well in limited action this season, posting a .928 SV% with a 2.27 GAA in 15 appearances so far this season.