As reported by Tarik El-Bashir, Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin will not play tonight versus the Carolina Hurricanes due to illness.
Capitals’ head coach Spencer Carbery spoke to the media,“Illness, he won’t play tonight,” Carbery said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
His spot at practice was taken by Ethan Bear, who will also replace him on the second power play. Sandin has tallied 11 assists in 36 games this season.
Sandin was acquired by the Capitals last season in the deal that sent Erik Gustafsson to Toronto. Sandin arrived in the Nation’s Capital and exploded with three goals and 15 points in 19 games.
Sandin has struggled this year, and it has taken a toll on the Capitals while he is on the ice at 5v5. At almost 700 minutes of ice time, the Capitals are seeing just 45.2% of the shot attempts, 45.3% of the expected goals, 45.9% of the scoring chances, and 43.5% of the high-danger chances.
The Toronto Maple Leafs originally selected Sandin in the first round (No. 29 overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. The five-foot-eleven, 182-pound left-shot defender is signed through the end of the 2023–24 season and his contract has a cap hit of at $1.4 million.
In other roster news, Sonny Milano returned to practice, he has not played since Dec. 10 against the Chicago Blackhawks and was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Joel Edmundson was held out of the lineup last game for a maintenance day, he will likely draw back in with the absence of Sandin.
More must-reads: