Washington

Possible Position Battles Entering Washington Capitals’ Training Camp

Published

1 year ago

August 30, 2024

Possible Position Battles Entering Washington Capitals’ Training Camp

After significant roster movement occurred over the summer, the Washington Capitals will have a new look for the 2024-25 season, leading to competition for several roles as opening night approaches. With training camp starting in three weeks and the exhibition slate set to begin on September 22, NoVa Caps takes a look at the key battles up for grabs in camp and preseason:

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- Jakub Vrana – The 2018 Stanley Cup champion will join Washington on a PTO and has the talent to be a top-six forward, with two 20-goal seasons under his belt and 92 goals and 170 points in 252 games (.67 points per game—tied for 142nd among all players who played at least 200 games from 2018-23). If he can get his personal life together, Vrana could make a significant impact. He spent a couple of months in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program in 2022 and has since cleared waivers twice with the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues.

- Hendrix Lapierre – The 22-year-old established himself as an everyday NHL player last season, notching eight goals and 22 points in 51 regular-season games (a 13-goal, 35-point pace over 82 games), in addition to the goal and assist he earned in the postseason during his first full season. Despite being sent down to AHL Hershey for five weeks in mid-January, Lapierre scored six goals and 16 points in 27 NHL games (0.59 points per game) from January 18 onwards, ranking fifth on the roster, excluding Anthony Mantha and Evgeny Kuznetsov (both of whom were traded in early March).

- Andrew Mangiapane – The 28-year-old had his lowest goal total (14) in five full NHL seasons across 75 games, which is understandable considering the Calgary Flames sold off Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, and Chris Tanev last season. He had at least 17 goals and 30 points in each of his previous four seasons, including a 35-goal campaign in 2021-22. Washington acquired Mangiapane on June 27.
- Connor McMichael – The 23-year-old impressed last season, finishing with 18 goals (tied for third on the team) and 33 points (fifth) in a career-high 80 games. Both McMichael and Lapierre were first-round picks by Washington in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
- The players who do not get this roster spot will likely make up the Capitals’ third-line, although Sonny Milano will almost certainly be the left-wing on that trio. McMichael or Lapierre will likely be the third-line center.
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- Brandon Duhaime – If Vrana makes the team, it will likely push someone down the lineup (likely Aliaksei Protas) and another player out. The 27-year-old scored five goals, 13 points, and had a .4512 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 80 games with the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche last season. He also scored a goal in Colorado’s 11 postseason games. Duhaime averaged 2:06 per game on the penalty kill with Minnesota (third among the team’s forwards) and 2:11 with Colorado (third).

- Taylor Raddysh – The 26-year-old notched five goals, 14 points, and a .4288 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 73 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season. Raddysh averaged 1:48 per game on the power play (ninth among Chicago forwards) and 1:33 on the penalty kill (fourth).
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- Ethan Bear – The 26-year-old tallied a goal, four points, a -5 rating, a .4537 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, a .4089 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and a .4181 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 24 games before entering the NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Bear did not make his season debut until December 30 last year due to offseason shoulder surgery. The Capitals will likely pay close attention to him during training camp after a full offseason of unrestricted training.
- Trevor Van Riemsdyk – While averaging 18:40 per game (fifth among Capitals defensemen), including 1:35 on the penalty kill (fourth), the 32-year-old recorded 14 assists, a -7 rating, a .4674 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, a .5049 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and a .4964 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 70 games. He was healthy scratched a couple of times after Bear was brought in.

- Alexander Alexeyev – The 24-year-old played a career-high 39 games this season, posting a goal, three points, a -8 rating, a .4674 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, a .4996 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and a .514 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 13:42 per game (ninth among team defensemen), including 28 seconds on the penalty kill (sixth). Alexeyev performed admirably in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where he recorded a .627 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, a .7683 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and a .7069 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage, all of which led Washington defensemen who appeared in all four postseason games. An advantage for Alexeyev could be Bear’s ($2.625 million cap hit) and Van Riemsdyk’s ($3 million) high salaries, which could lead to a trade of at least one of them before opening night, with Washington up against the NHL salary cap.

In addition to these open spots, Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren will compete for ice time, and Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois will vie for the first-line center position, though both of these roles could very well be interchangeable throughout the season.

With training camp approaching, the Capitals still need to finalize a few details regarding their lineup for October 12 after an offseason of roster tinkering. With new players coming in, salary cap adjustments needed, and young players demanding more ice time, this should be a very exciting camp in the District.

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077

This entry was posted in News and tagged Alexander Alexeyev, Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime, Connor McMichael, Ethan Bear, Harrison Brown, Hendrix Lapierre, Jakub Vrana, Roster, Stats, Taylor Raddysh, Training Camp, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Washington Capitals. Bookmark the permalink.

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Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.

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Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

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Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.

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Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Published

2 days ago

February 25, 2026

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Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.

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