A veteran winger might be heading down to the minors. While another is set to return.
On Wednesday, the Washington Capitals placed forward Sonny Milano on waivers, making him available to the other 31 teams in the NHL. The move was made to open up a roster spot for forward Connor McMichael, who has been activated from injured reserve.
The Capitals will place Sonny Milano on waivers at 2 p.m. ET today with the purpose of assigning him to Hershey of the AHL.
He has been designated as a non-roster player and Connor McMichael was activated from IR.
It was announced earlier in the day that Milano was listed as a non-roster player, with the intentions of placing him on the wire in order for the Capitals to assign him to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
Milano has been with the Capitals all season, though he has been a healthy scratch numerous times. In the 31 games he has played, the Massapequa, N.Y. native has scored four goals and four assists for eight points. It comes after a rough 2024-25 season for Milano, who appeared in just three games before an upper-body injury knocked him out for the last few months of the 2024-25 campaign.
The 29-year-old is in the final season of his three-year contract extension that he signed in February 2023. The deal carries a cap hit of $1.9 million. In 344 NHL games, Milano has scored 66 goals and 79 assists for 145 points.
McMichael had played in every game this season before suffering an upper-body injury last month. He has been a solid playmaker on a Caps team that has struggled this season. In 55 games, he has scored eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points. He’s not quite at the same pace he was last year, when he set career highs in goals (26), assists (31) and points (57).
McMichael is expected to be in the lineup on Wednesday night, when the Caps host the Philadelphia Flyers in their first game coming out of the Olympic break.
The Capitals (29-23-7) are fifth in the Metropolitan Division, four points back of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
