Ludwig Persson is now on waivers as Spencer Carbery and the Washington Capitals make their biggest camp cut yet.
Washington dramatically thinned its NHL group Tuesday, assigning eight players to the Hershey Bears while putting Persson on waivers for the purpose of an AHL assignment.
Alex Suzdalev, Petr Sikora, Tyler Kopff, Jon McDonald, Jeremie Biakabutuka, Garin Bjorklund and Ben Kraws were all sent directly to Hershey.
Patrick Thomas joined that group while injured, giving the Bears another player headed their way as Washington begins separating NHL roster candidates from its development group.
Persson's situation carries another layer. The 26-year-old defenseman must clear waivers before Washington can complete its plan to send him to Hershey.
That turns a routine camp reduction into a much louder roster shuffle. Nine players are suddenly moving away from Washington's NHL group at once, and the competition for remaining jobs just tightened.
Capitals make a major roster cut
This is the stage of camp where the numbers disappear quickly. Carbery needs workable practice groups, and every assignment creates more repetitions for players still battling for NHL minutes.
For Suzdalev and Sikora, the move points them toward meaningful AHL development time rather than spending camp buried behind established forwards and players closer to NHL duty.
The same applies on the blue line. McDonald and Biakabutuka are headed into a Hershey environment where regular deployment can matter more than hanging around Washington's camp for another few days.
Bjorklund and Kraws also leave the NHL group, cutting down the number of goaltenders competing for crease time during practices and preseason work.
Persson is the name to watch because waivers create an opening for every other NHL club. If he clears, Washington can move forward with the Hershey assignment.
No single transaction here changes the Capitals' season. Taken together, though, this is a clear line in camp: nine players have been pushed toward Hershey, and the NHL roster race just became much smaller.
Did the Capitals make the right call cutting their camp group this aggressively?
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