Your savory breakfast links:
- Twenty-three man, cap-compliant rosters were due at 5:00 yesterday, and here’s who’s still here (and who’s on the shelf):
- Forwards: Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer, Jay Beagle (Injured Reserve), Chris Brown, Andre Burakovsky, Jason Chimera, Eric Fehr, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Brooks Laich, Michael Latta, Liam O’Brien, Alex Ovechkin, Aaron Volpatti (Long-Term IR), Joel Ward, Tom Wilson (IR)
- Defensemen: Karl Alzner, John Carlson, John Erskine, Mike Green, Jack Hillen, Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov (LTIR), Brooks Orpik, Nate Schmidt
- Goalies: Braden Holtby, Justin Peters
- More on the roster. [Dump ‘n Chase, WaPo]
- The biggest surprise on those lists is Liam O’Brien, who went undrafted – twice – but looks to be poised to make his professional debut as a Washington Capital tomorrow night. [WaPo (with a procedural note here), CSNW, WashTimes, PHT]
- Steve Oleksy (not listed above) cleared waivers and will report to Hershey. [WaPo, Patriot-News, and for a nice Oleksy-centric tale, head over to Stark Raving Cello]
- Speaking of the roster, here’s our unique take on the team’s depth chart. [Rink]
- After tackling the D recently, our own Rob Parker chatted with John Walton about the forwards for today’s Morning Drive… [Capitals Voice]
- … and yours truly did the Talk The Red podcast last week. [TTR]
- News and notes from yesterday out at Kettler, where the team broke bread with the media:
- In general. [Monumental video (Trotz, Backstrom, Holtby, Green, Niskanen, Brouwer, Wilson, Kuznetsov, Burakovsky), DSP (pics)]
- The guy who signs the checks spoke to the assembled horde (and then to Vogs and John Walton). [Monumental video and again]
- Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik are ready for their new challenges. [WashTimes]
- Andre Burakovsky has plenty of support… and he’ll need it. [CSNW]
- It’s been a whirlwind few months for Brian MacLellan, who is about to start seeing just how good (or, heaven forbid, bad) those few months were. [WaPo, CSNW]
- The seat, the seat, the seat is on fire! [Rink]
- Preview, predictions and such:
- No one has the Caps winning the Metro, but that might not stop Barry Trotz from taking home some hardware at season’s end. [ESPN]
- Jeremy Roenick on Trotz because why not? [CSNW]
- The Caps have a favorite for the Richard. FYI. [Grantland]
- They also are fairly well-represented on lists good and bad. [Puck Daddy]
- If you’re looking for Brooks Orpik to drive the bus, you might not like where he takes you. [TSN]
- In which Alex Ovechkin is Richard Nixon. [NY Post]
- What does 2014-15 hold for the depth guys? [Peerless]
- A six-pack of predix. [RMNB]
- Better know your enemy. [Puckhead’s Thoughts]
- Anonymous NHL insiders ranked the League’s 30 starting goalies. Poorly. [ESPN ($)]
- The Caps will kick off their 40th Anniversary season on Thursday with (among other things) a ceremonial puck drop to include Rod Langway, Peter Bondra, Sylvain Cote and Craig Laughlin. [Capitals]
- Hey, have you seen what Ovi’s been Putin, err, puttin’ on his Instagram lately? [WaPo]
- Part IV of Tim Leone‘s epic series on Hershey bench boss Troy Mann includes a cameo by a much-beloved former Caps and Bears coach. [Patriot-News]
- C. Dane Byers does have a nice ring to it. [Patriot-News]
- Congrats to Caps prospect Madison Bowey (number eight in our Top-25 Under 25) who is the Denny’s WHL Player of the Week, which entitles him to free Moons Over My Hammy for life or something. [WHL]
- Finally, happy 55th birthday to John Blum.