Thursday Caps Clips: Return of the Russians

Your savory breakfast links:

• Ryan Stimson joined Adam Stringham to delve into the mysteries of evaluating defensive play through the use of passing metrics. [Rink]
• There were three more familiar faces at Kettler as Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov reported to camp after Russia’s exit at the World Cup of Hockey. [WaPo, NHL.com, Monumental video (Reirden, Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Orlov), NVC, FiCP]
• The Captain’s return brought some needed energy to the room and the rink... [CSNMA, WashTimes]
• ... and some humor to the after-ice interviews. [CSNMA, RMNB (and again)]

• Tom Wilson was off-ice for a “maintenance day” but is expected to return to practice this week, possibly even today. [CSNMA]
• Montreal’s Andrew Shaw will have a telephone hearing today with the NHL Department of Player Safety to discuss his boarding of the Caps’ Connor Hobbs... [CSNMA, theScore, PHT, CBC, RMNB]
• ... and HabsNation is not exactly pleased with his behavior either. [Eyes on the Prize], Montreal Gazette]
• Kongrats to KHL Rookie-of-the-Week Ilya Samsonov. [RMNB]
• The teevee ratings for Team USA’s World Cup of Hockey run are basically what you’d expect - better when the games mattered more, worse when they didn’t. [NVC]
• Happy 66th birthday to Rolf Edberg, and happy 52nd to John Tucker.
• One more from World Cup: