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The Capitals to their AHL affiliate Hershey Bears on Saturday after he appeared in just six games to begin the season.
Drafted 25th overall in 2019, McMichael has spent most of the last two seasons with the but hasn鈥檛 carved out much playing time. He appeared in 68 games for Washington in 2021-22 and averaged just 10:28 of ice time per game. This year, the team activated him for just six of 20 games while his ice time dropped to an average of 8:51.
鈥淚 think just from a development standpoint to get down there and play some games, play 20, 22 minutes a night, get in the middle of the ice, take faceoffs, power play [and] get some confidence back,鈥� head coach Peter Laviolette said at practice Sunday.
鈥淚 talked to him this morning and he was excited to go play some games. It鈥檚 been tough. The games that he鈥檚 been in, there鈥檚 not been any power play time, no penalty kill time, so you鈥檙e talking about nine minutes and just probably not enough to have him keep developing.鈥�
Even when he was playing, McMichael struggled to generate offense. He didn鈥檛 register a single point in those six games, playing on the wing rather than his natural position of center. As Laviolette noted, his lack of special teams usage and inconsistent playing time never allowed him to get going in Washington.
鈥淗e鈥檚 just gotta play,鈥� Laviolette said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 got to get out there and he鈥檚 got to have great nights and he鈥檚 got to have good nights, tough nights and he鈥檚 got to score some goals and be counted on defensively and just get back to having some fun playing the game. When you鈥檙e in and out of the lineup and when you鈥檙e in the lineup and there鈥檚 not that regular shift all the time because of the special teams that goes on in the ice.
鈥淗e鈥檚 playing down on the third line, you鈥檙e not on the power play, you鈥檙e not on the penalty kill and you鈥檙e not out there after the timeout on the first line grabbing 15 minutes of even-strength time. Those numbers, they just decrease.鈥�
In Hershey, McMichael will have the opportunity to return to center and play on the Bears鈥� power-play unit. The Capitals will hope to get him going while their roster gets healthier. By sending McMichael down, they opened up a roster spot that could be filled by Injured Reserve players T.J. Oshie (lower body) and Dmitry Orlov (lower body).
Both Oshie and Orlov skated at full speed in practice Sunday and have a chance of returning in time for the Capitals鈥� next game Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
