The Washington Capitals held an optional practice at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Wednesday, one day after a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers.
Injured Capitals winger Carl Hagel took the ice before the rest of his teammates. In early October, the team announced that Hagelin had arthroscopic hip surgery and would be out “indefinitely.”
Carl Hagelin on the ice in blue before practice today. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Z3lCmFemJR
— Katie (@That_WriterGirl) December 28, 2022
Hagelin hasn’t played a game for the Caps since Feb. 28 of last season after suffering a serious eye injury during practice the next day. According to Hagelin back in May, a stray wood blade tore the choroid behind his left eye and his vision would never be the same.
“How good is that to see?” head coach Peter Laviolette said The Athletic’s Tariq El-Bashiri. “He’s just out there testing, just seeing where he’s at. He is still in the distant future.”
Notably, the Swedish winger did not appear to be wearing any additional face protection for his skates on Wednesday morning, as he has done in the past.
Hello, Hags. pic.twitter.com/h3ov7SDi1K
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 28, 2022
While the eye issue would likely see him miss the majority of games this season, Hagelin’s hip issue was what actually kept him off the ice throughout training camp and beyond.
“He’s got a lower-body injury that needs to be fixed and we’re working on the final pieces of that right now,” Capitals general manager Brian McLellan said. “He will be out indefinitely.
“That was the problem he was playing with,” McLellan added. “It got worse over time. Now it’s in a bad spot.”
The 34-year-old striker participated in 187 career games in the capital team and scored 66 points (20g, 46a). He is an unrestricted free agent after this season and would make $2.75 million if active this year.
Screenshot via @That_WriterGirl/Twitter
