Vrana, Oshie are out for Sunday's game vs. Philadelphia originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Both Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie will miss Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers (12 p.m., NBC), Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said during pregame media availability.
Vrana and Oshie were both held out of practice on Saturday for what was called a maintenance day for both players. It was learned later on Saturday, however, that Vrana had been added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol-related absence list, joining Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov. He remains on that list Sunday and is unavailable.
"I think everybody knew that it was going to be something that had to be managed on a daily basis based on things that might happen," Laviolette said of playing through the pandemic. "I think the league has done a good job to keep things moving. They've taken the appropriate steps to try to keep teams and players safe and we've got to continue to work at that."
When asked if there was any discussion of the NHL forcing the Capitals to pause its season, Laviolette said, "Not that I'm aware."
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Oshie is out with an upper-body injury. His absence is not COVID-related.
The good news is that Laviolette believes Lars Eller will return to the lineup after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury. Eller was a full participant in Saturday's' practice for the first time since being injured on Jan. 26 in a hit from behind by New York Islanders forward Leo Komarov.
Even with Eller back, however, the Caps' roster remains very thin leaving Laviolette with few answers for what the team will do for Sunday's game.
On Thursday, Washington was forced to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the New York Rangers because an injury to Conor Sheary left the team short a forward but with no cap room to add a 12th forward. Even if Eller does return, the team has lost both Vrana and Oshie for Sunday's game meaning the Caps could be even more shorthanded than they were on Thursday.
Laviolette would not commit to playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen again or even to having a full lineup of 18 skaters.
"We're working through it. We've got some time here to make some decisions," Laviolette said.
Tune in to NBC Sports Washington at 11 a.m. for the start of Caps Pregame Live ahead of the Capitals game versus the Flyers.
