Capitals Allow Miroshnichenko To Talk To Other Teams For Trade

Rumors began making the rounds this past week that teams around the league were "beginning to watch" Washington Capitals' forward Ivan Miroshnichenko, a former first-round pick who has had trouble getting into the lineup. 

Now, insider Elliotte Friedman has expanded on that intel, telling us that the Caps letting the 22-year-old go find a deal. 

There is one other name potentially to add to trade boards here, and that is Washington’s young forward Ivan Miroshnichenko. He was the 20th overall pick in 2022; he’s a talented young guy. He’s played three games this year and scored against Montreal, but he just can’t get in the lineup. 

He’s been given permission to talk to other teams by the Capitals. Now, what the Capitals have said is that they have to get a legit return. They’re not going to put him on waivers, they know he won’t clear. They will trade him, but the return has to be legitimate. They won’t just do it for the sake of doing it.

Miroshnichenko has spent most of this season in the press box as a healthy scratch. He did get into three games last week, likely for showcasing purposes. But even then, he only averaged 11 minutes of ice time per night. 

He was iagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma on February 4, 2022 (his 18th birthday), while playing in Russia. After completing his medical treatments and returning to the ice, he was selected 20th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Caps. He played a year in the KHL, then first came up with the Capitals in 2023-24, playing in 21 games, though spending most of that season helping the Hershey Bears to a Calder Cup title in the AHL. 

He then got into just 18 games with Washington the next season, and only 13 last year. Certainly not trending in the right direction for the 6'1", 200-pound winger. 

In 55 NHL games total, he has six goals and 14 points, averaging 10:34 of ice time.

Miroshnichenko has had some nice run with Hershey the past couple of years, totalling 37 goals and 76 points in 94 games over that time. 

He is no longer waiver-exempt, as The Friedge implied, so the Capitals won't be doing that. He's on the first of a two-year deal with a $925,000 AAV. There should be some rebuilding teams around the league willing to give a shot to a young forward with recent first-round pedigree. And Miroshnichenko's camp now has the green light to find a landing spot.