The Washington Capitals will have a bit more opportunity available on offense after trading Nic Dowd to the Vegas Golden Knights on the eve of the Trade Deadline. Washington acquired David Kampf from the Vancouver Canucks and will now bring in some competition by recalling winger Ivan Miroshnichenko from the AHL.
Miroshnichenko has spent the majority of his season in the minor leagues. He has racked up 12 goals and 31 points in 38 games with the Hershey Bears, good for fourth on the team in scoring. Miroshnichenko is on pace to narrowly beat out his career-high 42 points scored in 52 games last season. His AHL season has been inetercut with routine NHL call-ups and four games. He has no NHL scoring this season but did manage 10 points in 39 NHL games over the last two seasons.
Miroshnichenko has been a standout shooter since his days in Russia’s Omsk Avangard pipeline. He scored 15 goals and 29 points in 22 U20 games, across two seasons, and set a U18 record when he scored 10 goals in 31 VHL games – Russia’s second-tier pro league – in 2021-22. He broke the previous record of eight goals, set by Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin in 2012-13.
That performance earned Miroshnichenko the 20th-overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. He made his KHL debut in the following season marked by four points in 23 games, then moved to the NHL/AHL circuit in 2023-24. After battling that rotation for three seasons, Dowd’s exit could open just enough space for Miroshnichenko to take his next step.