Capitals Notebook: Lines See Major Shakeup As McMichael Returns To Center, Raddysh Moves Up, World Juniors Check-In

ARLINGTON, V.A. — Amid struggles at 5-on-5, the Washington Capitals are putting the lines in a blender.

Coach Spencer Carbery shook up all but one of Washington's combinations at Friday's practice, as Taylor Raddysh moved up to the top line with Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin, replacing Connor McMichael.

McMichael, in turn, moved back to the middle, working on the third line between Lars Eller on the left wing and Jakub Vrana and Ivan Miroshnichenko alternating on the right.

Andrew Mangiapane went to operate with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime on the fourth line, while the second line of Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Aliaksei Protas remained intact.

While the Capitals have figured things out on the power play, their play at 5-on-5 has taken a hit, as Strome, along with McMichael and others, have seen a drop in production following a red-hot start to the year.

Washington is hoping that those line changes can spark something across the board.

"We're just trying to find something that can sustain some zone pressure," Strome said. "The Pro, Duby, Willy line has been our best line by far, so just trying to find some other balance to help them out."

On defense, Rasmus Sandin and John Carlson stayed together, but Jakob Chychrun went to work with Matt Roy while Martin Fehervary was paired with Trevor van Riemsdyk.

The Capitals return to action on Saturday in a noon matinee with the New York Rangers.

World Juniors Update

The World Juniors semifinals are also set to take place Saturday as Ryan Leonard, Cole Hutson and Petr Sikora will face off when Team USA takes on Czechia in one of the two semifinals. Sweden and Finland are facing off in the other semi.

Leonard struck twice and proved to be a physical presence for the Americans in a 7-2 win over Switzerland, which saw Leon Muggli play his final game of what was a so-so tournament. Hutson was strong again on the blue line.

Sikora, meanwhile, scored as he helped the Czechs stun and eliminate Team Canada in the quarterfinals for the second straight year — and in their own country. The Capitals' 2024 sixth-round pick has seven points in five WJC games so far.

Eriks Mateiko saw his World Juniors run come to an end as Latvia fell 3-2 to Sweden, but he finished his tournament with five goals in five games and 26 shots as he helped Latvia reach historic heights this tournament.

Miroslav Satan Jr. also headed home after Slovakia was eliminated in a 5-3 loss to Finland.