Capitals claim Jack St. Ivany off waivers from Jets

Winnipeg put St. Ivany on the wire a day earlier, and it took Washington about 24 hours to decide he was worth a roster spot.

Chris Johnston

@reporterchris

The #caps have claimed Jack St. Ivany off waivers from Winnipeg.

Here's who the Caps are getting. St. Ivany is a former Flyers 4th-round pick from California who spent most of his NHL time in Pittsburgh. The Jets got him from the Penguins this summer in a change-of-scenery deal, with center David Gustafsson going back the other way. Neither guy really took off in his new spot. Gustafsson cleared waivers early in the season, and St. Ivany went scoreless in 4 games for Winnipeg, playing about 13:31 a night. Over parts of 4 seasons he has 57 NHL games, 9 assists, 122 hits and 68 blocked shots. That's not a point producer. That's a guy who hits people and gets in lanes.

Sammi Silber 🏒

@sammisilber

Solid claim for the Caps. Jack St. Ivany’s a big, physical defenseman who plays a defense-first style, can log reliable minutes and has gotten better each year. 27-year-old RHD with upside who can fill in nicely with Vinny Desharnais on the shelf for a bit.

That's a fair scouting report, and the money makes it an easy call. St. Ivany is in the last year of a 3-year, $2.4 million deal, so his cap hit is $850K, and he's set to be a UFA next summer. For a team that just lost a right-shot defenseman who was playing over 19 minutes a night, picking up a big body from the waiver wire for basically nothing is about as low-risk as roster moves get. It also means Dylan McIlrath doesn't have to be a regular every night and can go back to being the 7th D.

The Caps' blue line isn't their only injury problem. Logan Thompson got hurt in Tuesday's loss to the Kings, when he looked shaken up after lunging for a save early in the 2nd period. Before that he was 4-3-0 with a 2.90 GAA and a.901 save percentage in 7 starts. Washington called up Mitch Gibson from Hershey when Thompson missed Friday's practice, and on Saturday the team made the IR move official.

Sammi Silber 🏒

@sammisilber

Logan Thompson is now listed on the IR, but because he was hurt on Tuesday, it's retroactive. Caps don't play again until Wednesday after tonight, so he'd be eligible to be activated by then if ready.

Putting him on IR is mostly a bookkeeping move. Because the stint is backdated to the Tuesday injury, Thompson could be activated by Wednesday's game if he's healthy, and putting him there opens a roster spot right when the Caps needed one for the guy they just claimed.

Sammi Silber 🏒

@sammisilber

Caps lines vs. Sabres: Ovechkin-I. Protas-Beauvillier Tuch-Strome-Kyrou A. Protas-Dubois-Wilson Jenner-Sourdif-Leonard Chychrun-Roy Fehervary-Liljegren Hutson-McIlrath Lindgren Obvious but Jack St. Ivany, who Caps claimed today, not playing and not here yet to my knowledge.

So St. Ivany won't be in the lineup vs. Buffalo. Charlie Lindgren starts in goal, and McIlrath plays on the 3rd pair with Hutson. The thing to watch is Wednesday. That's the next Caps game, it's the earliest Thompson can come back, and it's probably when St. Ivany has his first chance to play for Washington. For Winnipeg, it's just a lost depth defenseman. For the Caps, it's an $850K guy who can hold down a right-side spot until Desharnais is back, and they didn't give up anything to get him.