Nylander Scratched by Caps

In a bit of a surprise move, the Washington Capitals tonight scratched forward Michael Nylander from their line-up for the game against the New Jersey Devils. Nylander fails to make the starting line-up for the first time this season. With the Devils being a formidable adversary, despite the loss of Martin Brodeur, it does seem rather strange that an offensive forward is scratched from the line-up.

This season, Nylander has 9 points in 15 games for Washington, which isn't too bad, as he does figure himself behind both Nicklas Backstrom and Sergei Fedorov on the depth chart at centre. Saying that, Fedorov is out with a lower body injury at the moment, so Nylander would be thought to be second at centre.

Nylander is a Draft pick of Dale C. and was a reasonable pick in Box 23 of the Sheet pool.

In the coming weeks, there is plenty of speculation that more deals are ready to go down and the scratching of Nylander could easily start the speculation train down Trade Rumour Way. During the week, Nylander had a trade rumour around heading to Chicago to help the young team with some veteran presence. It does seem somewhat feasible, but there would also be thought to be some other interested teams in need of a first or second line centre. Interest begins to peak.

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