The Washington Capitals added size and experience to their blue line on Saturday, claiming defenseman Jack St. Ivany off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets.
At 27, the Manhattan Beach, California native arrives with a sturdy frame - 6-foot-3 and 201 pounds - and a reputation as a defense-first blueliner. Washington has been carrying a thin group on the back end, and St. Ivany gives the club another option as it navigates injuries to Vincent Desharnais and Rasums Sandin.
Desharnais is out four to six weeks after an appendectomy, while Sandin remains sidelined indefinitely following ACL surgery. That left the Capitals with just six defensemen: Jakob Chychrun, Martin Fehervary, Cole Hutson, Timothy Liljegren, Dylan McIlrath, and Matt Roy.
The move was made with immediate need in mind. McIlrath had been covering for Desharnais, but his play has already become a concern for Spencer Carbery and his staff. Against the Buffalo Sabres, he logged only 7:14 of ice time, and he’s averaging 6:34 this season.
St. Ivany is expected to skate with Hutson, and the Capitals are looking for straightforward, dependable minutes from him.
Carbery said he wants him to “Just defend well. He’s a big body, good stick” and added “If he gets an opportunity to get on the penalty kill, give us some good minutes there.
Move pucks well and defend well.”
That profile fits the kind of player St. Ivany has been throughout his pro career: big, physical, and built to handle defensive work first.
Washington is not bringing him in to be a point producer. The assignment is simpler than that - stabilize the third pair, absorb some responsibility, and give the team usable minutes.
His path to this point has wound through several stops. The Philadelphia Flyers selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, and he went on to play four years of college hockey at Yale University and Boston College. Over that NCAA run, he posted 60 points.
After college, he turned pro and landed with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. He made his NHL debut in 2023-24, appearing in 14 games and recording one assist. He followed that with one assist in 19 games the next season, then put together a career-best seven assists in 20 games last season.
Most of his work has come in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he played 162 games, collected 45 points, and reached the Calder Cup Playoffs twice. He was dealt to the Jets this past summer for David Gustafsson, then played four games in Winnipeg before landing on waivers. Across his 57-game NHL career, he has averaged 15:30 of ice time.
The Capitals like his work ethic and his stick skills, but more than anything they need reliability. The ask is clear: show up, defend, and handle the details.
St. Ivany sounds eager to take that chance and make the most of it.
“I was honestly so excited,” he said after arriving in Washington. “It’s an unbelievable organization, unbelievable team, so I was through the roof.”
He also made it plain how much the opportunity means to him, especially with Alex Ovechkin on the same roster. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity to be able to share the ice with him and be on the same team as him and, you know, say hi to him.
It’s like the coolest thing. It’s kind of a dream,” he remarked.
“It’s wild … You’ve got to uproot your life and change cities. I’m really grateful for the opportunity at the end of the day. I would do anything to play in the NHL.”
St. Ivany has already begun learning Washington’s system, skating with Hutson and sitting in on video.
He said he needs to be “like a sponge” and soak up as much as he can while adjusting on the fly. “There’s going to be a lot of communication.
I did some video already this morning and went over some systems. I’m just going to be learning on the fly and compete as hard as I can.”
Now the waiver claim becomes something bigger: a real shot at carving out an NHL role. St. Ivany is set to make his Capitals debut on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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