Report: Major help on the way for the Caps!

The Washington Capitals had some tough luck at the start of the season, following a pretty rough summer. After losing defensemen Kevin Shattentirk, Karl Alzner and Nate Schmidt on the market during the offseason, another of their top defenders, Matt Niskanen suffered a serious upper-body injury. 

The 30-year-old was placed on long-term injured reserve back in mid-October, on a week-to-week basis. Now, good news for the Caps as head coach Barry Trotz revealed that the defenseman is now day-to-day. 

On LTIR, he must miss 10 games and 24 days, which meant Niskanen wasn't eligible to return until Nov. 7. With that date now a thing of the past, Niskanen could return to help his team sooner than later. 

Niskanen’s injury did put more pressure on veteran John Carlson, who will be glad when Niskanen returns to action. 

In five games before his injury, Niskanen collected one assist.