Washington Capitals slash a whopping 20 players from training camp

The regular season continues to draw closer, and the Washington Capitals appear to not be messing around, as 20 players have been cut from the team.

On Sunday, the Washington Capitals made some big moves in their training camp roster when they let go of 20 players. This team is gearing up for the new year. With less than two weeks before Opening Night, the Capitals are thinning out their options to focus on those most likely to be on the final roster.

Of those 20 players cut, 14 went directly to the Hershey Bears, the Caps AHL affiliate. Five others were on waivers and will report to Hershey if they are unclaimed by other NHL clubs. The organization also sent forward Ilya Protas back to the OHL for more seasoning. Among those cut were five who had played in Washington's most recent preseason game, an 8-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With these moves, the Capitals have 31 players remaining in camp. The smaller camp roster means the team can move to one practice unit, which helps drive competition for the remaining spots. The injuries to veterans Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie leave Washington with 29 healthy players battling for 23 spots on the opening-night roster.

And with just over a week left until the final rosters need to be submitted on October 7, some pivotal decisions will need to be made by the Capitals' coaching staff. The next few days of this camp are really going to tell the tale of how the lineup looks to start the season.

As the Capitals close in on their final week of preseason activity, competition starts heating up. The next set of cuts determines a roster of players that get a chance to make an impact as Washington looks to put together a roster that can find some success this year in the NHL.

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