He has one goal this season with Washington and is one of the two extra defensemen on the Capitals’ active roster in addition to Jonas Siegenthaler. Van Riemsdyk dressed for three straight games when the Capitals needed an extra defenseman because of a shortage in forwards available. Siegenthaler dressed for one game but saw the ice for only 28 seconds.
Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette has expressed confidence in the six current defensemen getting consistent minutes this season: John Carlson, Brenden Dillon, Dmitry Orlov, Justin Schultz, Zdeno Chara and Nick Jensen.
Schultz and Chara were offseason signings, with Chara signing for one-year, $795,000 and Schultz for two years, $8 million. Dillon also re-signed for four years, $15.6 million in October.
Carlson, Orlov and Jensen are also on longer-term deals. Jensen is on the second year of his four-year, $10 million deal, Carlson is on the third year of his eight-year, $64 million contract and Orlov is on the fourth year of his six-year, $30.6 million deal.
Michal Kempny, who is currently on long-term injured reserve after he had surgery for a torn Achilles’ tendon in October, also is on the second to last year of his four-year, $10 million deal. Kempny has been seen skating by himself on the ice at MedStar in the last month. The timetable for his return post-surgery was six to eight months.
The Capitals re-signed Siegenthaler to a one-year, $800,000 deal in late October. Siegenthaler, 23, was a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights. Siegenthaler, who made his NHL debut on Nov. 9, 2018, played consistently in the 2019-20 season. He slotted in the lineup for 64 of the 69 games played last season before the coronavirus shut down the season.