Carbery disappointed Capitals don't have a 4 Nations representative

The Washington Capitals were one of two NHL teams without a player named to the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters, along with the Seattle Kraken.

However, one of these teams is not like the other. The Kraken are out of the playoff picture, but the Capitals enter Thursday atop the Eastern Conference standings.

"(It's) disappointing to see that," Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said. "I thought we had several players that had strong arguments and cases to be a part of the tournament and to represent their countries.

"I understand that my opinion is a little bit biased. But I also think it's one thing if you're advocating for your players and you're sitting at .500, but we're sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference standings right now. And to not have one guy there is a little odd to me."

The Capitals feature several players who likely warranted consideration, including winger Tom Wilson and goaltender Logan Thompson for Canada, as well as defenseman John Carlson for the United States. Thompson, notably, ranks second among qualified Canadian netminders in save percentage (.913) and first in goals saved above expected (8.1), per Evolving-Hockey.

However, it's still possible these players, or others, will be named to their respective country's teams later as injury replacements.

One silver lining is that Washington's entire roster will get some crucial rest while the tournament runs from Feb. 12-20 in Boston and Montreal. But Carbery isn't quite ready to label it a positive.

"Maybe, if you start to get over the fact that they don't get an opportunity to represent their country," he said. "Other than playing in the NHL and making the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup, it's right there with that honor to represent your country. The time off, it's easy to say that now, but I still think if I ever had that opportunity, I'd give up my whole summer to be able to do that. I don't think guys look at it that way, but maybe we will at some point in the second half."