On Wednesday, Washington announced that veteran blueliner John Erskine has undergone corrective neck surgery and been placed on injured reserve.
Erskine, 34, hasn’t appeared in a game this season and recently underwent a procedure to repair a disc in his neck. The Caps said he’s scheduled to begin rehab over the next few weeks.
A big, physical defenseman that’s been with Washington for the last nine seasons, Erskine is in the last of a two-year, $3.925 million deal that carries an average annual cap hit of $1.96M. That’s important, because Washington is already operating very close to the salary cap ceiling with two players -- Aaron Volpatti and Dmitry Orlov -- on long-term injured reserve.
For now, Erskine is on regular IR but it’s possible he could be moved to LTIR at some point.