BOSTON – It was 2004. The NHL was locked out, and a resolution wouldn’t come for 310 days. Players scattered, looking to stay busy. Most went to Europe. Others stayed in the United States. And down in Houston, in the American Hockey League, the makings of a reunion formed along the Aeros’ blue line.

At the tail end of his career, a coaching ladder soon to climb, Todd Reirden rode out his final North American playing days in Texas. The previous season, in 2003-04, had marked his last time in the NHL, with the Phoenix Coyotes. So he spent 52 games with the Aeros, on the same defensive corps alongside someone the new Capitals assistant coach would later see again in the District.

“He was an old man back then,” John Erskine said. “I was a young buck. I kept my distance.”

Erskine remembered Reirden as the coach he became – eager to teach, helpful to young players, happy to chat hockey at the drop of a puck. Erskine had played 32 games with the Dallas Stars the prior season, so he stuck in-state and logged 238 penalty minutes over 61 games.

Reirden, too, remembered Erskine as the player he wound up coaching, currently the oldest one on Washington’s roster, competing for a roster spot on the blue line. Healthier than he felt last season, when he showed up to training camp still recovering from summer knee surgery, told the Capitals he felt less than 100 percent and got inserted into the lineup anyway, Erskine ranks as the elder statemen among the youngers gunning for the gig.

Count his former teammate among those pulling for Erskine.

“I’ve seen him healthy,” Reirden said. “I’ve seen him playing his best hockey maybe that year when we were in Houston during the lockout. He’s not just simply a guy who goes off the glass every time and is tough to play against. He can move the puck well too and I think that’s what we’re going to challenge him with and hopefully he’s healthy enough to do it. I think he is, to be able to support the rush.

“I don’t need him to play like Mike Green, but I need him to be active in supporting the offense, able to play a five-man forecheck game we want to play and be able to take away time and space quickly. I think John and myself are both happy to see him back healthier than he has been the last few years and hopefully lead to a real good year from him. It’s going to be a competitive situation. I’d like him to win out in that competition.”

An assistant coach openly taking sides? Reirden shrugged that off. No big deal. Just someone hoping his friend succeeds, hoping Erskine hangs on in the NHL despite having played no more than 37 games over the past three seasons and with possession metrics that hover slightly below a 46 percent Corsi-for.

“You obviously are drawn to certain players,” Reirden said. “In that situation, he’s put his time in the league. He brings some veteran leadership to our group back there. He’s going to get every opportunity to get that chance and get that spot sewn up and we’ll see how he goes through the preseason.”

On Wednesday night, Erskine skated for the second straight preseason game, while the remaining five defensemen made their preseason debuts. This was no accident. Coach Barry Trotz had hoped for a long look at everyone competing for the three available defensive spots, especially at Erskine, the last among healthy Capitals to arrive at training camp.

“He keeps things quiet,” Trotz said. “He does a pretty good job on the penalty kill, got caught out there a couple times. Really unfortunate for him, because a couple times he was out there tired and the forwards didn’t manage the lines well and he got caught there a bit. A couple difficult shifts that wasn’t his fault, it was really the doing of our forwards.”

Entering the back end of a two-year deal annually counting $1.9625 million against the salary cap, Erskine has always been known for his toughness in his defensive play and praised the Capitals for shoring up their blue line by signing Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik on July 1. But those deals also created a logjam at the bottom. Dmitry Orlov’s wrist surgery will add an additional spot for the early days of the regular season, but even after he returns, will Erskine wiggle his way onto the roster?

Reirden thought so.

“He’s a guy that’s earned it,” Reirden said. “I spoke of hoping that he’s in that spot for the Washington Capitals this year and I think as a coach you’re always drawn to guys who have earned it. If you look at his path of getting to the National Hockey League, and the type of game that he plays, you always hope that guys like that have success. I will share the rest of my stories for another time. Not much has changed with John. I think he’s always going to be a guy that wears his heart on his sleeve.”