Scary news out of the WHL as Capitals prospect Alex Alexeyev had to be helped off the ice and was reportedly taken to the hospital after taking a dangerous hit during Tuesday’s game.

Another angle of the hit. pic.twitter.com/EmwjhQMz4m — Brandon Rivers (@BriversWHL) December 12, 2018

Kamloops forward Zane Franklin checked Alexeyev who fell face-first into the boards.

Luckily for Alexeyev, Red Deer and the Caps, it appears he avoided any major injury. He underwent an x-ray and a CAT scan, both of which were negative and the team considers him day-to-day. A team spokesman said he could play in the team’s game Friday, but that has not yet been determined.

Alexeyev was selected in the first round of the 2018 draft by Washington and has had a phenomenal season to this point with seven goals and 24 assists in 29 games for Red Deer. His 31 points ranks second on the team and tied for fourth among defensemen in the WHL.

Other prospect notes:

· Sergei Shumakov’s time with the Capitals organization is over. The Russian forward was placed on unconditional waivers Friday and his contract was terminated by the team after he refused to practice Thursday and notified the Hershey Bears he intended to leave the team. According to a team official, the entire incident took the team by surprise. Shumakov was getting top-six minutes and power play time, but that evidently was not enough. A hand injury limited him to just 10 games this season, but he scored three goals and four points. Granted, Shumakov did not leave the KHL – where he scored 17 goals and 40 points in 47 games last season – for an AHL career, but from what he showed in training camp, he was not close to being ready for the NHL. There is also a crowded offensive roster ahead of him on Washington’s depth chart so a call up this season was becoming less and less likely. It was a low risk move for the Caps to sign him and this time, it didn’t pan out.

Was the player's decision, and a disappointing one. Think lots of fans thought he deserved a call-up or that he was close to NHL based on past season in KHL. Totally different game here. Never saw that from him, IMO. Good handful of guys ahead of him. Just didn't work out. — Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) December 7, 2018

· It was expected that Shumakov would return to the KHL, but he instead signed with another AHL team, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Springfield is the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers who, reportedly, were among the teams interested in acquiring Shumakov’s services when he first indicated he was coming to the NHL. In three games with his new team, Shumakov has one point, a goal.

· Ilya Samsonov earned his first win in nearly a month as he saved 28 shots in Saturday’s 6-3 win over Hartford. It is his fourth win of the season and snapped a personal four-game losing streak.

· How’s this for a weekend? Riley Barber was recalled by the Caps Friday as insurance with the team on the road and T.J. Oshie not quite ready to come back yet. He was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game in Columbus, was then reassigned to Hershey and scored a goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday. The goal was Barber’s ninth power play goal of the season. He has 19 points in 21 games.

· Tobias Geisser joins the list of Caps prospects who will be representing their countries at the IIHF World Juniors. Geisser will play for Switzerland. Also participating in world juniors will be Alexeyev (Russia) (hopefully) and Martin Fehervary (Slovakia). Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen will be representing Norway in the Division I tournament playing for a spot in next year’s world juniors championship.

· Shane Gersich has missed the last two games for the Bears due to an upper body injury. It is believed Gersich suffered the injury after a check to the head from David Kase of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday. Gersich would finish that game, but has missed both of Hershey’s games since. Kase was suspended two games for the hit. Here’s a look:

Kase's minor for head contact. Certainly doesn't look pretty, but you be the judge. pic.twitter.com/LMP069ErAs — Brad Keffer (@brad_keffer) December 8, 2018

· There were a lot of firsts this past week. Prospects Garrett Pilon and Maximilian Kammerer both scored their first AHL goals in Sunday’s game. Geisser also registered his first AHL point with an assist on Pilon’s goal. Here’s a look at the goal by Kammerer:

· Colby Williams registered three assists in Saturday’s win over Hartford. It was the first three-assist night of Williams’ AHL career.

· The AHL issued a two-game suspension to Beck Malenstyn on Tuesday for an illegal check to the head of Hartford forward Ryan Lindgren. He was out Sunday’s game and will not play Saturday in Providence.

· Tyler Lewington played in his 200th AHL game Saturday and registered two assists for just the second time in his career. He also scored his second goal of the season on Sunday. Through 201 games in Hershey, he has registered a total of 447 penalty minutes.

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