Sonny Milano had a difficult 2024-25 season.
After starting the year mostly on the sidelines as a healthy scratch, the 29-year-old winger suffered an upper-body injury on November 6 in a game against the Nashville Predators. Two weeks later, the Capitals moved him to long-term injured reserve.
Milano never found his way off of LTIR for the rest of the year. In total, he played only three games.
“It was a really tough season for Sonny, and he worked really hard to try to come back,” Caps GM Chris Patrick said Monday. “I think he’s still kind of in that process of trying to see if he can get himself healthy, and I think that’s going to go into the summer, and we’re just going to have to see where he is as the summer goes on. We’re going to have to give him some time and space to figure out where he is and how his injuries are holding up, and go from there.”
Milano first got back on the ice for some light drills with the rest of his teammates in early January, wearing a non-contact jersey. He progressed to being a full participant in skates on February 26, donning a regular practice jersey for the first time in almost four months.
However, the positive progress ended there. He lasted on the ice only nine days, as Patrick revealed during his post-trade deadline media availability on March 7 that Milano had suffered a “fairly significant setback.” Milano only got back on the ice once — to participate in the official 2024-25 team photo.
Whatever Milano’s injury is, it will not require him to go under the knife. Patrick said Monday that he doesn’t expect any of the Capitals’ players to need surgery this summer.
Milano scored a career-high 15 goals and chipped in 23 total points for the Capitals in 49 games during the 2023-24 season. He is set to earn $1.9 million against the salary cap next year and then become an unrestricted free agent.
