Via The Score's Ian McLaren, the Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that Nicklas Backstrom's hip surgery will yield an absence at the beginning of the regular season:

The Capitals expect top-line center Nicklas Backstrom to miss the start of the regular season after undergoing offseason arthroscopic hip surgery, Washington Coach Barry Trotz said Thursday. Backstrom practiced with the team on Wednesday, but it was non-contact, and he and Trotz have maintained that there’s no timetable for his return.

“He won’t start the season,” Trotz said. “I know that for sure. I wouldn’t think that’d he’d play through those first four games.”

The Capitals open the season on Oct. 10, and they play their first four games at home before a Western Canada swing through Calagary, Vancouver and Edmonton. Trotz said Backstrom hasn’t had any setbacks, but he’s preparing for a “worst-case scenario” return of Nov. 1 and then working back from there.

“Going down the Canada trip, who knows? He might make that trip, but I’m not sure if he’d get to the point where he could play or not or anything,” Trotz said.

Continued