Capitals center Mathieu Perreault was reassigned to Hershey in one of the team's many roster moves Saturday. (Photo: Associated Press)

With Monday's NHL trade deadline fast approaching, the Capitals made a number of smaller roster moves ahead of tonight's game against the New York Islanders (7:00 p.m., CSN). Without further ado:

-The Capitals claimed left wing Marco Sturm off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. The 32-year-old Sturm has scored four goals and recorded nine points for the Kings in 17 games this season. Sturm missed 63 games during the 2008-09 NHL season after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus and ACL in his left knee. Sturm also tore the ligaments in his right knee during the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers and had to undergo surgery to recover from that. He was traded from Boston to Los Angeles on December 11. Sturm is due $3.5 million in this, the final year of his four-year contract. He will not be available to play this evening.

-The Capitals have also placed left wing D.J. King on waivers. King played in 14 games for the Capitals this season, recording just one assist and 25 penalty minutes.

-The Capitals have assigned center Mathieu Perreault to Hershey of the American Hockey League and called up center Jay Beagle to replace him. Beagle will be available for tonight's game. Perreault skated 15 shifts and logged 13:20 of ice time in Friday night's loss to the Rangers, and didn't make much of an impact on the stat sheet, recording just one missed shot and one giveaway. He also lost four of the eight face-offs he took.

-Michal Neuvirth, who gave up all six New York Ranger goals in Friday night's loss, will start tonight's game as well. Semyon Varlamov had been announced as the starter, but according to Kate Carrera of the Washington Post, Varlamov left today's morning skate at the Nassau Coliseum with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day. Minor league goaltender Todd Ford has been called up from Hershey to back up Neuvirth after he signed an NHL contract with the Capitals on Friday.

The Capitals' current active roster is after the jump. Note that defeseman Mike Green is not officially listed as a roster player, as he has returned to his hometown of Calgary today following the death of his grandmother. King is still on the active roster, as he has not yet been claimed by another team.

Forwards

19-Nicklas Backstrom

83-Jay Beagle

10-Matt Bradley

25-Jason Chimera

15-Boyd Gordon

26-Matt Hendricks

90-Marcus Johansson

17-D.J. King

22-Mike Knuble

21-Brooks Laich

8-Alex Ovechkin

28-Alexander Semin

39-David Steckel

N/A-Marco Sturm

Defensemen

27-Karl Alzner

74-John Carlson

4-John Erskine

23-Scott Hannan

55-Jeff Schultz

89-Tyler Sloan

Goaltenders

30-Michal Neuvirth

1-Semyon Varlamov

40-Todd Ford