Desharnais is out 4-6 weeks. The blue line was already short.

Vincent Desharnais had an appendectomy Thursday and will miss four to six weeks, the Capitals announced Friday. That's the news. The problem is what sits behind him.

Washington's defensive depth chart was thin before this. Jakob Chychrun is the clear top option, and then the drop is steep — Cam Allen next in line, with essentially no production logged at this level, and Louie Belpedio further back. Desharnais wasn't a top-pairing piece, but he was a body with NHL experience, and right now the Capitals don't have many of those on the back end to spare.

Patrick Thomas is already on injured reserve, so the organization is managing multiple absences at once. The next few weeks will tell Washington something about whether Cam Allen or Belpedio can hold a regular role, or whether the coaching staff is going to have to get creative with minutes. My read: this is a stretch that will stress-test a thin group, and the answers won't be comfortable ones.