The Washington Capitals Draft Breakdown.
The Caps picked up Jakub Vrana with their first round pick at #13. Caps fans weren't too sure about this pick as they were hoping for the Caps to draft a big, shut-down style defenseman that could step into the NHL right away. GMBM did try to make some moves early on to move up into the top ten in order to draft defenseman Haydn Fleury from the Red Deer Rebels, but whatever team they were talking to did not want to move back to #13. At least he tried, right? At any rate, Vrana has a lot of offensive upside, but has a lot of work to do with his two-way game - so I guess he fits the mold of a typical Caps draft pick. He should be fun to watch, however, whenever he cracks the lineup - probably a few years down the road.
39th - Goaltender Vitek Vanecek: The Caps picked up a second Czech player with their 2nd round selection. Vanecek played 38 games with Billi Tygri Liberec of the Czech Republic Under-20 League. He posted a 2.64 GAA with a .921 SP and 2 shutouts. He was ranked 8th by the NHL Central Scouting for European Goaltenders.
89th - Left Wing Nathan Walker: Walker was signed by the Caps last year and played 43 games with the Hershey Bears. He played for his native Austrailia in the IIHF World Championship D2 tournment in 2011 and again in 2012 in the Group B tournament, where he registered 6 points in 4 games. Walker is the first Austrailian to be draft by an NHL team.
134th - Forward Shane Gersich: One of the younger draft picks at 17, Gersich played 26 games for the U.S. U18 team, registering 16 points. The Minnesota native played for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL for six games in 2012-13. He will attend the University of North Dakota next year.
159th - RW Steven Spinner: Another Minnesota native, Spinner played 25 games with Eden Prairie HS scoring 17 goals and 22 assists. He was ranked 96th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He will attend the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2015-16.
194th - RW Kevin Elgestal: Played for Frolunda in the J20 SuperElit League and recorded 35 points in 44 games. He also represented Sweden in the 2014 U18 World Championships and Ivan Hlinka Tournament in 2013. He was ranked 51st for European skates by NHL Central Scouting.
The Caps also picked up goaltender Eddie Pasquale and the 159th pick from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for the 164th, 192nd and a 2015 7th round pick. Pasquale has played 136 AHL games posting a 66-59-7 record with 10 shutouts and a 2.63 GAA with a .910 SP.
When looking at the Capitals pipeline of young talent, it makes sense why they drafted the way they did this year. The Caps have stockpiles of young defenseman and left wings, and added to their right side this year. As for goaltending the Caps have 4 decent prospects, with the best being Phillip Grubauer, who will probably start with Hershey again this year. The big needs can only be filled via free agency, which should be interesting tomorrow. It's looking doubtful that they will re-sign Mikhail Grabovski, but you never know what can happen. As for defenseman, Willie Mitchell and Brooks Orpik look to be the most likely candidates now, but lots of teams will be looking to add them.
Should be fun!
More to come...
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