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Capitals Draft Recap + Grade |
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Hello All,
Today I will be taking a look back at the Capitals draft and talking about some news and notes. Here are the Capitals selections:
1 (20) - IVAN MIROSHNICHENKO | LW
2 (37) - RYAN CHESLEY | D
3 (70) - ALEXANDER SUZDALEV | LW
3 (85) - LUDWIG PERSSON | LW
5 (149) - JAKE KARABELA | C
6 (181) - RYAN HOFER | C
7 (213) - DAVID GUCCIARDI | D
For what it is worth, here are some notable graft grades from various outlets:
Yahoo - "B+"
Bleacher Report - "B-"
Oddchecker - "B-"
The Athletic - "B"
Overall, the Capitals did a solid job. Both Miroshnichenko and Chesley were considered tremendous values at where the Capitals selected them. Today I will lean heavy on content and quotes from other draft guides and other notable websites. The goal here is to condense all the player profiles into one page for the Capitals so you can see it in one slate:
1 (20) - IVAN MIROSHNICHENKO | LW
"Opponents shouldn't let him catch up on the boards as they will get rammed and they will get stripped of the puck. Miroshnichenko is a bully on the ice, with some surprising soft skills in his handling and shooting. He battles and then sneaks away from the play to find scoring space."
-Elite Prospects 2022 Draft Guide
"His strength is his shot, he can unload a wrist shot off the rush in a similar way to the aforementioned Russian. It’s NHL ready, quick, and powerful, and he likes to cut from the left towards the middle and fire it toe-drag style against the grain. It’s hard for goalies to pick up, and he does it so fluidly that they rarely have a chance to square up to him. In addition, he has a powerful one-timer, and you guessed it, he sets up in Ovechkin’s office, around the top of the circle, to use it. Although he isn’t as stagnant with his movement on the power play as Ovechkin, he does like to stay on the left circle, ready to shoot at any moment. Being the powerful scorer that he is, he has found other ways to score. He’s not afraid to set up shop in front of the net, or get to dirty areas to knock in some garbage goals. He has the patience to make an extra move in front to give himself a better angle or opportunity."
-TheHockeyWriters 2022 NHL Draft Guide
2 (37) - RYAN CHESLEY | D
"Chesley’s transition decisions are immediate, and he’s usually making the best play. Manipulates forecheckers, steps inside, goes cross-ice for breakout passes. It’s been years since a draft-minus-one NTDP defender showed this much creativity and consistency on the breakout. His breakout passes consistently create space for his teammates. When he leads the rush, he manipulates pressure then dekes around them, before finishing his off-puck route. Just so involved and refined. And he’s quite physical defensively to go with an instinctual break-up-focused game, risk-mitigating footwork, and controlled stick work."
-Elite Prospects 2022 Draft Guide
3 (70) - ALEXANDER SUZDALEV | LW
"Suzdalev who is a speedy winger who is hard to knock off the puck and has a proven offensive track record.Known mostly as a playmaker who does have somewhat of a scoring touch to his game, Suzdalev has an attractive offensive toolkit that he can use to cause havoc for the opposition. His speed is notable, but it’s the deceptiveness with which he plays that’s really noticeable. Strong with the puck and a very capable stick-handler, Suzdalev can consistently make plays happen both for himself and especially for his teammates."
-TheHockeyWriters Draft Guide 2022
3 (85) - LUDWIG PERSSON | LW
"A speedy winger with good hands, Persson plays with intensity and works hard every shift. His skating stands out"
-EPRinkside.com 2021
"A speedy player who is very good at challenging his opponents in high speed. Scores plenty of goals. Has an excellent release."
-Anders Eriksén (HC) 2020
"Smooth skating offensively-minded forward. Needs to round out the rest of his game to earn opportunities to let his offense shine but possesses legitimate upside as a scoring threat at the NHL level."
-DobberProspects 2022
5 (149) - JAKE KARABELA | C
"Karabela’s strengths are in the offensive zone. He has the ability to pick out teammates with strong passes while getting into scoring opportunities himself. His play along the boards is also something to watch, as he is difficult to knock off the puck and can make an outlet pass even when checked. Once he gets the outlet pass away, he can use his speed to catch up to the play and become a target for a scoring chance in the offensive zone."
-TheHockeyWriters Draft Guide 2022
6 (181) - RYAN HOFER | C
"Hofer, an '02-born Winnipeg, MB native, netted 25 goals with 33 assists in 67 games played in 2021-22- good enough for sixth-most in points on the team. Hofer was particularly impressive while centering Hemmerling and Niko Huuhtanen, orchestrating a 10-game point streak from Nov. 26 through Dec. 14. His punishing physical play and powerful north-south drive paid big dividends for the Silvertips, notching 13 multi-point outings in the regular season. He flourished in the WHL Playoffs with five multi-point performances in six games against the Vancouver Giants. Hofer was awarded Most Improved Player by the Everett coaching staff at the team's year-end awards"
-Oursportscentral.com 07/08/2022
7 (213) - DAVID GUCCIARDI | D
"Gucciadri showed tremendous poise with the puck on his stick, and he projects as a catalyst from the back end because of his high offensive ceiling. His puck control skills became especially evident on the power play. He showed the ability to maneuver around opponents and maintain good position as a distributor from the point with the man advantage."
-TheHockeyWriters Draft Guide 2022
-“Every time Gucciardi is on the ice, he demands the puck, gets it, passes, and then joins the rush to get it back. He recognizes space up the ice before many of his forwards, and finishes his off-puck routes to create space behind him. Most of his activation leads to shots from his own stick, but he shows enough passing skill to believe a change in mentality will lead to far better offensive results.” -2021 Elite Prospects NHL Draft Guide
Draft quotes and player profiles provided by:
-Elite Prospects 2022 Draft Guide / www.eliteprospects.com
-TheHockeyWriters Draft Guide 2022 / www.thehockeywriters.com
-Oursportscentral.com 07/08/2022
-EPRinkside.com 2021
-DobberProspects 2022
Final Thoughts: The Capitals got value with their first two picks and in my opinion, they nailed it. The rest of the draft was pretty safe and they also got some solid players. It is nice to see the Capitals not getting too crazy on draft day and simply just drafting guys and using their picks. There was a period of years where it felt like the Capitals were short on draft picks because they usually traded them away at the trade deadline.
If I had to give a grade, I would give them a "B+"
What are your thoughts on the draft for the Capitals?
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Stats/Facts/Video Clips Provided By:
nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
moneypuck.com
hockeyfights.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
@JFreshHockey
@ChatterCharts Twitter page
@Capitals Twitter page
@HersheyBears Twitter page
>>>Follow me on Twitter @HB_Capitals<<<
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Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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