The one team in town that drafts well, no longer needs to do so.
The Washington Capitals enter Friday’s NHL draft with their lowest overall selection (24th) in eight years and fewest picks since 2005. Yet, the Caps aren’t panicked by their sudden scarcity of prospects. They’re already deep in the pipeline.
Affiliates Hershey Bears (AHL) and South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) both won championships last season. Surely there are coming stars on those rosters. Meanwhile, Washington was an overtime goal away from beating eventual Stanley Cup winner Pittsburgh so the Caps’ second-round exit doesn’t look so bad anymore.
Washington has arrived — a young roster braced for several years of contention. Maybe it needs a little more seasoning, but that’s not coming from the draft.
Sure, Washington could use a right winger. Maybe Landon Ferraro of Red Deer or Carter Ashton of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Caps might just take the old “best player available” line, but if that player was a right winger or a defenseman it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Otherwise, this draft is for the future. After rebuilding the franchise with a series of standout drafts, Washington is set. Alex Ovechkin has won two consecutive MVP trophies. Nine of the team’s 14 first-round picks since 2002 played on the Caps last year, three more than any other club. Six players from the 2004 draft were with Washington last season.
Nicklas Backstrom, Simeon Varlamov, Mike Green, Alexander Semin and Ovechkin are the backbone of this roster — all first-round picks. Ovechkin is the first star player — draft or free agency — to come to Washington and produce big-time in any sport since Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels in 2000. The Wizards couldn’t find money in a bank vault come draft time. The Nationals just took Stephen Strasburg with the top overall pick, but let’s see if he earns his best-pitcher-in-a-generation tag.
The Caps are the model for drafting. They don’t concentrate on any league. Players worldwide are considered, though those willing to relocate to minors in North American seem preferred. Positions are ignored.
Maybe the Caps can help Redskins owner Dan Snyder, whose drafts have been largely busts. Perhaps they can just walk down the hall to assist the Wiz, whose last the NBA rookie first teamer was in 1993.
Meanwhile, this draft is anti-climatic. Somehow, boring seems nice for once.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com or e-mail [email protected].
