The Capitals haven’t abandoned their youth movement. They’re just ready to speed up the process, which means adding a veteran or two. Or three. And it means that tonight’s draft won’t yield the type of player whocan help the Capitals. At least not this season, and maybe not for a few years afterward.
Any help this season will come from last year’s draft, free agency or via a trade. When it comes to impact players, this draft is lacking.
One scout, the New York Rangers’ Tim Murray, told the Ottawa Sun recently this draft was “one of the weakest drafts I’ve seen in my 14 years [in the business]. I don’t see a lot of guys who are going to be top-six forwards or top-four defensemen.”
Washington, though, is not in a bad position. The Capitals have the fifth overall pick in a draft where five or six players are considered above the rest. They have four of the first 46 picks and 10 overall.
There’s a chance the Caps could trade one or more picks for a proven player. They would like to add a front-line center and one or two defensemen.
“We’d like to have more of a veteran presence,” Caps General Manager George McPhee said. “We’ve played with a lot of kids the last couple of years; a little more experience would help this hockey club.”
That doesn’t mean teams won’t find good players in this draft. There’s just not much buzz about anyone in particular entering tonight.
The top prospects include forward Pat Kane, expected to be the No. 1 overall pick by Chicago, center Kyle Turris, forwards James VanRiemsdyk, Alexei Cherepanov, Sam Gagner and Jakub Voracek, and defenseman Karl Alzner. Turris or VanRiemsdyk could go No. 2 overall.
Last year, the Capitals selected Nicklas Backstrom with the fourth overall pick. He recently signed and could provide instant help as a second-line center next season.
He possessed the one thing McPhee prizes above all else: Hockey sense.
“You can have other attributes — skill and size and grit and so on — but you can’t be great without good hockey sense,” McPhee said. “It’s not something you can teach. Backstromis as high as you can get in that category. He has terrific awareness and senses before he gets the puck and knows what he’s going to do.
“You can’t make guys smarter. You can get some guys to play in parameters, but they’ll never become elite players if they don’t have hockey sense.”
Extra icing
» The seven-round NHL Entry Draft begins at 7 tonight in Columbus. Only the first round will be completed tonight. The rest of the draft begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.
» The Capitals will unveil their new uniforms tonight in a special ceremony at their practice facility in Arlington. The color scheme will be comparable to their old red-white-and-blue uniforms.
