Developing young, cheap stars is a must under the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement. So the league’s annual Entry Draft in Ottawa over the weekend figured to be a general manager’s dream.
With a late first-round pick and three more in the second round, Caps general manager George McPhee had plenty of ammunition to wheel-and-deal. He did exactly that, jumping up two spots to No. 21 — by trading the team’s first round pick (No. 23 overall) and a second round pick (No. 54 overall) to New Jersey — to grab Swedish center Anton Gustafsson and swapping a third-rounder and defenseman Steve Eminger for Philadelphia’s first-round pick. That landed Washington rugged American defenseman John Carlson.
“We think our team at the pro level is in pretty good shape,” McPhee said. “These [draft picks] will have a chance to grow and be part of that in the future.”
But neither 18-year-old prospect will contribute any time soon. Gustafsson — the son of former Caps star Bengt Gustafsson — played just 33 games for his junior team in Sweden last season because of a lower back injury. He will likely play in Sweden for two more seasons, according to his father.
Carlson passed up a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts and will instead play junior hockey in Canada for the London Knights — owned and coached by Caps legend Dale Hunter.
“It was definitely a tough decision for me and my family [to pass up college],” said Carlson, who played last season for Indiana of the USHL. “But from a hockey standpoint, playing for someone like Dale Hunter is the best thing for my goal of getting to the NHL.”
Eminger will look for a new start in Philadelphia. The 24-year-old, drafted 12th overall in 2002, had struggled with consistency throughout his career. He played 212 games with the organization in five years, but just 20 last season as a routine scratch. But Eminger’s strong play in the postseason against Philadelphia piqued the Flyers’ interest.
“We can’t carry eight defensemen again like we did last year,” McPhee said. “It’s too difficult to operate that way. It’s hard on the coaches. It’s hard on the players.”
