Welcome to the week 8 Washington Capitals prospect report. The following includes game action and news that occurred between November 4 and November 10, 2019. (Reminder: you can always access all of our prospect news and analysis in the top menu under “Prospects”. You can also access the latest Capitals prospect news on Twitter under the #CapsProspect hashtag.
PREVIOUS WEEKLY RECAPS
- Week 7 Report (10/28 – 11/3): here.
- Week 6 Report (10/21 – 10/27): here.
- Week 5 Report (10/14 – 10/20): here.
- Week 4 Report (10/7 – 10/13) : here.
- Week 3 Report (9/30 – 10/6): here.
- Week 2 Report (9/23 – 9/29: here.
- Week 1 Report (9/16 – 9/22): here.
AHL/HERSHEY BEARS
The Bears opened the week of play with a 2-1 loss to the Wolf Pack in Hartford. Mike Sgarbossa would get the lone score for the Bears. The Bears would lose a 3-2 squeaker in overtime Saturday night against Lehigh Valley in Allentown. Matt Moulson and Liam O’Brien would score for Hershey. The Bears finished the week on a high note, beating the Phantoms 3-2 in a thrilling shootout. Mike Sgarbossa would turn-in an eye-popper for the game winner:
Sgarbossa’s game-winner in shootout is pure silk, beating Berbue top shelf. pic.twitter.com/Y4ku11w6xn
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) November 11, 2019
Vitek Vanecek – Vanecek had another good outing in the 2-1 loss to first place Hartford. He stopped 25 of 27 in the game. Vanecek would have a very strong outing on Sunday, stopping 25 of 27 for a .926 game save percentage. For the season, Vanecek is 4-2-1-0, 2.65 GAA and a .894 save percentage.
Pheonix Copley – Copley had a decent outing in his lone start for the week. He stopped 29 of 32 for a .906 game save percentage against Lehigh Valley on Saturday night. He stopped all four of the Phantoms attempts in the shootout. For the season, Copley is 3-3-2-0, has a 2.96 GAA and a .887 save percentage.
OHL/WHL
Connor McMichael
McMichael was Named ‘OHL player of the week’ on Monday for the second time this season.
#OHL #OnTheRunPlayer of the Week | @Capitals prospect @con91mcmichael of the @GoLondonKnights.
PERFORMANCE RECAP 📰: https://t.co/mYkYiwyZxG pic.twitter.com/ttrvbTTfPn
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) November 4, 2019
On Tuesday McMichael and his fellow teammates in the leadership group held the first ‘Scotiabank Coaches Clinic’ for kids in the London area.
Our first @scotiabank Captains’ Clinic of the season is underway! pic.twitter.com/F6tTsY1MnN
— London Knights (@GoLondonKnights) November 5, 2019
On Thursday, SportsNet ran a piece on McMichael, which included an interview with him.
.@GoLondonKnights forward Connor McMichael is off to one of the hottest starts in all of @CHLHockey. 🔥 He spoke about how taking part in @Capitals training camp helped him feel more confident heading into the season. #CANvsRUS | @Nikki_Reyes pic.twitter.com/FXsCQRTCRD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 8, 2019
Thursday night McMichael scored for Team OHL in Game 3 of the Russia vs. Canada series.
A snipe if there ever was one 🎯@Capitals prospect @con91mcmichael of the @GoLondonKnights rips it top shelf to put Team #OHL up 3-0 after two. @cibc #CANvsRUS 🇨🇦🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/w2KbuH6Mzv
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) November 8, 2019
On Friday, McMichael had the primary assist on all three of the Knights first three goals and would score the game winner with 1:05 left in regulation, for a 4-3 win over North Bay Battalion. For the game McMichael had a goal and three assists on 8 shots, was a +3 and 8 for 13 from the faceoff dot. This was McMichael’s seventh consecutive multi-point game.
Video: London Knights
On Saturday night, McMichael would start quick with the Knight’s second goal of the game. He would gather a fumbled puck and make a nice move around the defender, then finish with another nice move on the netminder. For the game, McMichael had a goal and two assists on five shots, and was 8 for 15 in faceoffs.
Video: London Knights
For the season, McMichael has 19 goals and 22 assists (41 points) in 16 games played. He’s taken 78 shots for a 24.3% shooting percentage. He leads the OHL in points and is second in goals,
Aliaksei Protas
On Tuesday night against the Oil Kings, Protas had a pair of assists in a 6-3 win for the Raiders. He was a +2 on three shots and 0 for 1 from the dot.
On Wednesday night, Protas had an average outing, and did not make the score sheet.
Avg. outing for #CapsProspect Aliaksei Protas tonight vs. Hitmen. 0g,0a on 4 shots (-1). Protas had this careless pass in 3rd per. that almost cost Raiders. Protas’ pt. streak ends at 6 games. For season he has 12g, 16a on 55 shots (28.8%) in 17 games. Leads WHL in pts, GWG & +/- pic.twitter.com/kDYhHQfdW5
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) November 7, 2019
On Friday, Protas had an assist on one shot, was a -1 and 0 for 2 in faceoffs.
On Saturday, Protas would score a goal on six shots. For the season, Protas has 13 goals and 17 assists in 20 games played. He leads the WHL in points, is second in goals and leads the WHL in game-winning goals.
Video: Prince Albert Raiders
Eric Florchuk
Florchuk would score his ninth of the season Friday night against Red Deer. It was Florchuk’s 8th goal in his last 9 games. For the game, Florchuk had a goal on two shots and was 8 for 17 from the faceoff dot.
Video: Saskatoon Blades
Florchuk was held off the scoresheet on Saturday. For the season, he has nine goals and two assists in 15 games played.
OTHER PROSPECTS
Damien Riat – The 22-year-old took a puck to his face in last Saturday’s game against HC Lugano. The incident resulted in a concussion. According to the Journal du Jura, he left the hospital on Tuesday (11/5) and is expected to be out of the lineup for about three weeks. Riat was invited to take part in the Deutschland Cup, but as reported earlier this week, will be replaced by Luca Hischier.
Martin Hugo Has – as we previously reported, Martin Hugo Has was selected for the Czech U20 team to participate in the 4Nations tournament in Helsinki.
Mitchell Gibson – Gibson stopped 31 of 31 for a shutout in his first career start in the NCAA. Highlights can be found here. Gibson also started on Saturday night, stopping 32 of 34 shots faced for his second win of the season. (Highlights here.) For the weekend, Mitchell Gibson stopped 63 of 65 shots faced (.969 sv%) in back-to-back starts. He is 2-0-0 on the year.
Benton Maass – The Junior defenseman has been moved from the top pair to the second pair. Florida Panthers prospect Max Gildon is having a good start to the season, and has been move to top pair. Wildcats coach Mike Souza stated “We’ve moved some things around this year,” Souza said. “We’ve moved Max to the elbow. We’ve moved Jackson up top. It’s less about where they are. It’s the ability to be interchangeable. . . . I think the guys all complement each other well.
Kris Bindulis – Bindulis Scored his first goal of the season for Carolina in Friday.
Riley Sutter – Sutter has been on the Capitals’ “Season Opening Injured Reserve” list since the start of the season. Bears Zach Fisch is reporting that Sutter could be close to returning to practice with the Bears.
Will look to get an update later this week, but forward Riley Sutter is getting closer to full health. 2018 3rd rounder was hurt in Rookie Tourney & has been rehabbing in Hershey. 41 pts in 38 GP w/Everett (WHL) last year. Can play center or wing. Will wear #24 when healthy. #HBH
— Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) November 5, 2019
By Jon Sorensen
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