As we (finally) begin Washington Capitals preseason activities, most eyes will be locked on the Capitals’ high-caliber prospects, such as Hendrix Lapierre, Vincent Iorio, Ludwig Persson and Alexander Suzdalev. There is a good chance that all of them will get at least one preseason game before reporting back to their junior teams at the end of the month.
For me there are also a few other players to keep an eye on, as they have plenty of intrigue and questions remaining regarding their potential. Here are five “other” prospects to keep an eye on during the back half of September.
Clay Stevenson – Stevenson remains a wild card in my book. As I discussed in yesterday’s piece on Simon Motew, Stevenson is looking more and more like the prototypical “late bloomer”, as he demonstrated a sizable uptick in his level of play after going undrafted. Before signing with the Capitals, Stevenson met with both the Capitals and New York Rangers, while also drawing interest from the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken. He will be an interesting watch. Hopefully the Caps give him a game in the preseason. (2022 Annual Review and Forecast)
Ethan Frank – Frank recorded a goal in five games for Hershey last season. For me, it’s the lack of data that has me intrigued. Many of his scouting reports have him as another late bloomer, surging in his last season at Western Michigan. I really liked what I saw in last season’s small sample size in Hershey, and was impressed by his rocket shot and game sense. Hopefully he gets a couple of preseason games before returning to Hershey.
Martin Hugo Has – “The Boss” has been a fascinating player to track since his draft day. The Capitals quickly presented different challenges for Has in his first year and he met them every step of the way, quickly cycling through Czech teams and eventually ending the season in the OHL. He is not flashy, with low offensive output to date, but his defense was impressive in the dozen or so games I watched last season. The Capitals have yet to assign him to a team for the coming season, as they will use the rookie and training camps to make the final decision. It could be Herhsey, the Czech Republic or Sweden for the 6’-4” right-hander. (2022 Annual Review And Forecast)
Garin Bjorklund – Bjorklund wrapped up a tough 2021-22 season with Medicine Hat going 8-36-2 with a 4.26 goals against average and a .877 save percentage. You might think that’s not very impressive, but that was on a very bad Tigers team. Bjorklund reported to Hershey following the conclusion of Medicine Hat’s season in order for Capitals brass to get a better look. The change in scenery went well for Bjorklund, ultimately signing a three-year entry-level deal with the Capitals on April 29. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him. (2022 Annual Review And Forecast)
Henrik Rybinski – There are still questions regarding Rybinski’s ceiling. He was drafted by the Panthers in 2019 but went unsigned. He then experienced a huge surge after moving from wing to the center position, signed by the Capitals to a three-year entry-level contract for $925,000 AAV on March 1 and ended last season as the Thunderbirds MVP. Hopefully we see him get a preseason game or two. (2022 Annual Review And Forecast)
Capitals rookie camp opens today at MedStar Capitals Iceplex with off-ice activities. Things will get going in earnest on Friday and pick up steam over the weekend before heading into the Capitals main camp, which opens one week from today.
By Jon Sorensen
As you say, so many things influencing a player’s data — injuries, bad team, not best position, coaching, life issues. It always amuses me when we lose a so-so player who goes to another team and shines. Fans wail “We should have kept him.” Sometimes quite possible. But sometimes that player would never have bloomed in our situation. But the other side of the coin is when we bet the house on a superstar who then under performs when with us. I’m sure we can think of a mullet in the last situation.
No question Fyre. So many (dynamic) variables, changing with environment, teams, etc. You really need to assess on a daily basis, which we do during the season, to get a real sense of a player, and even then, seasons have dynamic variables as well.
Why aren’t caps participating in any of the numerous prospect tournaments? They seem to be the only team.
It’s a fair question, and one I haven’t received an official answer on, but consider their last tournament in 2019. Alex Alexeyev, Riley Sutter and Brian Pinho all sustained injuries. They were significant enough that they missed regular training camp and the start of the season.
When you consider Alexeyev’s injury, which was basically a cheap shot in a meaningless game, it’s easy to land on the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. It’s better for their development in a big picture sense if they get a few days of instruction and show up at their junior teams hitting on all cylinders.
Of course we all know what happened to Habs in practice and which Cap just lost some teeth in another practice? Especially in these camps where they are trying to make the highest team possible, I expect sticks to be flying.
I think that the most interesting player to watch this fall/winter will be Stevenson. IF he does well at Hershey and pushes Fucale out of the starting slot maybe we just see him in Wash in march or definately next season. IF he does well and pushes hard will the Caps trade Lindgren mid season or over the summer? I think back to after the Cup win when the Caps kept Holtby and instead traded Grunny and then Holtbeast was no longer Holtbeast. Trading Grubby so they could sign Carlson to that rediculious contract was bad at the time and worse today. Hopefully the GM has learned that sometimes you trade the older, more experienced player and keep the younger one. Doing it that way would have let VV and Sammy play in the AHL longer and develop more. Or in Sammys’case grow up and mature more. The other player that I hope gets a good shot would be Lapiera and it would bereally interesting to see what a live of Ovie, Lapierre and Mantha/Brown could do.
I agree, Stevenson is a real wild card, and could be in the mix in Hershey. He will be a fun watch this season.
“Hopefully the GM has learned that sometimes you trade the older, more experienced player and keep the younger one.”
I’ll be hoping that but not expecting it.