Photo: University of Minnesota Athletics

The Capitals’ six prospects playing at the collegiate level for the 2022-23 season include Ryan Chesley, David Gucciardi, Brent Johnson, Joaquim Lemay, Mitchell Gibson, and Chase Clark. Gibson and Clark are goaltenders while the other four are defensemen.

The college season has been off and running for a couple of weeks now, so it’s a good time to check-in on the student athletes to see how the season is going. Note: As a rule, the link to the schedule for each college includes links to the box scores and game recaps of each completed game.

Ryan Chesley — Defenseman

Ryan Chesley, whom the Capitals drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry draft with the 37^th pick overall, is currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Photo: University of Minnesota Athletics

The Minnesota Golden Gophers opened their regular season against the Lindenwood Lions on October 1 and 2, with both games played at the Gopher’s 3M Arena in Minneapolis.

The Gophers won 4-0 on October 1. Chesley earned the secondary assist on Logan Cooley’s first goal in the game at 5:38 of the second period. It put the team up 2-0 at the time. They won again on October 2, this time by a score of 6-4. Chesley assisted on Brody Lamb’s goal that occurred at 8:54 during the second period which, at that time, tied the game at 3-3.

The Gophers played the Minnesota State Mavericks on October 7 and October 8, with the first game played at 3M Arena and the second game played at the Mavericks’ home arena in Mankato, Minnesota. The Gophers won 4-1 on October 7 but had their first defeat of the season, a 3-2 loss on October 8. Chesley was kept off the scoresheet in both games.

For the season, Chesley has no goals and two assists, has a Plus/Minus rating of +3, and has blocked 5 shots.

The Golden Gophers are now 3-1-1 for the season. Their next opponent is Brent Johnson and North Dakota, whom they play on the weekend of October 21 and 22 at home. Click here for the Golden Gophers schedule.

David Gucciardi — Defenseman

David Gucciardi, whom the Capitals drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft with the 213^th pick overall, is a defenseman playing for the Michigan State Spartans. Two of his teammates are Cole and Christian Krygier, the twin sons of former Capitals player Todd Krygier.

Photo: Michigan State Athletics

Gucciardi missed the games against Bowling Green, Ohio on the weekend of October 7 and 8 due to illness. These games were a 3-2 loss at home on October 7 and a 4-3 win at Bowling Green on October 8.

Gucciardi returned to the lineup on October 13 against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. While he was kept off the scoresheet in that game, Gucciardi made his presence felt with a pair of good scoring chances and a big hit within the game’s first eight minutes. He had two shots on goal and was +2 in Plus/Minus. The team won 4-3.

Nathaniel Bott, a sportswriter for the Lansing State Journal, who reported on the game, thought that Gucciardi looked great in his debut despite having his minutes limited due to being ill during opening weekend. He is considered to be MSU’s most skilled defenseman and looked like it in his return.

Adam Nightingale, Head Coach of Michigan State, talked about Gucciardi’s season debut.

“We’re excited about having him back in the lineup, and I think it says a lot about David that he played that way in his first game of the year against a really good team in a competitive game. He can be a really good player for us. He can really skate, he’s a hockey junkie, and we think he’s just going to keep getting better and better as the season goes on.”

In the game on October 14, Gucciardi took a kneeing penalty during the second period that did not result in an opposing goal. The Spartans lost that game 3-1, with a comeback attempt that fell short. Gucciardi had two shots on goal on October 14, as well. The Spartans split their series with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell which was ranked at #16 overall.

The Spartans are currently 2-2 for the season. Their next opponent is Long Island University, which visits Munn Ice Arena on the weekend of October 21-22. Click here for the Spartans’ schedule.

Further reading on Michigan State
State News: Bowling Green 3 Michigan State 1: MSU Fails to Complete Comeback in Season Opener
Lansing State Journal: MSU Hosts UMass/Lowell– Three Things to Watch
Lansing State Journal: MSU Hockey Takes #17 UMass Loyola 4-3

Brent Johnson — Defenseman

Brent Johnson, whom the Capitals drafted in the third round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, is a sophomore at North Dakota.

Photo: UND Athletics

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks opened their regular season at their home arena, the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota against the Holy Cross Crusaders on October 7 and 8.

🚀 warning! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/JYygOq8GZQ

— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) October 9, 2022

They won both games against Holy Cross, winning the first one on October 7 by a 7-0 score and winning the second one on October 8 by a 4-1 score.

Johnson was kept off the scoresheet on October 7 but on October 8, he earned two assists. One of his assists was on Ethan Frisch’s power-play goal at 19:46 at the end of the first period which increased the team’s lead to 2-0.

Johnson’s second assist was a secondary assist on the goal that Gavin Hain scored at 16:19 during the second period. This was the first multi-point game for Johnson in his collegiate career.

🚀 warning! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/JYygOq8GZQ

— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) October 9, 2022

Their next series was against the Quinnipiac Bobcats on October 14 and 15. They played Quinnipiac to a 5-5 tie on October 15 and lost 6-2 on October 16.

North Dakota beat Quinnipiac in the shootout on October 15, but the game still counts as a tie in the standings. In that game, Johnson was held off the scoresheet. In the game of October 16, Quinnipiac beat North Dakota, but Johnson contributed the secondary assist on North Dakota’s first goal. Blake Jackson scored at 4:17 in the first period

North Dakota has a record of 2-1-1 for the season thus far. Johnson himself has 3 assists for the year, is +3, and has blocked one shot. North Dakota’s next series is against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the weekend of Oct 21-22. Click here for the Fighting Hawks Hockey Schedule.

Fighting Hawks: Hains Pair Leads UND to 4-1 Win and Weekend Sweep

Joaquim Lemay – Defenseman

Joaquim Lemay, whom the Capitals drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft with the 119^th pick overall, is a freshman at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. One of his teammates is Jakub Pivonka, the son of former Capital, Michal Pivonka.

The University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks opened their season against the Niagara University Purple Eagles the weekend of October 7 and 8, with both games played at home in the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. They lost both those games against Niagara by identical 4-3 scores. Lemay was kept off the scoresheet in both games.

Their next series of games came on October 14 and 15 against the Lake Superior State Lakers, with both games played at the Lakers’ home arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Minnesota. The Mavericks won the first game on October 14 with a 3-1 score.

Their game on October 15 ended in a 4-4 tie. They fell behind 4-0 to the Lakers during the first period but tied the game with three goals in the second period and one in the third period. Lemay earned the primary assist on the team’s second goal which Jacob Guevin scored at 10:58 in the second period.

The Mavericks are now 1-2-1 for the season. Lemay has one assist, and one blocked shot, and is +1 for the season. Their next games will take place on October 21 and 22 against Alaska Fairbanks at home. Click here for the Mavericks’ Hockey schedule.

Mitchell Gibson – Goaltender

Mitchell Gibson, whom the Caps drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft with the 124^th pick overall, is a senior at Harvard University. The Harvard Crimson do not start their regular season schedule until Friday, October 28 when they play Dartmouth University at home.

Harvard University Crimson Hockey Schedule

Chase Clark – Goaltender

Chase Clark, whom the Capitals drafted in the sixth round (#183 overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft is a freshman at Quinnipiac  University. So far, he has not played in any games as Yaniv Perets has appeared as a goaltender in every game thus far this season.

This includes their 2-2 tie on Friday, October 8, and their 3-1 win against Northeastern that took place at the Ice Breaker Tournament. It also includes their 2-0 win at Vermont. The team is now 2-0-1. Their next opponent will be the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on October 22 and 23 in Hamden, Connecticut. Click here for the Bobcats’ schedule.

Nova Caps had earlier reported that Clark was dealing with injuries going into the 2022-23 season.

Summary

So far in 2022-23, the college hockey season for Capitals prospects in college has been notable for defensemen getting assists but no action, as of yet, for the goaltending prospects.

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By Diane Doyle