We continue our annual prospect review and forecast series for the 2024 off-season with Ryan Chesley, defenseman for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page right here.)
VITALS
Chesley, 20, was drafted by the Capitals in the second round (37th overall) of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The Capitals acquired the 37th overall pick in a trade that sent Vitek Vanecek and their 47th overall pick to New Jersey for their 37th and 70th overall pick. The 6’0” right-handed defenseman, who hails from Mahtomedi, MN, native remains unsigned by the Capitals.
CAREER SUMMARY
Chesley began his career in Shattuck-St. Mary’s Development program (2017-2019) and the United States National Team Development Program (2020-2022). He recorded a combined 44 Points in 85 games played with the U.S. Development team and the National Under-18 Team.
Chesley participated in the Capitals 2022 Prospect Development Camp in July of 2022. While at Development Camp, he spoke about his experience and the upcoming season.
“It’s been awesome getting here, getting to know the guys, getting to know the staff and getting on the ice with them, it’s been a fun week so far. I knew it was going to be a hard time here, just a lot of work, it’s been a grind so far, but it’s been fun. A lot of the on-ice stuff has been challenging, which is good I think it’s really helpful…”
Chesley had an action-packed 2022-23 season from start to finish, including a full freshman season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, participating in the 2023 World Junior Championship for Team USA over the holidays, and finishing with playing in the NCAA national title game. While there were moments of attention-grabbing play, Chesley’s season can best be summarized as a learning experience. His play in the World Juniors was underwhelming at times.
The same can be said for his freshman year at Minnesota, as he was relegated to the 8th defenseman role at the end of the season and in the postseason. All fairly typical for a freshman.
During the 2023-24 season, Chesley had an increased role even though it was not noticeable in his offensive statistics for the Golden Gophers. He played in 39 games where he scored two goals and recorded six assists for 8 total points.
Chesley had a much better role for Team USA for the 2024 World Junior Championship over the holidays as he was named one of the Alternate Captains for Team USA. He scored one goal and recorded three assists as Team USA won the Gold Medal.
2023-2024 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS
The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Ryan Chesley during the 2023-2024 season. You can find all monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.
October
During October, Chesley skated on either the first or second pairing with Luke Mittelstadt. He scored no goals but earned the primary assist on Jaxson Nelson’s redirect goal in the third period in a 2-1 loss to North Dakota on October 22. He earned the primary assist on Jaxson Nelson’s opening tally in the 5-2 loss to Wisconsin on October 26. This assist came 15 seconds into the first period.
N64 line getting active early! pic.twitter.com/15qwP9vX6v
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) October 27, 2023
Chesley would earn big minutes and be a legitimate top-four defenseman for the Gophers.
His totals for October were six games played, with no goals, and two assists. He would average about two blocked shots per game. He had six shots on goal and many more shot attempts.
November
The game on November 10 against the Michigan Wolverines was a highly eventful one for Chesley. On the negative side, he took a tripping minor penalty that led to a power play goal by the Wolverines. But Chesley contributed the secondary assist on the game-winning goal, which came at 16:32 and led to a 4-3 victory.
Chesley finally got his first goal for the season in the second period against the Notre Dame Irish on November 18. After evading Irish forward Cole Knuble, who did not have his stick, Chesley ripped a short-side snapshot over the glove side of Notre Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel. This put the Golden Gophers up 2-1 and turned out to be the game-winning tally as Minnesota would defeat Notre Dame 4-1. Chesley also had three shots on goal on five shot attempts.
ooooooooooo
weeeeeeeee pic.twitter.com/V2AXhvkzSf
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) November 19, 2023
On November 26, in a very back-and-forth barnburner against the Michigan State Spartans that featured numerous lead changes, Chesley scored his second goal of the season on a beautiful backdoor feed from Brody Lamb. It came at 5:37 during the second period and, at the time, tied the score 2-2. The Golden Gophers won this game 6-5 in Overtime.
Way to stay with it, Ches!
Brody and Nelly with the 🍎s pic.twitter.com/cGElwDg8Md
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) November 26, 2023
During November, Chesley played in eight games, scoring two goals and recording one assist. He had 18 shots on goal and blocked 15 shots.
December
The game against Penn State on December 2 was a rough game for Chesley where he was -3 and made a turnover that eventually gave Penn State a 3-0 lead in a game where the Nittany Lions ultimately won 6-3. Chesley earned his only point in December in a 1-1 tie against Ohio State on December 9. Thanks to a heads-up play, he earned the primary assist on the game-tying goal halfway through the second period.
Jimmy bleeping Snuggerud@SportsCenter // #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/n55KdPmldt
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) December 8, 2023
During December, Chesley played in six games and had one assist. He had three shots on goal and blocked 12 shots.
Chesley represented the USA in the IIHF World Junior Championships where Team USA won the Gold Medal. He played in 7 games, scored 1 goal and recorded 4 assists to earn 4 points overall.
January
January was a quiet month for Chesley on the scoring front. He did not score any goals or record any assists during the month. He played in 8 games, had 11 shots on goal, and blocked 12 shots.
February
During February, Chesley played in all six of the Gophers’ games. He and his defensive partner, Carl Fish, have usually been the top pairing, but have also appeared on the third pairing and on the second pairing.
Chesley did not score any goals in February but had one memorable assist. He earned the secondary assist on the game-winning overtime goal on February 17 against the Notre Dame Irish. After goaltender, Justen Close made a save on a 2-on-1 shot, Chesley moved the puck to teammate Aaron Huglen who made a stretch pass to Jimmy Snuggerud (St Louis Blues’ prospect) who skated to the center of the ice and snapped off a wrist shot for the game-winning goal 1:18. The final score was 3-2.
A B1G save on one end and then Jimmy Snuggerud finishes it off in OT for @GopherHockey! 😳 pic.twitter.com/7VotJwMq9M
— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) February 18, 2024
‘U’ Take Down Irish in Overtime Saturday – University of Minnesota Athletics (gophersports.com)
For February, he played in six games, had one assist, 14 shots on goal, and blocked 12 shots.
March
The Minnesota Golden Gophers and Ryan Chesley wrapped up their regular season on March 1 and 2 against the Michigan Wolverines at Mariucci Arena. They beat the Wolverines 6-2 on March 2 but lost to the Wolverines 6-5 in Overtime. Chesley did not score or record an assist in either game. He took a minor penalty on March 2, but it did not result in an opposing goal.
After that, the Gophers played the Penn State Nittany Lions in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. On March 8, they beat the Nittany Lions 5-1, and then beat them again 3-2 on March 9. Chesley did not make the score sheet in either game but took a minor penalty on March 9. As a result of winning their opening round against Penn State, the Golden Gophers advanced to the Big 10 Semi-Finals for the fifth consecutive season.
Chesley was on the first defensive pairing for the team’s last regular season game on March 2. However, he was on the second defense pairing on March 1 and in the Big 10 Quarterfinal games against Penn State. He has generally been on the second defense pairing this season.
Minnesota lost 2-1 to the Wolverines in the Big 10 Semifinals on March 16. Chesley had a quality shot on goal early in the game but could not convert. He had an assist on the team’s only goal scored by Jimmy Snuggerud at 18:31 during third period. He had 4 shots on goal in the game.
In awards given at the end of the regular season, 10 members of the Minnesota Gophers received awards. Chesley was selected for All B1G Second Team honors, along with two other teammates. One teammate earned All B1G First Team honors.
“Chesley has put together another imposing campaign from the Gophers’ blue line and been a shut-down defenseman all season. The sophomore is tied for ninth in the NCAA behind a league-leading 74 blocked shots with a career-high six coming in a road win at Ohio State. He has two of his eight points over the previous six outings, while his two goals this year came during a three-game stretch in late November. The first goal of the season for Chesley proved to be the game-winner against Notre Dame, the second game-winning goal of his career.”
Minnesota played the Omaha Mavericks in the NCAA Sioux Falls regional on March 28 where they won 3-2. Chesley took a major penalty on which fellow Caps prospect, Joaquim LeMay scored, putting Omaha ahead 1-0 at the time. He did not have any goals or assists in the game but had two shots on goal and blocked one shot.
Minnesota played the Boston University Terriers in the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Final on March 30, losing 6-3 in a game where Minnesota had scored the first two goals, but Boston University struck back. It was a rough game for Chesley who had no goals or assists and was -3. He had one shot on goal and blocked two shots. This loss ends Minnesota’s season.
For the season, including the playoffs, Chesley had two goals and six assists for 8 total points. He had 53 shots on goal and blocked 76 shots. He ended up at +5 in Plus/Minus.
PLAYER FORECAST
Chesley will be returning to Minnesota for his junior year season. He hopes to take on more of a leadership role and grow as a defenseman on both the offensive and defensive fronts.
Chesley had a much better season than he did as a freshman season and performed better at the World Junior Championships, as well. He was selected as an alternate captain of the World Junior team that won the Gold Medal for Team USA so is already showing signs of leadership.
By Diane Doyle
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Chesley may never contribute much offensively, but he defends well, particularly in front of his own net, and isn’t afraid to hit. The Caps need somebody like that on the right side — he’ll be a good addition to the D corps in a couple of years when Carlson can no longer be wheeled out on the ice for 30 mins/game, and Jensen and TVR are gone. Iorio and Chesley will fill in nicely, but the Caps are going to need a couple more RD relatively soon, whether through the draft or FA, or maybe trading a goalie or two. Brent Johnson, reviewed recently, is not the answer…
In Bears news,
The Chocolate and White have won both their games against the Monsters in this best of 5 series. In the second, Frank had 2 goals and an assist, Lappy a goal and an assist, Limoges and Rybinski each a goal, Snively and Trineyev two assists, Strome, Priskie, and McIlrath an assist. Hunter was in net again and stopped 30 shots including one penalty shot. (Bears outshot 30-16.) The game ended with two brawls and a lot of PIM.
Postgame, Nelson said he was not happy with their execution. He said the game was a lot closer than the score would indicate. I agree. The Bears turned the puck over too much. The Monsters spent way too much time in front of Hunter who was called on to make heroic saves too many times. The Bears played an opportunistic game while the Monsters ground it out with relentless pressure in their o-zone. I thought Shep should have been first star, not second. Nelson also mentioned that they were playing around with different line combinations trying to find the right chemistry.
After the first game he commented on how hard it was on the players back from the Caps saying that going down was harder than going up. This puzzled me. Best I can think of is that there are fewer expectations on players going up. They might sit in the press box as spares, might spend the entire game on the bench (under Lavi), but even in the best of times they aren’t going to compete with Carlson or Ovi for most ice time.
But coming back to the Bears, these are their stars. There are very high expectations. They should lead in the locker room, on the bench, and on the ice. They are expected to be big producers. But in the meantime, while they were gone, other Bears have stepped up and want their chance to shine. And the staff and fans don’t care anymore about what they did while with the Caps – they want Bears results.
Brain Fart Alert! The Bears are playing the Lehigh Valley Phantoms not the Cleveland Monsters. (The Monsters are in the playoffs but are playing the Belleville Senators.)
There is a God.
The thoroughly de$picable Vega$ Golden Criminal$ franchi$e got GREENED last night by the Dallas Stars. Couldn’t happen to nicer guys. McCrimmon and McPhee, McPhee and McCrimmon. I look forward to future seasons when VGK is an NHL Cellar Dweller
Let’s Go Hershey Bears!
The Vegas Golden Spleens.
But don’t worry. Next year Stone will scrape his shin on his coffee table, and be in a full body cast for 3 months, and Pietrangelo will stub his toe, and go on LTIR, so Vegas will have plenty of cap space to trade for Crosby, and every other appealing UFA to be
NHL.com continues to have an Arizona Coyotes franchise “page.” The Utah NHL franchise thus far has https://nhlinutah.com/ to take in fan requests for season tickets
It’s a sick feeling to lose one’s hockey team to a “folding” franchise! Atlanta, Winnipeg, Hartford, Quebec City and Minnesota North Stars fans can describe the illness! Going back a bit further … Colorado Rockies, California Golden Seals, Kansas City Scouts, Cleveland Barons, all those fans have only distant memories of their heroes. A whole bunch of towns have defunct WHA franchises. The Cincinnati Stingers come to mind
Now Phoenix area fans get jilted
My poster boy for a moved sports franchise is a tossup between two teams.
Baltimore Colts: Under the threat of eminent domain from the city of Baltimore, the franchise moved to Indianapolis in the middle of the night on March 29, 1984. Moving in the middle of the night?
NFL Raiders: Oakland Raiders 1960-1981, Los Angeles Raiders 1982-1994, Oakland Raiders 1995-2019, Las Vegas Raiders 2020-now. To come back home only to leave again?
Ugly stuff, the crooked American sports franchise
Thanks NovaFyre
I’m still partial to the MLB Washington Senators screwing their fans for a second time in 1972 and moving to Arlington TX. I’ve always rooted for “whoever is playing the Texas Rangers” since then. Appalling for the Orioles to lose to them last fall
DC had no MLB until 2004 — and that was the result of screwing the Montreal baseball fans
Now we’ll soon have the Las Vega$ Athletics, abandoning Oakland CA like its NFL franchise. Still it might be cool if Ovechkin scores #893 in Salt Lake City
I liked Rick Bowness as the Bench Boss in Winnipeg. He just announced retirement
Let’s see, that means Winnipeg joins San Jose, Seattle, St Louis, Ottawa, Los Angeles, and New Jersey without a head coach? Will there be more?
Can Gabby be sitting in Hershey watching his junior team for long? Can prodigal sons once again be welcomed back? Or will we see a bunch of assistants and AHL head coaches be promoted? Will Todd Nelson still be in Hershey next year?
I like Gabby in Seattle. A young, fun, go-go team under him? Just like the Young Guns days in DC!
Total Pro Sports has an article on what they call each team’s Mount Rushmore of coaches. They offer up these four for the Caps (Spoiler alert: Reirden did not make the cut).
Jim Anderson. First head coach for the Caps. In his two years he won 4 and lost 45.
Bryan Murray. Nine years from 1981 to 1990. Won the Jack Adams award in 1984. (His brother coached 1990 to 1994)
Bruce Boudreau. 2007 to 2011. Jack Adams in 2008, 2010 Presidents Trophy. Ushered in the Ovi Rock the Red era.
Barry Trotz. 2014 to 2018. Took the team to the Promised Land. Jack Adams in 2016, Presidents Trophy in 2016 and 2017, Stanley Cup in 2018.
Agree? Disagree? Who would be your number one?
In the bad old days, new teams did not get to choose good players like they can today, so I can’t be too hard on Anderson. But that was a bad result. Bryan was the first to take the Caps to the playoffs with a .500 batting average.
But to me it really comes down to Gabby and Trotz and I have to go with Gabby. Not just because of the way Trotz departed, not just because of personalities (who can hate Gabby?), not just because Gabby is still visible on Monumental and in Hershey. He was part of the new Caps fan base.
I feel 4 things represent the Caps era we are now in — switch to red uniforms, the Rock the Red slogan, Alex Ovechkin’s draft, and Gabby’s style of play. He, Ovi, and the Young Guns brought fun to the game and the fans responded. Like Moses, he didn’t get to the Promised Land, but he made the DC Metro area a great hockey fan base. So sorry Barry, my vote goes to Gabby.