Photo: Audrey Richardson, State News

Next up in our Washington Capitals annual prospect review and forecast series is David Gucciardi, defenseman for the Michigan State University Spartans. (You can access all our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page in the top menu or here.)

VITALS

Gucciardi, 21, is a left-handed defenseman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Capitals selected Gucciardi in the seventh round (213th overall) of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The 6’-1” left-handed defenseman was passed over in the previous NHL draft but showed promise in his game during the 2021-22 season.

CAREER SUMMARY

Before playing for Michigan State, Gucciardi played two seasons in the USHL, with four different teams: Muskegon Lumberjacks, Sioux City Musketeers, Youngstown Phantoms, and Waterloo Blackhawks. He recorded 20 points (7g, 13a) in 33 games during his second USHL season in 2020-21.

In 2021-22, Gucciardi had 5 goals and 6 assists in 36 games during his freshman year at Michigan State, scoring twice on the power play and blocking 44 shots. The Communications major was part of a promising group of three freshmen and led all Spartan freshmen in goals. He scored three of MSU’s four goals in the Great Lakes Invitational.

Gucciardi was in the middle of a team workout away from his phone when the Capitals selected him and didn’t find out about the good news until an hour later.

“It was really cool,” Gucciardi told the Statesman. “It’s something I’ve been working for my whole life. To have that goal achieved means a lot to me, and I’m really grateful and just thinking about people that got me there like my parents, my brother, all my family really. They did so much, so it was really special for them too and an exciting moment for everyone.”

For the 2022-23 season, Gucciardi appeared in 36 games for the second straight season, recording four goals and six assists and led the team with three game-winning goals. Gucciardi also had 46 blocked shots, which ranked third among Spartans.

During the 2023-24 season, including the post-season, Gucciardi played in 30 games, scored 2 goals, and recorded 8 assists. He made 40 shots on goal and blocked 48 shots.

2023-2024 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS

The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for David Gucciardi during the 2023-2024 season. You can access all monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

October

On October 7, Gucciardi had a secondary assist on the team’s first goal in a 5-2 win against the Lake Superior State Lakers. It came at 18:25 of the first period. It was the first goal for Michigan State.

On the negative side, on October 20 against Canisius, Gucciardi was assessed a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct with seven seconds left in the first period, and the Spartans leading 1-0 at the time. Despite Gucciardi’s ejection, the Spartans still won, 4-3.

For the month, Gucciardi played in eight games, with one assist. He made 5 shots on goal. It was not a good month for him in penalties as he earned 25 penalty minutes, most which came in the game on October 20.

November

Gucciardi was absent from his team’s lineup for the first six games of November due to injury. He returned to the lineup on November 24 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Gucciardi had the primary assist on Tiernan Shoudy’s tying goal with three minutes to play in regulation. That game was a 3-3 tie that ended up as a shootout win for Michigan State.

SHOUDY! The sophomore picks an excellent time for his first goal of the season, knotting this one up at 3-3 in the third. pic.twitter.com/j3bINxfdHW

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 25, 2023

Two days later, Michigan State and Minnesota played again. Gucciardi scored a shorthanded breakaway, showing off some nifty stickhandling at 0:32 into the second period to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead. This was his first goal of the season. Michigan State ultimately lost the game 6-5 in overtime.

Just a little shorty from David Gucciardi to put the Spartans up 2-1. NBD. pic.twitter.com/3SQ10itEEF

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 26, 2023

For November, Gucciardi played in 2 games, scoring one goal, and recording one assist. He had three shots on goal.

December

The early part of December was quiet for Gucciardi on the scoring front with no goals or assists and one minor penalty.

The Spartans participated in the Great Lakes Invitational in Michigan at the end of the calendar year. On December 28^th, Gucciardi tallied the primary assist on Jeremy Davidson’s second goal of the game, which made it 4-1 Spartans, at 13:40 in the second period. It was a gorgeous stretch pass from end-to-end and Davidson had a spin-o-rama backhand goal. Gucciardi finished the game with six shot attempts and was second on the team with three blocks.

On December 29^th, Gucciardi had an assist on a game-tying goal at 12:03 during the third period which tied the game at 3-3. He fed a perfect stretch pass, which sent Red Savage on a breakaway, for the game-tying goal. Michigan State ultimately lost in the shootout. Gucciardi finished the game with five shot attempts.

For the month, Gucciardi played in 4 games where he had two assists. He had seven shots on goal.

January

On January 13, he had the secondary assist on the team’s fourth goal in a 7-3 victory against Penn State.  This assist was on Red Savage’s tally to make it 4-1 Spartans and came at 15:34 in the first period. It was his third assist in four games for the junior blueliner and another perfect send-away pass.

January 19 was notable for negativity during a 7-1 loss to Michigan. He was beaten on the opponent’s third goal. Then he was later assessed a 10-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct and a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct for 12 penalty minutes. It is unclear what he did that led to the penalty. The Wolverines sealed matters with a 7-1 victory and Gucciardi only had two shot attempts.

On January 26, he had the secondary assist on the team’s first goal which came at 2:26 in the third period with Michigan State down 2-0. Michigan State ultimately came back to win 3-2.

In January, he had no goals but recorded 2 assists. He had 11 shots on goal.

February

Gucciardi played in five of the six games that Michigan State played in February, missing the game on February 24. Offensively, he recorded no points in February but had seven shots on goal. Gucciardi usually plays on the second defense pairing.

During the month, he took three minor penalties, two on February 3 and the other on February 23.

March

Gucciardi and the Michigan State Spartans finished their regular season in a two-game series against the Wisconsin Badgers in Wisconsin on March 1 and 2. For that series, the regular season championship was on the line. Michigan State won the first contest 5-2. This allowed Michigan State to earn their first Big 10 regular season championship ever.

Your 2024 Big Ten Champions. pic.twitter.com/3qVHZ1SEX8

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 2, 2024

However, the Spartans lost the second game against the Badgers 4-1. Gucciardi played in both games and was kept off the scoresheet. He had two shots on goal in the first game and one in the second.  Gucciardi was part of the second defense pairing for both games, his typical role throughout the season.

By clinching the regular season championship, Michigan State earned a bye in the quarterfinals of the Big 10 Tournament and played Ohio State in the Big 10 Semifinals on March 16.

They beat Ohio State on March 16 in the semifinals 2-1. This allowed them to advance and play Michigan in the Finals on March 23. Gucciardi had no goals or assists. He had one shot on goal and blocked two shots. He was on the ice for Ohio State’s lone goal.

Michigan State beat Michigan 5-4 Overtime in the Big 10 Finals on March 23. Gucciardi was kept off the scoresheet in that game but blocked two shots.

On March 29, the Spartans played Western Michigan in the NCAA Maryland Heights regional. Gucciardi scored a goal midway through the second period giving Michigan State a 2-1 lead. It was a lead that they could not hold, falling behind 4-2 before the second period was over. Michigan State rallied in the third period to tie the game at 4-4 and eventually scored the game-winner just under nine minutes into overtime. Gucciardi was absent for the last few minutes of the game due to injury.

They played the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA Regional Finals on March 31. Gucciardi did not play, because of the injury he had gotten two days earlier. The Spartans fell 5-2 to the Wolverines which ended their season.

For the season, including the post-season, Gucciardi played 30 games, scored two goals, and recorded 8 assists. He made 40 shots on goal and blocked 48 shots. He was also +8 in Plus/Minus.

PLAYER FORECAST

Gucciardi will return for his Junior season this fall at Michigan State, where he will be looked to provide more of a leadership role for the Spartans. While scoring is not one of the main facets of his game, he has shown he can set up the play. However, his defense will define his ceiling and potentially get him to the next level, depending on how his senior season goes.

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By Diane Doyle