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Washington Capitals Top Ten Prospects: Winter 2015

By Dave Stevenson

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Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals are playing extremely well this season, which means that many people have forgotten about their farm system. According to HockeysFuture.com, the Washington Capitals have the 15th best prospect talent in the NHL. That is to be taken with a grain of salt because I wouldn’t call guys like Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nate Schmidt, and Andre Burakovsky prospects at this point, though that website considers them to be prospects. For the sake of these rankings, they’re not prospects. Only players who have not had substantial time in the NHL are a part of this ranking.

Before I begin the rankings, here’s an assessment of what I believe to be the strengths and weaknesses of the Washington Capitals and their farm system.

Washington Capitals Organizational Strengths

Goaltending. They have at worst an above average goalie in

Braden Holtby

who looks like

More from Capitals News

he might be the franchise goalie that the Washington Capitals have lacked since the days of

Olaf Kolzig

. They have two high-talent goalie prospects in Vanecek and Grubauer who should be able to contribute at the NHL level. Pheonix Copley is their most NHL-ready goalie. Grubauer could be an interesting trade piece for the Capitals.

  • Right wing. The Washington Capitals have a surplus of right wings as is. It is very likely that won’t be changing any time soon. Vrana and Barber both look to be NHL-caliber players. Vrana could be the secondary scoring threat that the Capitals have missed since they let go of Alexander Semin. At worst, Barber should be a very serviceable checking line wing and has the potential to be a top six forward thanks to his outstanding skating.
  • Right handed defensemen. With Carrick and Bowey on the horizon, combined with already having John Carlson and Matt Niskanen, the Capitals will have options as far as their blue line.

    • Washington Capitals Organizational Weaknesses

    1. Left-handed defensemen. This could be an issue in a few years if they lose Karl Alzner. They have Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov, but Orlov’s health is an obvious concern. Outside of those two, the only left-handed defenseman in the Washington Capitals’ system who I’d call NHL-caliber is Cameron Schilling, and he’s a bottom pairing guy. Look for the Caps to draft one.
    2. Left wings. The Washington Capitals’ best left wing prospect is probably Liam O’Brien or Galiev. That’s not good. Burakovsky wouldn’t even fall under this category because I feel if he’s not a center, he’s a right wing. That’s where he’s had most of his success.

    So, without further ado, here are the Washington Capitals’ top ten prospects! I used potential and upside as my main focus for the rankings.

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