Washington Capitals Free Agent Profile: Cody Wydo
The Washington Capitals could have a busy off-season. The Washington Capitals need to upgrade their forward depth, among other things. There are two ways that the Washington Capitals should do this. The most obvious way is by signing free agents or trading for NHL players. The second way is to sign some players from the NCAA. One of the players who I expect the Washington Capitals to be interested in is Robert Morris University forward Cody Wydo.
Biography
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 185 pounds
Birthday: March 28, 1991
Position: Forward
Cody Wydo is a senior forward at RMU. He holds the RMU career records for goals scored with 84 and points with 148 as of March 14th, 2015. He also holds their career record for short handed goals with six. He’s from Michigan, so obviously his favorite hockey team is the Detroit Red Wings. His favorite player growing up? Pavel Datsyuk. Wydo surprised many (myself included) by returning to RMU for his senior season despite having an incredible season his junior year. In his junior year, he had 31 goals and 23 assists in 42 games.
Why The Washington Capitals Should Sign Him
First of all, he’s a free agent. Why not? Secondly, he’d be a great fit for the Washington Capitals.
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The Washington Capitals need to increase their secondary scoring. They tend to rely way too heavily on
Alex Ovechkinfor scoring goals. Wydo is a very good shooter, so he could obviously help in that regard. The Capitals also need more forwards who can generate consistent scoring chances. Wydo is good at that. He has 141 shots on goal this season after having 154 last season. Granted, Wydo is more developed than most prospects, but it’s good to see that he’s not afraid to pull the trigger.
Not only is he a great goal scorer (as evidenced by his 84 goals in four seasons), he also makes his teammates around him better. In 34 games this year, he has 22 assists and 19 goals.
As you can see, he’s extremely talented with the puck and has a natural nose for the net. While Wydo’s offense might get the most attention (and rightfully so), his defense cannot be ignored. Having a defense-first head coach in Derek Schooley at RMU has been extremely helpful to Wydo’s development.
"“When I first came to RMU, I was really an offensive guy and Coach Schooley really put the emphasis on working on the defensive side of the game,” said Wydo. “So he’s really been able to help me a lot with that. That’s translated really well because I’ve been a plus-player every year so far. I think having that defense-first mentality has actually really helped me because we play more offense once we get the puck out of the (defensive) zone.” – Hockeys Future"
On a team like the Washington Capitals, that kind of mentality and style of play could help take them to the next level. Seeing as how he has blossomed under Schooley, perhaps he’d be more willing to sign with the Washinton Capitals since they have Barry Trotz as their head coach. He’s pretty consistent as far as his two-way game: He has a +/- rating of +16 in each of his past two seasons and this one.
Game Analysis
I got to see RMU take on Niagra live on March 14th, 2015. Cody Wydo had a nice game against Niagara. Niagara was the last place team during the regular season, so I expected Wydo to dominate. And dominate he did. Wydo didn’t score any goals, but he generated scoring chances throughout the game. He had numerous of his chances go just wide. He got an assist and was a factor on the penalty kill. He’s a very good forechecker on the PK.
Future
I think Cody Wydo definitely has the potential to be a top six forward. Not only is he extremely skilled, he’s also a very complete hockey player. The only concern I have is with his size, but I think he has what it takes to use his size to his advantage. Watching him play, he’s really good at avoiding contact because he’s very aware of his surroundings. His board play could use some work, but I’ve noticed a huge improvement in that part of his game this season. He’d be a great fit on the Washington Capitals second line. The Caps could let him develop further in Hershey, but personally, I don’t think he needs a minute in the AHL. He’s NHL ready.
Next: Five College Hockey Players The Washington Capitals Should Sign