It was a wild weekend in the NHL world and things are about to really heat up for the Washington Capitals. Let’s recap the draft by looking at the strengths of their first pick Vincent Iorio who they took in the second round at 55th overall. He is the first player since Dmitry Orlov to be taken in that spot.
Iorio spent the last three seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of Canada’s Western Hockey League (WHL). The 18 year old is a big dude listed at six foot three and 191 pounds. He even knows Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon, even receiving a text message from Dilly after he was drafted.
More from Draft
- Ryan Leonard has the potential to be a future Hall of Famer
- A way too early 2024 Capitals NHL mock draft
- 5 reasons Ryan Leonard will take the Capitals to the Stanley Cup
- A draft rumor we’re glad that never happened
- Capitals draft grades: Anotine Keller
Iorio told the media via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):
"“I’m very eager to learn and to go into camp. Just to soak in everything like a sponge, take everything in and all the information in. … I’m really looking forward to that.”"
An interesting thing was pointed out by fellow reader and 910 The Fan radio personality Collin Gutman. The Caps selected both Iorio and Brent Johnson a round later. Johnson was ranked higher than Iorio via NHL Central Scouting. Under North American skaters, Johnson was ranked 38th. Iorio was ranked 71st.
Iorio has a big frame and models his game after John Carlson. The fact he’s friends with Dillon is a bigger plus as we love Brenden Dillon here at Stars and Sticks. He had 12 points with five goals and seven assists in 22 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings. He ranked third among What Kings defensemen in points while averaging 0.55 points per game. That was the highest average of his three year WHL career.
During the 2017-18 season with Brandon, Iorio led the Wheat Kings to the WHL Cup gold medal. He also played two seasons with Shattuck St. Mary’s hockey program which has included notable alumni such as Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Towes, and Zach Parise.
"I'm very eager to learn and to go into camp. Just to soak in everything like a sponge - take everything in and all the information in ... I'm really looking forward to that."@viorio14 speaks with the media after being drafted in the second round.#CapsDraft | @Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/ySkTmp62gO
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) July 24, 2021
Iorio not only knows Brenden Dillon but trains with him in the summer. They also golf together but Iorio says that Dillon is the more skilled out of the two. “I’m still kind of a hack,” he said to Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic.
Iorio will be the future of the Caps thin prospect pool that will get thinner once 2019 first round pick Connor McMichael makes the jump to the NHL. He has the potential to be a third pair defender in the future.