Washington Capitals: Rookie Tournament Preview

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Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The details are starting to emerge on the newly formatted annual September rookie camp for the Washington Capitals 2015 draft picks and existing prospects yet to go pro. Hockey fans in Estero, Florida will be treated to some of the world’s most premiere upcoming talent between September 12th through 15th as the NHL moves the usual rookie camp and single game scrimmage format to that of a four team round-robin style exhibition tournament featuring the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators inside the Germain Arena. Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan explained at the announcement in June via Monumental Network.

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"“This is a great opportunity for our prospects to compete against other team’s top young players and for us to evaluate our talent”."

He also hinted that we may see the venue move to the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in years to come. While fans will be basking in sunshine and the future NHL stars, the League’s professional talent evaluators will be offered something much more: an extended real-world contextual application of those that they’ve been monitoring around the globe in dimly-lit film rooms for years now.

Departing from the format of rookie camps, which usually comprised of a five-day practice intensive program topped off with a scrimmage finale against prospects from the Philadelphia Flyers, the new format breaks away from the isolated and sterile environment of repeated rink drills and opts for a more practical multiple-game tournament session where preachings can be practiced and applied. The early opportunity for coaches allows them to plant formations of strategy into developing hockey minds and recite mantras that will one day segue players into the professional realm. For the participating franchises, the additional benchmark comparisons must be an exciting part of their offseason. For players, the both-feet-in exposure could do much, much more. Washington Capitals forward prospect Nathan Walker explains further via his one-on-one with Mike Vogel:

"It’s definitely going to be pretty cool. I’ve never been down that way before [Florida], so it’ll be good to see…having two NHL camps under my belt now kind of helps. I kind of know what to expect and I just need to make sure I come prepared. – Monumental Network."

When prompted for his observations thus far between the amateur rankings and the pros, the Washington Capitals prospect from Australia added his insight:

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"Probably just the amount of games. I know in juniors they play a fair amount, but in college they don’t seem to play that many games so it’s kind of tough to compare them…[Taking] care of your body, coming in at the right shape and after the practices, [making] sure you’re stretching and all that type of stuff. The cold tubs. Making sure you’re getting it in. – Nathan Walker"

While playing in tournaments is nothing new to the emerging roster potentials, playing in them at the NHL level, where speed and force undergo multipliers unlike they’ve seen in their respective leagues, certainly is. Making the jump up to the NHL level from the minors is incredibly difficult and many have struggled to make the transition.

The new rookie tournament, with its surplus of multi-team talent and back-to-back games endurance provides players an intermediary step up to the big time. A place to practice, play, review and start again in a very short window of time; similar to what they’ll expect at the NHL level. As Walker said, taking care of their bodies, training and conditioning and all of the tricks that seasoned veterans of the league have acquired throughout their careers and can embue on the emerging talents is vital for their development as well. All around, this is a phenomenal opportunity and an evolution for our development program.

Next: Rookie Tournament Roster

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