Washington Capitals: Top 5 players to watch this preseason

Washington Capitals preseason hockey is underway.

With one game under their belt and five more games to go, there are several Washington Capitals players worth keeping an eye on as each player tries to make a spot on the roster.

The Capitals preseason roster is massive and divided into three groups. One group will get to play in the game that night while the other two will scrimmage each other. It’s on a rotating basis as the Capitals will try to trim the roster before opening night.

The roster will likely begin to shrink during the team’s scheduled off day on Thursday. We should know the first round of roster cuts by the start of the weekend. All of Washington’s draft picks from the last few seasons as well as some stars on the Hershey Bears will be players you’ll see over the next two weeks.

In the grand scheme of things, these six games do not matter in the standings, however, for young prospects chomping at the bit to make an NHL roster the preseason means everything.

The Capitals have to make decisions on not just who to include in their roster but how to get under the salary cap. Here are the five players to watch.

#4 Connor McMichael

The top Washington Capitals draft pick of the summer is going to get a lot of eyes on him during the preseason and for good reason. He is groomed by the legendary Dale Hunter, who’s got a good thing brewing with the London Knights.

Connor McMichael made a couple good plays at the Prospect Showcase. He also suited up for Monday’s Capitals preseason opener against the Chicago Blackhawks. McMichael centered the third line next to Chandler Stephenson and Damien Riat. He had an assist on the game’s first goal which belonged to Riat.

The Capitals possession metrics were solid with the one-game sample size from McMichael. He played a total of 11:19 and finished with a Corsi-For percentage of 57.69% and a Fenwick For percentage of 52.63% (via Natural Stat Trick).

“After a couple shifts I felt good. I felt like it was just another game for me. I felt more comfortable and had a lot of fun,” McMichael told the media after the game.

McMichael added:

“A lot of veterans were playing so the speed was up, the physicality (was up). Like I said, I had a lot of fun and I hope I can get another one in.”

Hopefully McMichael will get another game or two for a chance to light up the lamp.

#3 Aliaksei Protas

Drafting Aliaksei Protas didn’t come naturally. Instead, the Capitals had to trade up with the New Jersey Devils for the third round draft pick. They gave up their fourth rounder (118th pick) for the late third round, selecting Protas at 91st overall.

At 6’5” and 192 pounds, teammates gave him the nickname the “Viper”. He was teammates with Washington’s second round pick Brett Leason of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. In fact, they even shared a line together and helped lead the Raiders to the WHL championship.

Protas had back-to-back hat tricks during that playoff run. During the regular season, Protas scored 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points. In the playoffs, he added 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists).

Protas was one of the best players in Washington’s 4-3 overtime win over the Blackhawks on Monday night. In that game, Protas recorded three points with a goal and a pair of assists. He was simply all over the ice.

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1173754539738112000

Protas assisted on Tom Wilson’s game-winning goal as well as Travis Boyd’s goal on the power play. Protas centered the fourth line next to Beck Malenstyn and Joe Snively. His goal came in the third period using his speed to get the puck up the ice, crashing the net and burying a pass from Malenstyn.

#2 Chandler Stephenson

Usually the preseason players to watch list includes many high profile prospects you otherwise won’t get to see in the 82-game regular season. For Chandler Stephenson though, he’s fighting for his spot on the roster. It doesn’t help his case that the Capitals signed not one but two fourth line forwards in the offseason.

Stephenson struggled last season with just 11 points (5 goalls, 6 assists) in 64 games, a drop off from the 18-point season he had in 2017-18, his rookie season. Stephenson began the summer as a restricted free agent (RFA) and took his contract situation all the way to a neutral arbitrator. He was awarded a $1.05-million extension.

The good news for Stephenson is that he has a chance to compete for the third line center spot for at least the first three games with the Evgeny Kuznetsov suspension. Though he’ll go up against Travis Boyd and other prospects who are chomping at the bit for their first taste of NHL action.

Once Kuznetsov is back though, the Capitals will have to deal with the reality of trying to get under the salary cap. Part of this contract Stephenson signed is so Washington is able to take his full salary off the books to send him down to Hershey. The better Stephenson plays, and he was in action Monday night, the harder this decision will be.

#1 Ilya Samsonov

Ilya Samsonov embarks on one of his biggest seasons in North America. All eyes are on him as he could very well be next year’s starting netminder in Washington should the team not be able to afford Braden Holtby. 

Samsonov dressed for Monday’s game but was a backup to Pheonix Copley, who played the whole game. It’s possible the backup goaltender spot could be up for grabs with the tight salary cap situation the Capitals are facing.

If Samsonov wants that spot though, he’ll not only have to beat Copley but also his own Hershey teammate Vitek Vanecek, who’s a good netminder himself.

Last season Samsonov struggled and lost his first three games, but rebounded nicely while splitting goaltending duties with Vanecek. He finished his first season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears with a record of 20-14-2 with 2.70 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage in 37 games.

The future is now for Samsonov and even though it’s preseason it’ll be fun watching him get a look or two soon.