NHL Mock Draft 2020: Washington Capitals select Lukas Reichel

1st Round, 24th overall

Lukas Reichel

With the 24th pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals will select Lukas Reichel. For the second year in a row, the team will select a forward in the first round and he will one day play on a line with Connor McMichael.

Lukas Reichel is a left winger from Eisbaren Berlin of the DEL. He scored 12 goals and added 12 assists for 24 points in 42 games. Elite Prospects had good praise for him in their draft guide:

"He’s an unrelenting forechecker & backchecker, never gives up on a play, and wins battles through second efforts. Reichel is a pretty capable puck-handler too, even at top-speed carrying the puck through a defender’s triangle, showing a predilection for outside-in maneuvers, and deploying weight shifts to avoid contact."

Reichel began his hockey career with Starbulls Rosenheim of the U16 in 2015-16 scoring 13 goals and adding seven assists for 20 points. The next year he scored 35 goals and 37 assists for 72 points. He was even better the next year with a breakout season of 47 goals and 39 assists for 86 points which helped him move up from the U16 to the U19.

After playing on the U19 he moved up to the Eisbaren Juniors Berlin before finally joining their varsity squad last season.