Washington Capitals: What the Draft outcome says about future?

Now that the 2020 NHL Draft has concluded, what does the outcome of the Capitals draft tell us about Brian MacLellan’s plan for the future.

Before we get started, first things first, I can not claim to be the next Nostradamus. The possibility of the Washington Capitals trading their first round pick was always very unlikely, but it was fun discussing the possibility in targeting the hottest and brightest names on the trade market which fit the team needs. With the draft behind us now its time to talk about what the selections say about the plan moving forward for a team with a limited championship window.

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The Washington Capitals may not have traded their first round pick like in years past, but they did something else that is rare for the team. The Capitals traded up a few picks to grab the player they coveted, centerman Hendrix Lapierre. This was considered a steal by most draft analysists especially since Lapierre was pegged to be drafted as high as 10th overall prior to the injury concerns that cropped up in 2019. What is so special about a player who had dropped to the latter portion of the first round with an injury history scaring off most teams?

According to most pre-draft experts, Lapierre has a complete 200 foot game with incredible ability to manage the transition from all zones. An area where he will need to improve is his scoring, he does great in setting up his teammates but Lapierre will need to work on pulling the trigger when opportunity arises.

"The most glaring comment came from Ross Mahoney when explaining their drafting of Hendrix Lapierre, “Very high hockey IQ, good character player, extremely unselfish. He always has way more assists than he does goals. Comes to play, gives an honest effort every game, every shift, every period. Those are probably the main things that really stick out for us, especially the hockey sense and the hands and the unselfishness.”"

The trend of taking players who could be utilized throughout the lineup and who hold themselves responsible on both ends of the ice continued. With the selections of Bogdan Trineyev and Bear Hughes, the Capitals carried on gathering players that can be trusted all over the ice. Trineyev will fit in great with the other Russians on the Capitals, and gives the team a younger player already built for the rigors of the NHL and is wired to compete hard for the full 60 minutes and beyond. Something most Capitals fans would say the team has been lacking since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. The team got another hard working centerman who could fit into the middle six in time with Bear Hughes, who is known for his strength on the puck and an ability to open things up.

The Capitals finished up with selections of Garin Bjorklund and Oskar Magnusson. Whenever the team drafts a goalie notice should always be taken given the Capitals track record in producing quality goalie prospects. Bjorklund is already equipped with the hardest trait for a goalie to develop, confidence, coupled with determination his other traits can be rounded out and prepared for the next levels. And with their last pick the Capitals got another hard working forward with versatility in C/W Oskar Magnusson. It’s because of his relenting effort with and without the puck which makes this pick a steal this late in the draft. If Magnusson can even make the team in a bottom six role in the future this will give the team another replacement option for their current bottom six personnel.

Out of all the analysis and opinions on each of these picks one common theme can be seen, effort. Something the Capitals have struggled in the last few years to have consistently throughout the season and the playoffs. This foundation could even be seen amongst the draft from a year ago with Connor McMichael embodying similar attributes with his full 200 foot game and his overall output. In addition, the Capitals added other players who could round out the team with their lunch pails at the ready. Brett Leason and Aliaksei Protas will add more versatility and strong two way play in the near future.

From my standpoint, I believe the Capitals can see what’s on the horizon when the Ovechkin–Backstrom era comes to an end. Having the draft picks to grab higher skilled players similar to those two, or even Kuznetsov and Vrana, will be hard to come by until they begin losing in a manner to get a top ten pick or two. By grabbing players who will play a more complete game, but may not thrive on the scorecard in the same way as their current core, this will give the team a good foundation to build up the bottom to middle of the lineup. Once you have that foundation, and the team gets to make a few of those high end picks they should be able to retool as opposed to fully rebuild.

I am intrigued to see how the last few drafts will play out, how these players will develop. Do you all feel the same as me?

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Lastly, I would like to take a moment and thank Braden Holtby for all the years of rocking the Red and all the wonderful memories along the way. In the same vein, I would like to welcome Henrik Lundqvist to the team and hope we can do you justice by winning the Stanley Cup.

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