As of right now, the Washington Capitals will not be picking until the second round at 55th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any sleepers available. When Caps assistant general manager Ross Mahoney talked to the media earlier this week, he talked about how their gameplan entering the draft is the same as any other year, take the best player available.
So who will be available for the Caps to take and how can they impact the team in the future? We take a look here. It was tough to do research but out of our due diligence here is who we found.
#5 Anton Olsson
Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) has the Capitals selecting Anton Olsson who’s a left handed defenseman. Here’s what Elite Prospects says about him:
"What he brings to the table, above all else, are shutdown abilities. He scans the ice, identifies threats ahead of time, and cuts their path to the net, often quite abruptly, laying the odd hit and battling for every inch of space around the net and on the boards. Defensively, Olsson can match the pace, the intensity, and the work-rate of professional players already, and, at times, even surpass it."