The Washington Capitals will be picking 20th in this year’s NHL Draft. This post will list every first round draft pick in Capitals history. Many of these guys would make it to the big show and play in at least one game with the Capitals. A lot even ended up spending their entire career with the team.
The first ever draft pick in Capitals history was Greg Joly at number one overall in 1974. The first to play his entire career with the Caps was 18th pick in 1975, Alex Forsyth. Another good first rounder that would even have his number retired with he team was 1979 fourth pick Mike Gartner.
There were several great first rounders in the 1980’s. Those included Bobby Carpenter, Scott Stevens, Kevin Hatcher, and Olaf Kolzig. In the 1990’s it was Sergei Gonchar. In the 2000’s it was none other than number one overall pick in 2004 Alex Ovechkin that would forever change the franchise.
Also drafted in that early century was fellow young guns Alexander Semin and Mike Green. Ovechkin would announce Nicklas Backstrom’s selection in 2006 when he was chosen fourth overall. It also included John Carlson and Marcus Johansson.
The 2010’s included Evgeny Kuznetsov. Glad he’s still here. It also included Andre Burakovsky who is playing in the Stanley Cup Final with the Colorado Avalanche. It also included Jakub Vrana and Ilya Samsonov. The first rounders round off with recent selections Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre.
Here is the complete list:
1974: Greg Joly (1) D
1975: Alex Forsyth (18) F
1976: Rick Green (1) D
1976: Greg Carroll (15) RW
1977: Robert Picard (3) D
1978: Ryan Walter (2) C
1978: Tim Coulis (18) F
1979: Mike Gartner (4) RW
1980: Darren Veitch (5) D
1981: Bobby Carpenter (3) C
1982: Scott Stevens (5) D
1984: Kevin Hatcher (17) D
1985: Yvon Corriveau (19) LW
1986: Jeff Greenlaw (19) LW
1988: Reggie Savage (15) RW
1989: Olaf Kolzig (19) G
1990: Pat Peake (14) RW
1991: Trevor Halverson (21) LW
1992: Sergei Gonchar (14) D
1993: Brendan Witt (11) C
1993: Jason Allison (17) C
1994: Nolan Baumgartner (10) D
1995: Brad Church (17) LW
1995: Miika Elomo (23) LW
1996: Alexander Volchkov (4) RW
1996: Jaroslav Svejkovsky (17) LW
1997: Nick Boynton (9) C
1999: Kris Beech (7) C
2000: Brian Sutherby (26) C
2002: Steve Eminger (12) D
2002: Alexander Semin (13)
2002: Boyd Gordon (17) RW
2003: Eric Fehr (18) RW
2004: Alex Ovechkin (1) LW
2004: Jeff Schultz (27) D
2004: Mike Green (29) D
2005: Sasha Pokulok (14) D
2005: Joe Finley (27) D
2006: Nicklas Backstrom (4) C
2006: Semyon Varlamov (23) G
2007: Karl Alzner (5) D
2008: Anton Gustafsson (21) C
2008: John Carlson (27) D
2009: Marcus Johansson (24) C
2010: Evgeny Kuznetsov (26) C
2012: Filip Forsberg (11) RW
2012: Tom Wilson (18) RW
2013: Andre Burakovsky (23) LW
2014: Jakub Vrana (13) C/LW
2015: Ilya Samsonov (22) G
2016: Lucas Johansen (28) D
2018: Alexander Alexeyev (31) D
2019: Connor McMichael (25) C
2020: Hendrix Lapierre (22) C