The NHL Draft is coming up on Thursday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN with the first round. Then Rounds 2-7 will take place at 11 a.m. over on ESPN plus and NHL Network.
Here’s the official order of the 1st Round as of 7/3/22:
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Arizona Coyotes
4. Seattle Kraken
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Columbus Blue Jackets (CHI Pick)
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Detroit Red Wings
9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Anaheim Ducks
11. San Jose Sharks
12. Columbus Blue Jackets
13. New York Islanders
14. Winnipeg Jets
15. Vancouver Canucks
16. Buffalo Sabres (VGK Pick)
17. Nashville Predators
18. Dallas Stars
19. Los Angeles Kings
20. Washington Capitals
21. Pittsburgh Penguins
22. Anaheim Ducks (BOS Pick)
23. St. Louis Blues
24. Minnesota Wild
25. Toronto Maple Leafs
26. Montreal Canadiens (CGY Pick)
27. Arizona Coyotes (CAR Pick)
28. Buffalo Sabres (FLA Pick)
29. Edmonton Oilers
30. Winnipeg Jets (NYR Pick)
31. Tampa Bay Lightning
32. Arizona Coyotes (COL Pick)
The Washington Capitals will hold the 20th pick in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft. There’s a lot they can do with that 20th pick. With no Tom Wilson or Nicklas Backstrom for a while, drafting a forward is a must. While goaltending is a big need, the Caps are just looking for a veteran guy and they won’t find that in the draft.
They should certainly draft a forward after stocking up on defensemen in last year’s draft.
One name that could fall to the Caps at 20th is right winger Jimmy Snuggerud. He is ranked 11th among North American skaters and is committed to play with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. He had 24 goals and 39 assists with the United States National Team Development Program.
As far as centers go, there’s Jiri Kulich. He ranks 13th among international skaters and had a killer performance in the U18 World Junior Championships with Czechia. He had nine goals and two assists in 11 games and looks like a playmaking center that has a similar skillset to Backstrom.
We’ll look at other names that the Caps could select at number 20 in the coming days. There will be lots of draft coverage this week. I think in the end, the Caps go with a center as Backstrom is out for the longer term than Wilson.