Top 3 players Capitals could draft at 8th
The Washington Capitals have plenty of options on the table when it comes to their first top 10 pick since selecting Karl Alzner in 2007. It’ll be their first time ever drafting in the eighth spot which was where they were projected to be during the draft lottery.
So they didn’t move up but at the same time they didn’t move down either.
So who could they take at number eight. Not Connor Bedard but there are other good names available. Let’s look at them.
#3 Oliver Moore
Oliver Moore will be attending the University of Minnesota this fall but could be NHL ready in couple of years. On the U.S. National U18 Team he had 31 goals and 44 assists for 75 points.
Austin Garret of Smaht Scouting said this about Moore:
“Moore is the second most involved player in offensive transitions in North America behind Connor Bedard. He’s sending almost a quarter of his passes to dangerous areas of the ice, and is among the higher-end shot generators in the class. Put this with his superb skating and edgework, dogged mentality of being hard on pucks defensively, and his puck skill: Moore has risen to the top 10 of our rankings and still could climb higher. I’d like to see him carry the puck into the dangerous areas of the ice in the offensive zone and not just on the rush, but he’s been showcasing his offensive acumen the last few months.”
#2 Dalibor Dvorsky
While Moore is a center, Dalibor Dvorsky can play both center and right wing. On AIK of HockeyAllsvenskan he had six goals and eight assists for 14 points while adding 10 goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 10 games with AIKJ20.
For the WJC 18 for Slovakia as an alternate captain he had 13 points in seven games with eight goals and five assists.
Anton Blomqvist, his AIK coach, spoke to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required):
“He’s a smart player, I think his on-ice vision is exceptional, he has a great shot, I think he reads situations on the ice very, very quick and can adapt no matter what the level is. He’s a great power play guy. He can hold the puck. Overall, he’s just a very solid player. (And) his physical element is really good I would say for a kid that age. His body is very matured for his age. He’s very solid, he’s not one of those kids who is going to have to grow into his body.”
#1 Matvei Michkov
The number one player the Caps should draft at 8th is Russian phenom Matvei Michkov. He recently talked to Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov to talk about the draft including the possibility of being drafted by the Caps.
He was asked how fun it would be to reunite with his former junior teammate Ivan Miroshnichenko as well as Alex Ovechkin, Alex Alexeyev, and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Michkov said transcribed from Russian to English via Google Translate:
“Yes, that would be great. But not everything depends on me. As fate wills, so be it. You just have to be ready for everything.”
I think this is the alleyway where a Michkov pick becomes realistic, plus or minus one or two picks. In very early discussions with people around the league on him, Washington or Detroit are considered the betting favorites for his landing spot. Does anyone really have a clue though? No. He could be long gone by this pick, or possibly he could drop further.
Trending. Making the case to trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois. light
One of those 3 should be selected by the Caps next month in Nashville.