Top draft priority is addressing forward issues on Capitals

Tomorrow is the first round of the NHL Draft and the Washington Capitals will be the eighth team on the clock unless they trade up. The biggest priority entering the draft is forwards, particularly at the left wing.

This is a big night for Brian MacLellan and Ross Mahoney. It’s imperative they get this pick right as whomever they draft could be the bridge between the present and the future when Alex Ovechkin and much of the core hang up their skates.

Whoever this new player is that the Caps may draft could be learning the ropes from Tom Wilson. That’s right. Caps aren’t trading him and anybody that thinks they’re going to doesn’t know.

Mahoney has been with the organization for 25 years. He was a scout for 16 seasons before being promoted to assistant to the general manager nine years ago. He’s a big architect in the draft and even played a big role in the Caps selecting Karl Alzner at fifth which was their last top 10 pick. That happened in 2007.

“We’re trying to take the best player that’s available to us and hopefully, make the right pick,” Mahoney told the media on zoom.

Mahoney added:

"“We’ve always tried to take the best player that’s available to us. To pass on one player for another player let’s say because of a positional need, you may regret that later. You pass on a defenseman, and you took a forward because you thought needed some forwards, that could be tough.”"

There are a ton of good names available to the Caps at eighth even after Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli are taken at one or two. Other forwards include Leo Carlsson, Matvei Michkov, Will Smith, Zach Benson, Ryan Leonard, and Oliver Moore among others.

Tune into the draft tomorrow night at 7 p.m. with the first round on ESPN.