The Washington Capitals selected Cam Allen with their 136th overall pick in the fifth round. He was the lone defenseman the Capitals selected as they stocked up on four forwards, a defenseman and a goalie.
The 18 year old was ranked 12th among North American defenseman and 46th among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
The six foot, 192 pound defenseman recorded 25 points in 62 games with five goals and 20 assists with the Guelph Storm of the OHL this past season.
Allen ranked second on Guelph in penalty minutes with 72 and third among the team’s defenseman in points. At the International level, Allen represented Canada at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup where he tied for the tournament lead in assists and helped Canada to the gold medal along with fellow 2023 Capitals’ draft pick Andrew Cristall.
Allen also captained Canada at the 2023 Under 18 World Championship, recording four assists as the Canadiens won the bronze medal.
During the 2021 22 season, the Toronto, Ontario native ranked fourth among OHL rookie defensemen in scoring with 37 points in 65 games with 13 goals and 24 assists. Allen won the Emms Family Award as the OHL’s Top First Year Player and was named to the OHL’s First All Rookie Team.
Allen was called a steal by many experts. This is another pick that fell into the Caps lap that works out perfectly as they like to draft the best player available.
The Caps drafted mostly forwards and this was the lone defenseman they took. But he is arguably the best defenseman that’s available. That’s a fact.
Grade B: This is another good draft choice. This is a defenseman that can provide offense but can get back on defense which is a rarity in the game these days. But then again maybe it’s because I grew up watching Mike Green and John Carlson.