More Capitals prospects to look forward to in 2024-25

Terik Parascak

The WHL Rookie of the Year nominee was red hot in 2023-24 with three multi point games in a row and didn't slow down until he was drafted by the Caps at 17th overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

The five foot 11, 179 pound winger led all WHL rookies with 43 goals and 62 assists for 105 points in 68 games and he's the first WHL rookie to break the 100 point mark since 1999. Additionally, he finished eighth in scoring among all WHL players last season.

Terik Parascak notched his first WHL hat trick with a four goal, two assist performance against Victoria in September and scored his first playoff hat trick in his first major junior postseason contest.

The Lethbridge, Alta. native also scored at above a point per game rate in the playoffs, though he got hurt in the Western Conference Championship with an injury. After attending his first Development Camp in July he signed a three year, entry level deal.

The question is will the kid play more WHL action or will he get a chance to shine in the AHL with the Herhsey Bears?

Henrik Rybinski

He's another two time Calder Cup champion at 23 years old. He had a similar regular season point total to his rookie year in his second season with five goals and 11 assists in 52 games but was even better in the Calder Cup playoffs.

The six foot one, 186 foot pound winger added five goals including the game winning goal in his AHL playoff debut and added four assists for nine pionts in 19 games along with a team leading plus seven rating.

He was drafted by Florida in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and signed as a free agent with the Caps in 2022 after a successful career with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Medicine Hat Tigers. The Vancouver native added 50 goals and 126 assists over five WHL seasons and helped the thunderbirds reach the WHL championship series in 2022.

Rybinski's goal was almost lacrosse style and it totally faked out the goalie. Those are the types of goals you like to see no matter what level of hockey you play. It's a hockey player making a hockey play. That's what you need to succeed in the organization. And he's got that roar in him no pun intended.

Riley Sutter

Riley Sutter is an AHL veteran and he rounds out the former WHLers that we've talked about who helped the Bears win their second straight Calder Cup and he earned a new contract as a result.

The Caps signed the six foot four, 207 pound winger to a one year, two way deal after a career season in the minor league level. The 24 year old set a career high with nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points along with a plus nine rating in 66 regular season games.

Sutter also established himself as a key component of a penalty kill that was the best in the AHL. He's a third round pick from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and played all four seasons of his WHL career with the Everett Silvertips recording 60 goals and 77 assists for 137 points in 204 regular season games including a 25 goal season in 2018 that saw Everett win the Western Conference Championship for the second time in franchise history.

It's all about experience in this league and seeing Sutter get the contract extension he deserves puts the Bears and Caps organization in good hands.

Alexander Suzdalev

Alexander Suzdalev knows how to win as he had a promising season spent on a line with Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. The six foot three, 175 pound winger begun the 2023-24 season with Mora IK in HockeyAllsvenskan which is the second highest league in his native Sweden.

Suzdalev had a pair of goals and assists before he returned to North America to join the Saskatoon Blades and the 20 year old had nine goals including a hat trick in his first home game while adding 16 assists for 25 points in 30 regular season games.

It all added up to helping Saskatoon clinching the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular season champions. The Caps 2022 third rounder added another 13 points with four goals and nine assists in 16 playoff matches and six of them came in a dramatic Eastern Conference Championship which saw Saskatoon eliminated in overtime in Game 7.

Suzdalev would then join the Bears on an amateur tryout agreement and trained with the team for several weeks.