From Las Vegas, Nevada in the middle of the dessert a big night is in store for the Washington Capitals. The draft will air on ESPN and ESPN plus at 7 p.m. eastern with round one while Rounds 2-7 will take place on Saturday on NHL Network and ESPN plus starting at 11:30 a.m. eastern.
The Caps made two big moves ahead of the draft by acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois as well as Andrew Mangiapane. They would send Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings for Dubois. For Mangiapane, the Caps would deal a 2025 fifth rounder that was orginally from the Colorado Avalanche in the Lars Eller trade.
That is what happened so far. Here are the Caps draft selections in order:
Round 1: 17 Terik Parascak
With the 17th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Capitals took Terik Parascak who led the CHL rookies in goals with 43 and points with 105 with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL. He was also named to the 2024 CHL All Rookie Team.
"I'm at such a loss for words. It's such an honor. I'm just so excited for what's coming."
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 29, 2024
Terik Parascak shares his excitement on being drafted in the First Round, as well as reflects on his successful rookie season in the WHL.#CapsDraft | @Verizon pic.twitter.com/u8k133EFDa
Here's more on the Super Rookie.
Round 2: 43 Cole Hutson D
Mike Vogel of WashCaps.com writes that Hutson is 18 and spent the 2023-24 season with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program's U18 Team recording 51 points with 15 goals and 51 assists in 51 games played.
Round 2: 52 Leon Muggli D
Muggli is 17 and spent this past season with EV Zug of the Swiss National League NL where he led all under 18 skaters with 12 points in 42 games with three goals and nine assists. His 12 points were the most ever by a defensemen aged 17 or younger in league history. The six foot one, 177 pound blue liner also added two points with a goal and an assist in 11 playoff games, per the Development Camp guide.
Round 3: 75 Ilya Protas LW
The younger brother of Aliaksei Protas, the 2019 Caps draftee, Ilya and Aliaksei are the second set of brothers to be selected by the Caps.
Round 3: 90 Eriks Mateiko LW
The 18 year old recorded 43 points with 23 goals and 20 assists in 49 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League or QMJHL for short. Listed as six foot five and 216 pounds, he served as an alternate captain for Saint John.
Round 4: 114 Nicholas Kempf G
Kempf is also 18 and ranked fourth among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting.
Round 6: 178 Petr Sikora C
Sikora was ranked 11th among International centers and 37th among all International skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Round 7: 212 Miroslav Satan C
The younger son of 14 year NHL veteran Miroslav Satan.
So first up unless anything silly happens is the 17th pick and there's a lot the Caps can do with that pick whether they trade up, down or a diamond falls into their lap. They lucked out recently with the successes of Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre, the latter of which deciding to rejoin the Hershey Bears to help them hoist back to back Calder Cup championships.
Another fun fact via the Caps Draft Guide is that the team owns five picks in the top 100 for the first time since 2008. Among those players, John Carlson and Braden Holtby were drafted. Carlson is the franchise's all time leader among games played with 1,009 while Braden Holtby ranks first in save percentage with .916 and a goals against average of 2.53. In addition, Holtby is tied for first in shutouts with 35.
Last season the Caps made six selections in the draft including Ryan Leonard with the eighth overall pick. For more information about this year's draft fans are encouraged to check out WashCaps.com/draft.
This post will update as the Capitals make their selections. Enjoy the show