What do the Washington Capitals look like in the future after this year’s draft picks?

What do the Washington Capitals look like in the future after this year’s draft picks?

on today’s show Justin trudell of Nova caps joins me as we talk about the draft and the offseason moves and how much better are the Capitals now we’ll discuss next on this edition of lockdown capitals your lock on capitals your daily podcast on the Washington Capitals part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day well hello and welcome into this edition of lockon capitals I’m so glad you decided to join me today as always this podcast is free and available on all the major platforms including the Sirius XM app and on YouTube and I want to thank you for making this your first listen each and every day my name is Dan homy I’ve covered the capitals for the last three seasons for lock on and various other outlets before that I’m also the host of the weekly show called the capitals minute cast available wherever you find your podcasts you can find me on Twitter it’s danc caps 28 you can find the show on Twitter it’s lockon caps and the best way that you can help grow the show is to subscribe to lockon capitals on YouTube and comment anything down below today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply so in this edition of lockdown capitals Justin trudell of Nova caps joins me as we talk about the capitals selections at the draft when will these players be ready to join the team and how much better are the Capitals when these players are ready we’ll talk about that a little bit later we will talk about some big Acquisitions made in the offseason on the forwards and then a little bit later we’ll talk about the additions made on the blue line how much better are the Capitals going to be with some key goal scores and a more Stout defense we’ll talk about that and then a little bit later we will talk about the net minding situation for the Capitals in this edition of lockdown capitals we are joined by just trudell of Nova caps it’s been a while Justin welcome back to the show hey Dan thanks for having me so it’s been a busy off season and I when I looked at the off season I knew that the capitals would have made some moves and when you take a look at it when the capitals acquired Pier Luke Dubois even before July 1 I knew it was going to be busy um and then you take a look at what they did at the draft and the capitals had a lot lot of uh select ctions in this year’s draft and that is where we’ll start with here first talking about the first big piece uh that the capital selected to trick parisek they selected him 17th overall in the recent draft was the sole firstr pick for the capitals he had a surprisingly strong season in the WHL registering 105 points that’s 43 goals 62 assists in 68 games what were your thoughts about the capital selecting Paras yeah I think initially the first reaction I had was I was surprised they didn’t take Cole Eiserman who was available at that spot and eventually went to the Islanders um but then I saw a graphic of players who are in the NHL since 2000 um that have scored a 100 points in their rookie season in the CHL um and those players are Patrick Kane Sydney Crosby Sam G Terk perac Nikolai and Alex to Brink so that’s pretty good company there for a player coming off their rookie season than the CHL and the WHL to be specific for Paras saac uh I think for the most part he’s a very talented offensive player and the one knock I’ve seen on him is his skating ability uh but that sounds a bit familiar from the cap second round draft pick last year with Andrew Crystal um he had some skating issues but came back to you know the Futures camp with the the Caps this past you couple weeks or um and really improved a skating stride and even the Caps skating coach had called that out so there’s things to do for that so for that to be one of your knocks and one of the really only knocks on Paras saac at this point other than the size I think that’s pretty good get at 17 is that who you had selected or who had you in your mind if you could pick the ideal person at number 17 who was it for you it’s a it’s tough because like the board can pan out so many different ways I think like the only other player that was on the board that I might have selected would have been Eiserman just because of his shot like I think the Caps really could have used a you know pure goal scorer but then on the other hand like Eiserman had pretty wide disparity in his rankings by Scouts mainly because he had basically really low defensive score like scouting scores so I think when it comes down to it teras parac isn’t exactly a defensive Dynamo but if he’s with the right coach in the right system he could probably get to that point um he play the penalty kill with uh Prince George so I think he’s he can get there I think for the most part like I think the Caps did well and I think the only other player that might have arguably been you know in that spot would have been Eiserman with the way the board panned out and they already came together with the deal the capitals have officially signed him to a three-year entry-level contract for trick parisek that the contract includes a maximum annual cap hit of $975,000 uh taking a look at expectations parisek is expected to be sent back to Prince George next season which will probably postpone the start of his entry-level contract to 2526 Washington to push him back to the start of his entry-level contract how many seasons out uh do you see him before he’s going to be ready uh to join the capitals yeah I think it’s going to be hard to say right now I think what it comes down to is we need to see the skating improve especially I think that’s the biggest thing for him probably add a little bit more muscle to his frame he a 511 179 pounds so he’s got to get a little bit bulkier I think um but for the most part with him signing his entry-level contract this early being 18 like he isn’t going to be eligible for even Hershey for the next couple of years so we’ll probably see his entry level contracts like twice so you’ll we won’t see that start probably in until the next you know three years out basically so um I was surprised he signed so early but also I think it seems like the Caps are making it a more concerted effort to get their draft picks under contract as soon as possible and it was one of those moves uh I if who I had selected in my mind locked on capitals did or locked on network did a mock draft and I had selected eigor shernoff I thought that he would have been a good option for the capitals um and you know there’s a lot of people that have comments about the selection of trik parisek and I think that they forget where he was selected they’re like well how did that work out last season they selected Leonard and this season they’re selecting parisek well if we know he was down a bit further in the draft but taking a look and at some of his comments from a former coach Cougar’s head coach Mark Lamb remarked he is one of the smartest players I have ever coached with a desire to get better every day he has earned this and the future is so exciting for the Prince George cougars and the Washington Capitals so all things considered I think there’s a pretty good upside one of the common denominators that I noticed amongst uh some of the draft selections this year is their size and that even started with celebrini um is that they’re pretty small Guys these are not Yami or yoger of old uh that these guys I think are already adhering to a strict stringent diet of broccoli and chicken and probably straight water the Tom Brady diet um is that your assessment that these players um will need to bulk up a little bit that was one of the uh things about um Conor McMichael as well is that when he first came to the team that he needed to bulk up as he was kind of getting pushed off the puck kind of like Hendrick slop here as well yeah I think what it comes down to as well like with their current leagues that they’re playing in they’re not playing against grown men and professional hockey players so need to be big they need to be skilled and they need to be able to move the puck and skate so the lighter they are the more they can skate you know they’re focusing on skills rather than lifting a ton of weights and bulking up a bit a bit um so I think what it comes down to yeah these they’re also like 17 18 years old for the most part so there’s plenty of time for them to put on the frame they’re in the right you know stage of their development in terms of age to really start seeing those like big gains and muscle um I think from like Paras saac he doesn’t need to add like 20 pounds of weight I don’t think I think it’s more like get him a little more steady on his skates especially when he starts playing against you know the bigger guys in the NHL and just making sure he can hold his own I I mean with the way that the NHL’s going recently I don’t think you need to be quite as Burly like you don’t need to be a 64 230 pound monster you can be you know 510 5’11 um and like players like Mitch Marner kind of come to mind there um where you from Bren point they’re not big guys but they can hold their own all right so after the break we will talk about additions made with the forwards on the capitals the capital struggled in goal scoring how much better are they now with the additions made this off season we’ll discuss straight ahead passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your right every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want is easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride to die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to you as customers are you watching Fox sports or ESPN on your TV all day have to turn down the volume with all the shouting make the switch to lockdown sports today a free 24/7 Sports streaming channel programed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming lock on sports today brings you the C Miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so next in the second round the capitals made an interesting move by trading forward back malinin to the Sabres in exchange for the 40 43rd Excuse Me overall pick with this they chose Cole Hudson a talented defenseman known for his strong offensive abilities and exceptional playmaking and shooting skills what were your thoughts about the capitals one parting with Beck malen Stein I wasn’t loving it but I saw the bigger picture and I think will help the capitals in the long run what were your thoughts about first of all the Beck marenstein trade and the capitals acquiring Cole Hudson yeah I think Malin was a useful player right but when we look at it he’s a fourth liner for us and we turned a fourth line Wing into a second round pick and a second early second round pick to say the least uh which I think is pretty amazing Asset Management um by the Caps there so I think for the most part like being able to turn mide who probably caps out as ceiling is probably on a third line checking winner is uh you know turning that into a pretty highly touted def offensive defenseman that the Caps sorely need in their system is pretty substantial I think for the for for the future of the organization and I think what it comes down to with manstein as you look at him he’s you know a good penalty killer good four Checker but fourth line forwards are easier to find than anything else and getting a potential top four offensive defenseman out of it I think it’s just it’s a move that you have to make when that’s presented to you and it’s one of the things is that the capitals wanted to address their blue line and I understand that this isn’t going to address anything for some time uh but I think the capitals are in a really good position as far as where they drafted I think that uh the draft pool the prospects was pretty depleted uh and part of that was The Perils of the capitals being in Wind now mode we’ll give you this we’ll give you that just give us this player for a couple months so we can try to to win another playoff game I think that they’re getting smart uh and it’s a good selection all things considered I think for the capitals next was Leon mugley Leon mugley a 17-year-old defenseman has demonstrated his defensive prowess in the National League the top Swiss ice hockey league with exceptional skating abilities strong positional awareness and a high hockey IQ mugly excels in a shutdown role making it difficult for opposing teams to penetrate the defensive Zone what were your thoughts on the capitals acquiring Leon Mugi I thought it was another you know shrewd pick there uh Mugi like the Caps need defensive depth especially for players that can pretty much report to Hershey whenever because he’s in the Swiss league so ideally he could come over to Hershey pretty much immediately uh there’s no real bar on that I think it’s he has to be 18 first but for the most part he can come over um the C like through Hershey’s cder cup run yeah the Caps really struggle with injuries they had a bunch of defenseman on the Shelf uh there’s not a lot of depth there and the Caps get a you know potential rather immediate uh solution to that problem with Mugi and he can come over when he’s age eligible for the AHL and slot in um I think for the for the most part for him shutdown type Defender penalty killer you know could be like a pair of shutdown type defenseman for the caps in the future and then with a little more growth and maybe a little more offensive growth he could see himself maybe in like a second pairing role but you know to get a future NHL potentially at in your with your third pick in a draft is pretty great yeah and I think that Ross Mahoney and his crew they knocked it out of the park once again and the next player uh is a bit interesting as his brother alexe protus plays with the team Ilia protus Ilia Pro protus transition to the North American Junior Hockey and emerged as a productive player with a strong offensive capability despite facing initial challenges Proto showcased his Adept Puck handling playmaking skills and the ability to create scoring opportunities however his skating ability that’s a common theme here and defensive contributions require Improvement for future success in the NHL the first thing that struck me about Ilia protus is how much he looks like his brother but what were your thoughts on the Capital selection of Ilia protos yeah I thought it was you know it’s really cool you draft Brothers um I think the Canadians would have loved to do that with Cole Hudson and Lane Hudson but um if Ilia can turn out to be a lot like Alexi I think the Caps are doing pretty well um if my memory serves me correctly I think Alexi also had some skating troubles when he first was drafted and now he’s a pretty solid skater I think we saw a big improvement from protus you know coming into the season before our current one um he looked a lot better on his skates and I think Ilia can get there too and you know have another bigus potentially being like on the third line with his brother here in a few years could be really interesting to watch all right so after the break we will us well talk about other movements surrounding the capitals straight ahead game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace of Major League basball which makes getting tickets faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch with killer last minute deals all in prices and views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying MLB tickets and listen guys life is busy sometimes you go to work and say I’m gonna get those tickets for Nationals on my lunch break and guess what you forget about it well fear not as tickets Act actually are cheaper closer to first pitch take the guest work out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code l o c k e d o n NHL for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest prices guarant uh next let’s talk about the movement that took place before July 1st and in this episode I am joined by Justin trudell of Novac caps the capitals were really active and I knew that uh at the time GM Brian mlen was going to be active I didn’t know he was going to be this active and he made a big move by trading Darcy camper out to the Kings in return for Pierre Luke Dubois that was met with quite a bit of skepticism uh the more that I’m able to vet this out the more that I listen to different sources uh the people saying that he was toxic in the locker room Matt Roy said it’s just not the case I would not have wanted to come to the capitals if he was that toxic player now that might be true but that still uh doesn’t uh make me forget about the fact that he has hop skipped in jumped around he played with the Blue Jackets he played with the Winnipeg Jets both teams he wanted to get out of and then he signed this huge contract with the Kings um he played in a more limited capacity some people say that had something to do with it um what were your initial thoughts on the capitals signing Pierre Luke DuBois and where do you see him fitting into the capital’s Master plans yeah I think that I mean that that trade was definitely Splash move I think what it comes down to even if you’re looking at it with the most pessimistic view is you’re trading a player in Darcy keer who significantly underperformed expectations you know the past two seasons he’s been with the capitals um so you’re paying him a little over $5 million a year to be second fiddle to Charlie lingren or you could play pay a player with pretty high potential ceiling um in dubis 8.5 million dollar a year to play 82 games a season and ideally the playoffs so that’s like the pessimistic view right is like the value of this contracts really help out you can add up up front but when we look at like Dub’s performance especially just going back you know a season before just this prior one with the Winnipeg Jets um he was really effective and I think it’s easy to look at him with the Kings last season and be like man this guy just doesn’t care but when he was with the Jets in the 2022 2023 season he generated or the Jets generated 99% more expected goals for per 60 when DUIs was on the ice on the power play and 3% more when during even strength so we’re looking at a player that has significant offensive impact and the Caps sorely need that um on top of that you kind of touched on this but duah didn’t really have like a clear-cut role with the Kings you know the Kings already had three pretty good centers on the roster in Kopitar do know and the Ascension of uh Quinton Byfield there so like where really see dub fitting long term and I think even uh Rob Blake LA’s GM said like we didn’t really have a great fit for him he wasn’t he didn’t match our kind of personnel and what we were expecting from our Center group so I think what it comes down to is duad needs to be in the right situation I mean we look at Columbus and Winnipeg they’re not big like free agency hubs like we don’t see tons of players clamoring to go to those two markets so I’m not necessarily shocked that he didn’t want to sign there long term but I think when you kind of that Diva badge put on you as a player it’s really hard to overcome that but I think with Spencer Cur at the helm we saw him kind of turned around Anthony mantha a bit there for last season you know netted the cast second round pick um so I think for the most part like carbury can have some effect we saw that effect with mantha but then we didn’t really see it with ket off but also dua’s a bit younger so maybe he’s a little more uh receptive to coaching there but what it comes down to is if dubuis pans out and he turns out to be like a Topline center for the capitals you know mlen turned the heist of the century trading you know essentially a cap dump and keer into a Topline Center yeah I mean I guess one of the things that was you know really kind of prohibitive about all of it is the term of the contract how much he’s getting paid I understand that they were paying Darcy keer a lot of money as well and uh he went out to the Kings but a lot of questions remain about can Spencer Carberry be the guy to coax out the great player that I think is in there and I think that he has been assigned that task before with epen kets off and we kind of see how that went and I know that not everything in life is a rubber stamp well that didn’t work here it can’t work there but um I think that Brian mlen made a promise to get that top six forward so much uh that I think you could have start printed it on the front of a capital shirt top six forward it was just something he said that’s what I’m going to go out and do is Pier Luke dubba that top six forward the capitals have been looking for yeah I think what it comes down to as well is you have Dylan stro who’s like been he’s been very good for the capitals is he a number one Center on a you know deep playoff run competitive team I’m not sure I think he’s top level second line Center what the Caps was that Bonafide first line Center and right now in the organization we don’t have that you know before we trade it for duah dubba after last season might not be that but also with his potential what we saw in the 2022 23 season I think he can be that number one center for the capitals he also like can fill the role where we need on the power play especially around playmaking and goal scoring with the extra man so I think what it comes down to is kind of hit two birds with one stone there with we needed a top six forward and it would be even better if it was a center that could score goals and I think that’s what dub kind of brings to the table um and then there’s obviously other moves the caps made that kind of address some the goal scoring Wes that we’ve seen but I think dubba coming in solidifying himself as you know a Topline center for the capitals is what I think mlen is expecting after making that move uh some people pointed to Alex egin’s slow start and it’s not some people he said himself on breakdown day that he lacked chemistry with the centers on his team for years it was Nicholas backr and he saw success for some years with it was with aghi kusnetsov and this last season it was R it was McMichael it was dowed briefly it was this that and the other thing at the center position and I don’t know if it’s an excuse but he said that he lacked chemistry with the center do you think that plld can be that guy for Alex oetkin yeah I think it can be I mean he also Pierre luk also said in his kind of introductory press conference that he loves playing with Russian players because of their creativity and reception to the puck and you know all that good stuff so I think there’s there’s definite chance there and I think what it comes down to is if oetkin sees du wanting to work and be a winner I think Obi can make it work and I think DUIs has that highlevel playmaking ability to help oetkin and I think what it comes down to is getting a vkin in the right spots and dubis playing up to his potential to get there Listen Justin I want to thank you for joining me on this edition of lock on capitals Why don’t you tell everyone where we can find your work yeah you can find my work on Novac caps fans.com um or on Twitter and Facebook uh under Novac caps profile so my articles will be posted there or links to my articles will be post on socials um you can also find me on Twitter at stag group2 all right thank you for joining me on this episode and I want to thank all of you for joining me on this edition of lockon capitals your only daily year on podcast covering the Washington Capitals and I want to thank all of you that listen on the audio side and watch this on YouTube you are what makes this show successful when you’re done here head on over to lockton’s 247 streaming channel available on the free Amazon Fire TV channels app and on YouTube all right once again I want to thank you for joining me on this edition of lockon capitals part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day my name is Dan homy and I’ll talk to you again next time

With Justin Trudel of Nova Caps

The Washington Capitals made significant moves in the draft, acquiring players like Terik Parascak, Cole Hutson, Leon Muggli, and Logan Thompson. Parascak signed an entry-level contract with a maximum annual salary cap hit of $975,000 and is expected to return to Prince George next season. The Capitals are also looking to make significant additions to the roster during the upcoming offseason, with a focus on bolstering the top six forward positions. They have the resources and cap space to leverage these opportunities, with a primary focus on re-signing restricted free agents. The Washington Capitals are gearing up for potential roster changes following the trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois. General Manager Brian MacLellan is expected to be proactive in strengthening the team’s top six forward positions, with upcoming free agency and pre-draft deals seen as prime opportunities. With a substantial number of draft picks, the Capitals are well-positioned to make significant additions. The team currently has around $12.935 million in cap space, with additional space from Nicklas Backstrom’s long-term injured reserve status. Internal roster management and re-signing restricted free agents are the team’s primary focus for the offseason.

Follow Dan on Twitter: @dancaps218
Follow Locked on Capitals on Twitter: @lockedoncaps

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOCapitals?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Indeed
There is no “I” in “team.” But there is one in “Indeed” and that’s the hiring platform you need to build yours. When you’re hiring, you need Indeed. Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

Policygenius
Check life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.

eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

FanDuel
FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#WashingtonCapitals #Caps #NHLHockey #allcaps #ovechkin