The Washington Capitals waited over four hours to reach their 27th overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft. The squad from D.C. wasted little time sprinting to the podium to make their first-round choice, Lynden Lakovic. The Capitals are expected to be on the clock early on Day 2 with their first of four selections on Saturday. There are still some notable names who slipped out of Round 1 that could be options for Washington on Saturday afternoon.
Capitals Add Lynden Lakovic in First Round
Deep into the 11 PM EST hour on the East Coast, the Capitals finally received their opportunity to participate in draft day activities. With teams like the Philadelphia Flyers holding three choices in Round 1, there was a ton of trade rumor smoke without many actual trades completed on Friday night. This led to a television broadcast that extended late into Friday night on the East Coast as Capitals fans anxiously waited for their first-round selection. Washington selected Lakovic, a hulking winger from the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the 27th overall pick.
“I think I am a big, two-way, dual-threat scorer,” Lakovic said as he provided a personal scouting report on draft night. “Plays with a lot of pace, and good hockey IQ. I am a good scorer and good at creating space for myself. When I am at my best, that’s what I am doing.”
Lynden Lakovic, Moose Jaw Warriors (Eric Young/CHL)
The 6-foot-4 winger arrives in Washington from the Moose Jaw Warriors, a team that won the 2023-24 Ed Chynoweth Cup. “The Western League is such a good league for developing,” Lakovic said. “You see those players, and they are going to be All-Stars in the NHL someday, and I try to lead myself on that same path. Playing against that level of talent has helped me, and it’s going to continue to help me.”
Related: Lynden Lakovic – 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile
That WHL Championship experience in 2023-24 helped to solidify a championship mentality for the Capitals’ newest winger. “I learned how to buy into a role,” Lakovic stated on his WHL experience. “At the end of the day, that’s what you have to do to win a championship. If you are told to score goals or to go be on the forecheck and play physical, you are going to do that. If you get your whole team to (buy) into their role, it’s going to collect and you are going to have a family. I think that’s what I can carry on into the next level.”
It won’t be an entirely new cast of characters in the nation’s capital for Lakovic, as he has competed against some of Washington’s best prospects already. “I played against (Terik) Parascak and I played against (Andrew) Cristall growing up,” he said. “Those are probably some of the guys I know the best. I am looking forward to going down there and meeting new people, for sure.”
It will be a whirlwind experience for Washington’s draft selections, who will jet-set across the country to meet with team officials following the draft. The Capitals will open their annual rookie camp on July 1 at MedStar Capitals IcePlex.
Options on Day 2 for Washington
The Capitals own four more picks at the 2025 NHL Draft, including the fifth choice in the second round courtesy of the Boston Bruins via the Garnet Hathaway trade in February 2023. Overall, Washington holds picks at 37, 93, 123, and 155. Washington does not currently have any picks in the final two rounds of Saturday’s draft process.
Several expected first-round talents, such as Malcom Spence and Blake Fiddler, dropped out of the initial round at the draft. Washington needs to add more defensive and goaltending prospects to the organization, so they could target a prospect like a 6-foot-4 defenseman (Fiddler) or opt for one of the best remaining netminders available, like Jack Ivankovic.
Of course, Washington can always look to parlay the high second-round choice into more draft picks, either this year or in the future. While the Capitals hold their first-round choice in the 2026 NHL Draft, they have traded their second and third-round picks to the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators, respectively. Therefore, there could be an argument made in the scouting room to trade down and recoup some assets instead of staying put at the 37th overall spot.
The Eastern Conference’s best regular-season team has a few choices to make on Saturday in Los Angeles. The second round of action gets underway at noon EST with a draft pace expected to be far quicker than what the viewing world experienced on Friday night during Round 1 of the 2025 NHL Draft.
