The dregs

With the next installment of our pre-season coverage of the Washington Capitals we move on to the later rounds. The team had 6 picks from round three to seven so there were plenty of extra darts to throw at the board. Perhaps there is a diamond in the rough ? Or more likely the dregs. Only time will tell.

In round 3 the braintrust selected Juraj Pekarcik a forward listed at Left Wing who was drafted by the NHL Saint Lousi Blues. Listed at 6 foot 2 this kid showed up big time in the bronze medal game verses Canada, he is also one of the youngest players drafted. NHL central scouting had him ranked 41st in the Intl skating group. Not too shabby. Kid brings the lunch pail work ethic which is just what we like in the nations capital. He joined the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints where has 4 points in 4 games so far this season. A very good sign he decided to come across the pond and adjust to the North American game.

In round 4 we selected Alexander Rykov, a sub 6 foot left handed Right Wing with VHL Chelmet Chelyabinsk later drawing into a hand full of games in the KHL with Traktor. Drafted by the NHL's Hurricanes, this kid is another on the younger side who will probably punch his ticket to North America with a full ice effort while on the forecheck as well as defensive presence so really more of a two way type of player. So far this season he played 4 games in the KHL and scored 2 goals for Traktor. We are very happy to land Alex in the fourth round.

Thus far into the draft the Capitals had drafted 8 forwards so at that point we decided to switch over and grab some depth in other areas.

In round 5 we turned to Melker Thelin a goalie in Swedish Junior who was taken by the Arizona Coyotes 134th overall. In the new NHL a 6 foot 2 inch goalie is probably more average sized. As a fan of Swedes in general this kid was a no brainer at this point in the Karp draft.

Speaking of Swedish goaltenders in the 6th round the Capitals selected Melvin Strahl out of Modo who was drafted by the Columbus Bluejackets 156th overall. At 6 foot 3 inches he isn't small by any stretch. He has suited up for 5 games so far for Modo Hockey J20.

Going into the final round the Capitals found themselves with 2 picks so decided to grab a pair of defensemen.

First was Nikita Ishimnikov another younger draft eligible who played for Yekaterinburg of the MHL where he put up 18 points in 41 GP. The knock on this kid is his skating. As mentioned in an earlier article its an established fact that with hard work and proper coaching skating can be significantly improved. The kid is 6 foot 3 inches and in the last round we were happy to snag him. Drafted by the Avalanche who do not have a very deep pipeline there is hope he can find his way across the ocean. He was drafted 155th overall.

Second and last was Warren Clark who was drafted by Tampa 179 overall. His kid is also listed at 6 foot 3. He is a NCAA division 1 Saint Cloud State University commit for the 23 season. Tampa's prospect cupboard is bare at this point so we felt with his size and it was a reasonable gamble.

Thanks for reading and going to pimp the jpg

https://www.nsitu.ca/artwork/dregs/