The proof is in the pudding

With the holidays and new years now in the rear view mirror, its time for another article about the future of the Capitals. Its been a long haul of suckage since the start of the league for the team from Washington. A few seasons of embracing a lost cause and little chance of long term improvement without mortgaging the future. We've stuck to the process and light is now starting to shine on tomorrows team. This little article will detail most of the promise for next season.

We will start with Beckett Sennecke, the rookie right winger for the NHL Anaheim Ducks. 2nd in rookie scoring with 30 points in 40gp, with 24 even strength points. Size, skill and given an opportunity to play with top 6 NHL talent, with almost 17 minutes of play per game Beckett looks like a perfect fit for the Karp Capitals.

Next up is right wing Ryan Leonard who is starting to find his NHL game until he met up with the Trouba train who rocked the lad with a massive hit. After a few games off Ryan is back in the lineup with 22 points in 34gp including 15 even strength points with about 13 minutes played per game. Probably better suited to a 3rd line role he may be forced into a top 6 role due to a lack of talent on the Karp Capitals.

Centerman Danila Yurov appears to have solidified his role on the NHL Wild. With only 15 points in 34 games he has shown significantly better play over the past month. Including a very nice pair of goals tonight against the Ducks in Anaheim. He will slot in nicely behind franchise player Tim Stutzle.

With the mention of slotting in nicely, the next NHL rookie is Calum Ritchie who is another center we can pencil in on the bottom 6 and hope for his continued good play to raise his offensive numbers with the NHL Islanders. Currently with 10 points in 30gp, he still is mostly potential at this point but we welcome him to our NHL roster and am happy to find a spot for him in the starting 12.

Igor Chernyshov is lucky number 5 for our team. Since his call up after the Sharks injuries, Igor has 8 points in 7gp while playing with a top 5 all time scoring teenager in NHL history. Chernyshov has fit very well with Macklin, but also has had very impressive success while in the OHL skating alongside Michael Misa. So clearly has chemistry with both of these excellent players. Perhaps Igor may find himself moved down the NHL Tiburones depth chart as he can play a solid defensive game, but that doesn't discourage us from viewing him as a top 6 talent.

Some honorable mentions include Liam Ohgren who has found some of his offensive talent since being moved to the NHL Canucks. Vincent Iorio who was claimed on waivers by NHL San Jose has found his way into 15 NHL games so far this season. Bradly Nadeau grabbed an Carolina NHL opportunity managing to pot 2 plants in 8gp so far. Michael Brandsegg Nygard made it into 9 games for the NHL Red Wings before being sent to the AHL.

Its a pretty good list if I do say so myself which doesn't include last years first round pick in Anton Frondell, nor Stian Soldberg or Danny Nelson. There are some other youngsters with NHL potential on the list such as Connor McMichael and Albert Johansson, but this article is already getting a bit long in the tooth. Stay tuned boys the waiting game has payed off and its a pretty good feeling considering the losing we have endured since the start of the league. We have a few of the other Karp GM's to thank for making the deals that landed us the picks we didn't screw up. If this current season continues it looks as if our team will have yet another lottery pick, which despite our terrible overall record still hasn't landed us a top overall pick. When taking the log jam at the top of the next draft it might be perfect timing for us to grab that pick this year.