On Frozen Blog

In the days immediately following the 2006 Entry Draft the Caps commonly earned exceptionally high evaluations for their work in Vancouver. The grade range generally ran from ‘A+’ to ‘A.’ The success of their 2007 draft, however, is inextricably linked to 2008′s, in light of George McPhee’s preference to defer selecting at times Friday night and Saturday†in favor of†acquiring picks†for next June.
There were compelling reasons for the Caps to acquire additional picks for the 2008 draft. For one, it’s light-years better in terms of high-end†quality and overall depth. But just as importantly, there’s a bit of a glut of strong prospects crowding the Caps’ organization these days. Since 2002, the Caps have drafted 12 players in the first round. Twelve. They’ve added eight second-rounders in that time, too. This morning, it’s difficult to point to a single one of these 20 high-enders and pronounce him “bust.”
That’s the good news. But beginning this very weekend†Caps’ management has some difficult decisions to make in terms of committing next season to the likes of Jacub Klepis and†Tomas Fleischmann.†Qualifying offers come due then, and as they impact 2002 picks, it’s that portion of prom when the band strikes up the slow song. To dance or not to dance?
Or you could call†it the 5-year itch.††
Some of these high-enders will make the Caps this fall. The rest need a place in the organization to play. (Only a couple, you’d think, could and would be packaged†in a trade or two.)
The past couple of years, I’ve thought about how many European prospects the Caps have who’ve yet to make a commitment to playing in North America. (There are some good ones over there, too.) But even that’s changing; early in this offseason the Caps inked Josef Boumedienne and Sami Lepisto.
With training camps in 2005 and 2006 the Caps brought in a conspicuous number of tier II and III free agents to address the organization’s lack of quality depth. But this September, there will be a far more†organic quality to the 60 or 70 skaters at Kettler Capitals, the likes of which Caps’ fans have never seen.
We may well see all 20 of those first- and second-rounders from the past five drafts then. We will likely see all of the collegiate free agents the Caps have inked the past couple of springs. We will see some fresh faces from Europe. And most exciting, from my vantage, will be the appearance of late-round draft gems like Andrew Gordon, Travis Morin, Viktor Dovgan, Mathieu Perreault, and Andrew Joudrey, all of whom possess viable pro hockey aspirations.
A preview of this our-guys-on-the-ice aura arrives in two weeks’ time at Kettler, with the Caps’ July Rookie Development Camp. Fans understandably are preoccupied with the end-game results from†early October through April, but the foundation for a durable rebuild requires reliably successful†drafting and development. The drafting work appears to be working well; the development aspect is more in question, as the Caps, beginning this fall, need to see some Hershey Bears graduate and make a positive impact on the parent roster — guys like Dave Steckel, Mike Green, Klepis and or Flash.
The Caps left Columbus with more high-value assets — three from the first two rounds. One, though (Alzner), may step into the big league soon, and another (Ted Ruth) can be stashed on a university campus, if need be, for four years. It was a savvy and sage handling†of his organization’s development blueprint by George McPhee. ††
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