George McPhee and the Washington Capitals enter the 2000 entry draft without the luxury of
multiple high selections like they did a year ago. It would be difficult to beat last year’s
effort anyway, as the Class of 1999 looks as though they will make a huge impact on the future in
DC. Not including the “Top 5″, in which the Caps chose five of the first 37 players, McPhee
uncovered a gem in the fifth round by the name of Roman Tvrdon – who had possibly the best
season of any Capitals prospect. He also found two promising defensemen in the later rounds:
David Johansson and Igor Shadilov. If he can continue his success of selecting quality players
in the later rounds, the Capitals should make this draft a success as well.
The Capitals will select 26th in the first round, and have ten selections in all. They traded
their third-rounder to Colorado in the Dale Hunter deal, and their fourth to Anaheim for Stephen
Peat. They also sent their seventh-round selection to Chicago in return for a late pick which
they used to select Shadilov a year ago. The Caps gain a compensatory fourth-round pick as the
“Future Considerations” from the Joe Juneau trade. They also receive Tampa Bay’s seventh-round
pick as part of the Jaroslav Svejkovsky deal, Calgary’s seventh-rounder in return for Tom
Chorske, and an eighth-round pick from New Jersey for Ken Sutton.
There are a few trends that McPhee seems to have shown in his three drafts so far. First of Read more»
With the entry draft on the horizon, and the Capitals coming off what might be their best draft ever, I thought I would take a look back at what is considered the Caps’ worst draft of the 1990s. In 1996, Washington had twelve picks – including seven of the top 100. Not only that, but there was an NHL-calibre player on the board every time their turn came up. Now, just four years later, they have only one player to show for it.
This season the Capitals dealt former first round picks Alexandre Volchkov to Edmonton and Jaroslav Svejkovsky to Tampa Bay. That left the Capitals with young centre Jan Bulis as the only player under contract from their entire 1996 draft.
Washington held all of their picks 1 through 9 except the 4th rounder (98th) that they traded to Colorado for Anson Carter. They had acquired four extra selections through trades: L.A.’s 1st (4th overall ) and Dallas’ 4th (85th) from the Kings in exchange for Byron Dafoe and Dimitri Khristich; Dallas’ 3rd (58th) from Colorado for John Slaney; and Chicago’s 4th (74th) for Igor Ulanov.
Let’s take a look at the selections that David Poile and the Washington Capitals made in 1996, and try to determine what they were thinking on draft day and where they went wrong.
RW Alexandre Volchkov 6’1″ 194 – Barrie Colts (OHL)
(1st round, 4th overall – originally Los Angeles’ pick)
C.S.B. Ranking: 2nd, North American skaters
Actually drafted: 3rd N.A. skater taken
Read more»
On June 1st, the Capitals announced the signings of 1998 draft picks Krys Barch (4th round, 106th overall), Nathan Forster (7th round, 179th overall) and Rastislav Stana (7th round, 193rd overall). These signings prevented them from re-entering the 2000 entry draft. With the signings of Michael Farrell (8th round, 220th overall) after the season and Mike Siklenka (5th round, 118th overall) last off-season, the Capitals only lost three players to re-entry.
Goaltender Jomar Cruz (2nd round, 49th overall), as well as forwards Todd Hornung (3rd round, 59th overall) and Blake Evans (9th round, 251st overall) have all re-entered the 2000 draft. However, none of them are expected to be re-drafted and will try to work out free agent deals after the draft.
The Capitals also announced that they have acquired defenseman Stephen Peat from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in exchange for a 2000 fourth-round pick. Peat was unable to come to terms with the Ducks and was going to re-enter the draft. The Capitals were able to sign him before the deadline and he will attend training camp in the fall. Peat was the Ducks’ 2nd round pick in 1998 (32nd overall) and is one of the WHL’s most feared enforcers.
Nathan Forster is a defenseman for the Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) and a 1998 Washington Capitals draft pick. He just
completed his fourth season in Seattle, and should be ready to turn pro next season.
I want to thank Nathan for taking the time to answer my questions, and I would especially like to thank Peter Forster for his help
in making this possible.
Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a hockey player?
A: If I wasn’t playing I would be going to school and fishing and golfing everyday.
Q: What do you do during the offseason?
A: During the off-season I hit the gym everyday in the morning and have the rest of the day to fish or golf or just relax.
Q: Do you have any game day superstitions?
A: I don’t have any game day superstitions.
Q: What is the greatest moment of your career so far?
A: My greatest memory so far in my hockey career was being drafted to the Caps and also playing in the WHL finals against
Lethbridge in 1997.
Q: Did you expect to be drafted higher in 1998?
A: I didn’t expect much going into the draft because I didn’t have the best year my draft year. I was just happy to be drafted and
knew that this is only the first step to becoming a pro.
Q: What type of player do you describe yourself as?
Read more»
Due to the depth throughout the Washington Capitals organization, they will most likely lose a
talented player in the upcoming expansion draft. However, because the Caps have quite a few
Free Agents, the players that Columbus and Minnesota may be interested in will not necessarily
be under contract for next season. In this latest round of expansion, the Capitals have lost a
young player with potential (Andrew Brunette – Nashville ’98) and an unsigned veteran (Mark
Tinordi – Atlanta ’99). Although both players were missed in DC, they were not irreplaceable;
this season is very similar in that the Caps will not be crippled by any selection the Wild and
Blue Jackets make.
Let’s get the eligibility criteria out of the way first, and all first and second year pros
are exempt. That means that twelve players in the Capitals organization do not have to be
protected: Forwards Jeff Halpern, Matt Herr, Mike Peluso and Trent Whitfield, Defensemen
Michael Farrell, J.F. Fortin, Steve Shirreffs, Mike Siklenka, Dean Stork, Scott Swanson and
Alexei Tezikov, and Goaltender Curtis Cruickshank. The Capitals also have thirteen Unrestricted and Minor League Free Agents, and since unsigned players are of little value to the expansion clubs, they will
all probably be left unprotected. They include: Forwards Mike Eagles, Trevor Halverson, Jim
McKenzie, Barrie Moore, Ryan Mulhern, Joe Murphy, Joe Sacco, and Jeff Toms, Defensemen Patrick Read more»
|
