Success has given the Washington Capitals something they didn’t always have: patience.
That matters now, because when the Capitals go on the clock June 13 with the 15th pick in the National Hockey League entry draft, it will be their highest selection since 1982, when they took defenseman Scott Stevens fifth overall. And even with that kind of position, Washington isn’t expecting a player who walks in and changes everything right away.
General manager David Poile made the approach plain. “Our position has changed over the last few years,” he said. “It was once important that the first-round choice play on our team but now, drafting 15th, we will be drafting with the future in mind.
“We must project what a player’s abilities will be two or three years down the road. And, if we’re picking a major junior player, we will be doing so with the expectation that he will finish his junior eligibility down there.”
That leaves Poile leaning on the simplest draft rule of all: take the best player on the board when the Capitals finally get their turn.
“If we had a deficiency today, it might not be the situation in two or three years when the draft choice is ready for the NHL,” Poile said. “It would be nice to have balance and draft in a depth-chart pattern-a goaltender, a couple of defensemen, forwards scattered among thé various positions. But when you’re watching 20 other teams pick between your selections, all you can do is go for the best player available.”
Even so, Washington isn’t unhappy with where it sits. Poile said the old draft-day advantage of trading for a better spot has faded as teams have gotten thinner.
“If it came to a choice of 21st (choice) or first,” he said, “I know what my answer would be. Of course, in the past, the better teams have improved their position by trading off depth.
But now, few teams have much depth to spare and the lesser teams have learned that such deals haven’t helped them. There are very few changes in the drafting order as a result of trades.”
The Capitals’ biggest current issue remains at left wing, and they have already tried to address it. Last year they drafted Jeff Greenlaw, and in 1985 they added Yvon Corriveau. Both started the past season in Washington, but Greenlaw was limited by a stress fracture in the back, while Corriveau was sent back to the Toronto Marlboros.
Washington does have a handful of first-round picks making a real impact. Stevens is one of three first-rounders who are playing key roles for the Capitals, alongside right winger Mike Gartner, taken in 1979, and defenseman Kevin Hatcher, chosen in 1984.
The club has also seen five of its first-round selections go on to play elsewhere in the NHL: defenseman Rick Green, center Ryan Walter, defenseman Robert Picard, defenseman Darren Veitch and center Bob Carpenter.
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Alex Ovechkin is back on a one-year contract, and for Washington that means the old familiar threat still anchors the attack. He is coming off another 30-plus goal season, and his reputation as the NHLs all-time leader in goals and power-play goals only deepens the sense that every man advantage can tilt the ice in the Capitals favor.
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