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The Washington Capitals’ disappointing 2022-23 season resulted in organizational recognition that while the team still looked to make a second Stanley Cup championship in the waning seasons of Alex Ovechkin’s career, the need for an infusion of youth was essential moving forward. .
So it may have been no coincidence that when the team selected right winger Ryan Leonard in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, the selection came with the eighth overall pick, signifying a narrative point in Washington’s nearly 50-year history.
On Thursday, the club added more young players to its prospect pool, with rounds 2-7 of the 2023 draft.
The Capitals select Andrew Crystal in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft
The Capitals are still very much an experienced team, with the likes of Ovechkin (in pursuit of a seemingly unbreakable record), Niklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson the remaining members of the Stanley Cup. – Winning a list of five summer classes. And while a full rebuild is out of the equation as long as the Great Eight is still fired from its desk, the team’s move toward a smaller lineup has been promising.
After a mutual parting with veteran coach Peter Laviolette at the conclusion of the season, the Caps hired Spencer Carberry, a longtime farmer who became the first coach in franchise history to serve as a head coach at all three career levels of the organization (Carberry previously served as bench chair for the Hershey Bears of the AHL, as well as to the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL).
Carberry, who at 41 is the first bench coach in franchise history born after the club opened the 1974-75 season, signals a step into the future while balancing the club’s veteran talent. With a history of coaching a number of the team’s top prospects in the AHL with Hershey, Carbery is well equipped to handle the task at hand.
“They didn’t just live, they played it,” Carberry said of the veteran leadership group during his introductory press conference, “but they’re champions, they’ve won Stanley Cups here. Their opinions, what they see matter… I’d like to attach that to the development part as well.”
“It’s our job as coaches to come in and help these young players get up to speed as quickly as possible, it’s also the responsibility of our leadership group. They have a big part in ‘how can we get these young players ready to play and play in a winning culture’, and that’s what I’m going to count on. Especially on our leadership group, and I challenge them to do a good job in this department.”
While the looming shadow of free agency and potential trades that general manager Brian McClellan might strike has yet to surface, the Capitals’ move toward pumping out young players now and in the future has been nothing short of promising.
By Michael Fleetwood