Vagrant
The Czech Condor
The HFNHL Capitals are finally starting to feel an emergence from a perpetual rebuild spanning the past decade. The single biggest credit being to a recent devotion to retaining first round picks and more than a little luck with said picks.
After winning the rights to the 3rd overall selection, Washington tried desperately early in the process to court the 2nd overall pick in order to select Svechnikov. Having been defeated in negotiations by his shrewd baby-voiced counterpart, the Capitals brass decided to avoid the temptation to reunite the Tkachuk brothers by selecting the falling stock of Filip Zadina. While it was unfortunate to see Zadina take a tumble down the boards, the concern was quickly mitigated by the news that Zadina would be selected by an organization known for development in Detroit. It seems that the NHL emphasis bordering on infatuation with the center position may have been at least part of the equation regarding Zadina's fall.
The annual HFNHL Lottery was incredibly kind to the Capitals, who managed to snare a few of the most sought after targets. 20 HFNHL teams submitted bids for Daniel Brickley as the ping pong balls graciously gifted him to Washington. Jordan Gross (10 teams), Michael Fora (8 teams), and Andrew Sturtz (6 teams) rounded out the encouraging class.
The awaited reinforcements have finally started to metriculate into the NHL and as a result, Washington will add several new faces next season. Alex DeBrincat, Christian Fischer, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Montour and Robert Hagg constitute the first wave. The second hopes to include Miro Heiskanen and the aforementioned Filip Zadina. Breakout NHL seasons from Jonathan Marchessault, Connor Hellebuyck, and Evgeni Dadonov have pushed the competitive timeline forward considerably. This encouraged Washington to pursue two pieces in free agency that they previously would have avoided in Dan Hamhuis and Brandon Sutter. Hamhuis' defense and leadership are traits heavily needed on an otherwise puck moving heavy top 4 defense (Montour, Schultz, McAvoy). The Capitals invested heavily in a penalty kill unit by adding sim hero Sutter of 95 DF and 92 FO fame for what they consider a bargain of $4,750,000 in a market aggressively attacking talent. This addition was a luxury afforded by having several key pieces on entry level contracts. We are attempting to utilize this window while it exists.
As it stands today, this is what the HFNHL Capitals lineup projects to be this upcoming season:
Matthew Tkachuk - Jack Eichel - Evgeni Dadonov
Nino Niederreiter - Jonathan Marchessault - Sam Reinhart
Richard Panik - Brandon Sutter - Alex DeBrincat
Christian Fischer - Alex Iafallo - Jamie McGinn
(Michael Raffl - Frank Vatrano - Marcus Folingo)
Dan Hamhuis - Charlie McAvoy
Alexei Emelin - Brandon Montour
Robert Hagg - Justin Schultz
(Kevin Connauton, Jan Rutta)
Connor Hellebuyck
Casey DeSmith
After winning the rights to the 3rd overall selection, Washington tried desperately early in the process to court the 2nd overall pick in order to select Svechnikov. Having been defeated in negotiations by his shrewd baby-voiced counterpart, the Capitals brass decided to avoid the temptation to reunite the Tkachuk brothers by selecting the falling stock of Filip Zadina. While it was unfortunate to see Zadina take a tumble down the boards, the concern was quickly mitigated by the news that Zadina would be selected by an organization known for development in Detroit. It seems that the NHL emphasis bordering on infatuation with the center position may have been at least part of the equation regarding Zadina's fall.
The annual HFNHL Lottery was incredibly kind to the Capitals, who managed to snare a few of the most sought after targets. 20 HFNHL teams submitted bids for Daniel Brickley as the ping pong balls graciously gifted him to Washington. Jordan Gross (10 teams), Michael Fora (8 teams), and Andrew Sturtz (6 teams) rounded out the encouraging class.
The awaited reinforcements have finally started to metriculate into the NHL and as a result, Washington will add several new faces next season. Alex DeBrincat, Christian Fischer, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Montour and Robert Hagg constitute the first wave. The second hopes to include Miro Heiskanen and the aforementioned Filip Zadina. Breakout NHL seasons from Jonathan Marchessault, Connor Hellebuyck, and Evgeni Dadonov have pushed the competitive timeline forward considerably. This encouraged Washington to pursue two pieces in free agency that they previously would have avoided in Dan Hamhuis and Brandon Sutter. Hamhuis' defense and leadership are traits heavily needed on an otherwise puck moving heavy top 4 defense (Montour, Schultz, McAvoy). The Capitals invested heavily in a penalty kill unit by adding sim hero Sutter of 95 DF and 92 FO fame for what they consider a bargain of $4,750,000 in a market aggressively attacking talent. This addition was a luxury afforded by having several key pieces on entry level contracts. We are attempting to utilize this window while it exists.
As it stands today, this is what the HFNHL Capitals lineup projects to be this upcoming season:
Matthew Tkachuk - Jack Eichel - Evgeni Dadonov
Nino Niederreiter - Jonathan Marchessault - Sam Reinhart
Richard Panik - Brandon Sutter - Alex DeBrincat
Christian Fischer - Alex Iafallo - Jamie McGinn
(Michael Raffl - Frank Vatrano - Marcus Folingo)
Dan Hamhuis - Charlie McAvoy
Alexei Emelin - Brandon Montour
Robert Hagg - Justin Schultz
(Kevin Connauton, Jan Rutta)
Connor Hellebuyck
Casey DeSmith
