Speculation: Minor League Affiliates (Hershey Bears, SC Stingrays) - summer 2018 to summer 2019

[Hivemind]

How do you mean? If we are going by who will play the most NHL games in their careers (which I am), I would put my money on the Caps D prospects being in the top five when all is said and done.

I've been through every teams top D prospects ending with this past draft and if the Caps aren't near the top let me know who is.

Impossible to know until 15-20 years down the road though.

There are simply several franchises with better defense prospects. I don't think a single Caps D prospect cracks anyone's top 100 prospects list.

WRT the Caps D prospects, they're rather limited in terms of upside. Barring Bowey having a breakthrough after a couple years of stalled development, Alexeyev is easily the most promising in terms of being able to hold down a role as an impact defenseman. Johansen doesn't have much offensive upside, and if he manages to develop into a top 4 defenseman it will likely be in a more conservative role that is dependent on good chemistry with his partner. None of the rest are even safe bets to reach the NHL. Hobbs still has a lot of warts in his game, and his upside likely caps out as a 3rd pairing PP specialist with managed minutes. Siegenthaler likely caps out as a 3rd pairing PK specialist, and it's no guarantee that his game even translates to the NHL at all. Williams and Lewington are long-shots to graduate beyond the AHL. Priskie is doing reasonably well at Quinnipiac, but has zero professional experience and most are skeptical of him having the physical tools to translate to the NHL. Fehervary has some promise, but is still a long ways away from the NHL.


The Caps D prospects are a long shot from the top of the league. They aren't on par with Philadelphia (Sanheim, Myers, Hagg), Buffalo (Dahlin, Samuelsson, Guhlen), Colorado (Makar, Timmens), Vancouver (Hughes, Juolevi), Ottawa (Chabot, Bernard-Docker, Tychonick), NY Rangers (Miller, Lindgren, Hajek), NY Islanders (Dobson, Pulock, Toews, Aho), Chicago (Boqvist, Jokiharju, Beaudin) or Toronto (Liljegren, Sandin, Durzi).

 

[Sam Spade]

There are simply several franchises with better defense prospects. I don't think a single Caps D prospect cracks anyone's top 100 prospects list.

I said numerous times other teams have higher top end prospects but the Caps have a good number of decent ones in the pipeline. No numbers ones but guys who can keep you stocked for a number of seasons down the road.

 

[Hivemind]

I said numerous times other teams have higher top end prospects but the Caps have a good number of decent ones in the pipeline. No numbers ones but guys who can keep you stocked for a number of seasons down the road.

Every team has a few depth prospects. That doesn't really make the Capitals system special, and certainly doesn't make it a top 5 system.

I also think you're seriously overratting many of the Capitals depth D prospects. Remember that the vast majority of all prospects don't end up as career NHL players.

 

[Sam Spade]

Every team has a few depth prospects. That doesn't really make the Capitals system special, and certainly doesn't make it a top 5 system.

I also think you're seriously overrating many of the Capitals depth D prospects. Remember that the vast majority of all prospects don't end up as career NHL players.

Well I think Seigenthaler, Hobbs, Johansen and Alexeyev will contribute to the Caps or some other NHL team. Time will tell.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Those seem like the safest bets, but not locks to have long NHL careers.

I’m really pulling for Hobbs myself.

 

[Langway]

A top five D system may be stretching it on paper but if one includes Sanheim/Hagg/Chabot then Djoos & Bowey should qualify. It's solidly 6-10 IMO even if it lacks significant upside or easily attained well-roundedness. Their developmental track record strengthens the likelihood of them finding players, although for me that's an argument in favor of being far more selective in the draft. They're also likely to run out of spots for these players to perhaps adequately be able to flip them for max value. They have a ton of them...quite arguably too many in the not too distant future.

 

[Hivemind]

A top five D system may be stretching it on paper but if one includes Sanheim/Hagg/Chabot then Djoos & Bowey should qualify. It's solidly 6-10 IMO even if it lacks significant upside or easily attained well-roundedness. Their developmental track record strengthens the likelihood of them finding players, although for me that's an argument in favor of being far more selective in the draft. They're also likely to run out of spots for these players to perhaps adequately be able to flip them for max value. They have a ton of them...quite arguably too many in the not too distant future.

I was counting Bowey, but not Djoos. I view partial rookie seasons as prospects. Djoos spent the full season in the NHL.

edit; Probably should have dropped Hagg. Thought he spent some time in the AHL, but it appears not.

 

[hb12xchamps]

The Caps D prospects are a long shot from the top of the league. They aren't on par with Philadelphia (Sanheim, Myers, Hagg), Buffalo (Dahlin, Samuelsson, Guhlen), Colorado (Makar, Timmens), Vancouver (Hughes, Juolevi), Ottawa (Chabot, Bernard-Docker, Tychonick), NY Rangers (Miller, Lindgren, Hajek), NY Islanders (Dobson, Pulock, Toews, Aho), Chicago (Boqvist, Jokiharju, Beaudin) or Toronto (Liljegren, Sandin, Durzi).

The problem is that a lot of these guys were picked in the top 15-20 of their draft class. I'd say GMBM and our scouting department has done a solid job of drafting guys late that can have some sort of NHL upside. On the other hand they've also drafted a shit load of D prospects so some have to pan out or they can be labeled as wasted picks.

I'm a little higher on Johansen than you seem to be but I wouldn't say he's anywhere near the level of Green, Carlson and Alzner when they all came through Hershey. I haven't seen a D prospect as good as those guys since Carlson/Alzner graduated.

Our D prospects are probably in the 6-10 range at this point and that's based more on the quantity aspect. You hit the nail on the head when you said we don't have a true top pairing guy. Johansen comes close but again he's not at the same level that Alzner/Carlson were when they came to Hershey. Hobbs has an outside shot of being a top 4, PP specialist type guy if he can take some strides this year in his development.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

If Lujo tops out as a 4-6 I’ll be bummed. I too have higher hopes for him.

 

[Sam Spade]

The Caps don't have a number one now, they have a four two's. I'm fine with our better prospects being 2/3's, as any team in the league would be.

You want to draft a true number one you have to finish bottom three in a year with a great defensemen, then pray you win the lottery.

 

[Devil Dancer]

Carlson's a 1C, he's just not an elite 1C.

 

[Hivemind]

Carlson's a 1C, he's just not an elite 1C.

D?

 

[twabby]

The Caps don't have a number one now, they have a four two's. I'm fine with our better prospects being 2/3's, as any team in the league would be.

You want to draft a true number one you have to finish bottom three in a year with a great defensemen, then pray you win the lottery.

That’s not even close to true. In fact I’d say most #1s across the league are in the late first round or later. Hedman and Doughty seem like the only exceptions though I’m sure I’m missing a few.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Carlson's a 1Dhe's just not an elite 1D.

Absolutely....arguing he’s not is plain dumb IMO.


Fixed it for you too....

 

[Hivemind]

The Caps don't have a number one now, they have a four two's. I'm fine with our better prospects being 2/3's, as any team in the league would be.

You want to draft a true number one you have to finish bottom three in a year with a great defensemen, then pray you win the lottery.

I love Kempny, but I don't think I'd call him a #2.

There are definitely plenty of #1s available after the top 3 in a draft. Erik Karlsson was picked 15th. Brent Burns was picked 20th. Mike Green was picked 29th. Justin Faulk, ME Vlasic, Duncan Keith, Roman Josi, and Shea Weber were all 2nd rounders. Parayko and Letang were 3rd rounders. Klingberg was a 5th rounder. Dustin Byfuglien was an 8th rounder (remember when those were a thing?).

 

[Hivemind]

That’s not even close to true. In fact I’d say most #1s across the league are in the late first round or later. Hedman and Doughty seem like the only exceptions though I’m sure I’m missing a few.

You beat me to the punch (was watching TV while writing my post).

When it comes to top 3 picks, add in Aaron Ekblad and you're pretty much spot on (until Dahlin pans out, anyway). If you expand it top 8 or so picks, you do get some other names.

Picks 4-8: Alex Pietrangelo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan Suter, Ivan Provorov, Dion Phaneuf (plus Seth Jones and Morgan Rielly who could get there)



Not all of them stayed as a #1 for their entire careers (who does?), but these guys peaked as #1s.

 

[Corby78]

All I know is we’re picking last next draft and I’m ok with that.

 

[Holtbyisms]

I love Kempny, but I don't think I'd call him a #2.

There are definitely plenty of #1s available after the top 3 in a draft. Erik Karlsson was picked 15th. Brent Burns was picked 20th. Mike Green was picked 29th. Justin Faulk, ME Vlasic, Duncan Keith, Roman Josi, and Shea Weber were all 2nd rounders. Parayko and Letang were 3rd rounders. Klingberg was a 5th rounder. Dustin Byfuglien was an 8th rounder (remember when those were a thing?).

Agreed, if he played like he did in the playoffs I'd call him a decent 3 or a really good 4. But then again he might continue to get better. He doesn't have a ton of NHL experience, could be a late bloomer. Pumped about our future blueline. Carlson will be the #1 albeit maybe not a high end one for a very long time so that spot is locked down. I think Griesser is going to surprise some people one day. Guy can play.

 

[maacoshark]

There are simply several franchises with better defense prospects. I don't think a single Caps D prospect cracks anyone's top 100 prospects list.

WRT the Caps D prospects, they're rather limited in terms of upside. Barring Bowey having a breakthrough after a couple years of stalled development, Alexeyev is easily the most promising in terms of being able to hold down a role as an impact defenseman. Johansen doesn't have much offensive upside, and if he manages to develop into a top 4 defenseman it will likely be in a more conservative role that is dependent on good chemistry with his partner. None of the rest are even safe bets to reach the NHL. Hobbs still has a lot of warts in his game, and his upside likely caps out as a 3rd pairing PP specialist with managed minutes. Siegenthaler likely caps out as a 3rd pairing PK specialist, and it's no guarantee that his game even translates to the NHL at all. Williams and Lewington are long-shots to graduate beyond the AHL. Priskie is doing reasonably well at Quinnipiac, but has zero professional experience and most are skeptical of him having the physical tools to translate to the NHL. Fehervary has some promise, but is still a long ways away from the NHL.


The Caps D prospects are a long shot from the top of the league. They aren't on par with Philadelphia (Sanheim, Myers, Hagg), Buffalo (Dahlin, Samuelsson, Guhlen), Colorado (Makar, Timmens), Vancouver (Hughes, Juolevi), Ottawa (Chabot, Bernard-Docker, Tychonick), NY Rangers (Miller, Lindgren, Hajek), NY Islanders (Dobson, Pulock, Toews, Aho), Chicago (Boqvist, Jokiharju, Beaudin) or Toronto (Liljegren, Sandin, Durzi).

You are pretty hard on our prospects on defence. I think there is some potential there. It is too early to say a guy is going to max out as 3rd pairing. Or even saying Alexeyev is our most promising prospect. We have no clue how he will develope

 

[Ridley Simon]

The faults of the system are a lack of high-level talent, not that there's no borderline talent. There's plenty of 20-24 year olds in the system who can contend to be fringe players in the NHL, the concern is how few players they have in the system that proejct to be top 6 forwards or top 4 defensemen. At this point it's basically just Alexeyev, Gersich, and Johansen with outside chances of AJF or Bowey pulling it off. And I'm not even particularly sold that Johansen will be able to handle regular top 4 duty in the NHL, and it's realistic to think that Gersich could very well end up as more of an energy player/waterbug than a productive scorer.

Caps have already graduated their young forwards.
Wilson is 24
Burakovsky is 23
Vrana is 22

So while we may not have a lot of high end forward talent outside of DC, we have some very young forward talent that is already here.

 

[Chips]

How’s Riley Barber been? I remember hearing his name for years as a probable depth player, haven’t followed prospects last couple years

 

[Holtbyisms]

How’s Riley Barber been? I remember hearing his name for years as a probable depth player, haven’t followed prospects last couple years

He was super noticeable in I think our first(maybe second?) pre-season game. He had like 9 shots and a goal. He's been steady throughout the pre-season imo. Don't know if he cracks the roster but he isn't waiver exempt anymore either so they'll probably need to make a decision unless they think they can sneak him through waivers after everybody's roster gets pretty well filled out.

 

[Hivemind]

He was super noticeable in I think our first(maybe second?) pre-season game. He had like 9 shots and a goal. He's been steady throughout the pre-season imo. Don't know if he cracks the roster but he isn't waiver exempt anymore either so they'll probably need to make a decision unless they think they can sneak him through waivers after everybody's roster gets pretty well filled out.

Barber would clear waivers. Pretty much everyone would clear waivers. Bowey is the only question mark in my mind. Passing through waivers during training camp is relatively easy, as basically every team has a handful of their own prospects that they're currently auditioning for spots. It's a lot easier to pass through the waivers in September/early October than it is in December once injuries have set in and players have washed out.

Remember that Chandler Stephenson wasn't on the opening night roster and had to clear waivers last year.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Hershey training camp invites include Derek Hulak and Jeremy Morin

 

[Hivemind]

Didn't Jeremy Morin try out with Hershey last year as well? Or am I think of news from earlier this summer?