Thursday Roundup/Flyers 2, Caps 1

[AP Recap]

Not much in the way of recaps of last night's action (which featured few regulars and no official stats), so read Vogs' and move on.

Tim Leone shares Caps blueline prospect Patrick McNeill's NHL role model with us, Tarik profiles Mike Green and Corey takes a look at Tom Poti - I guess it's D-day. The Lebanon Daily News says to expect at least three more cuts from D.C. on Thursday, and believes the Caps will open the season with 13 forwards and 8 defensemen on the roster. Oh, and E.J. Hradek's got the Caps finishing in the Southeast cellar while his buddy at the Worldwide Leader, Scott Burnside, has them doing a bit better.

Finally, they may not have published the stat from last night's game, but I'm pretty sure that this earned Donald Brashear five for fighting and Riley Cote five for receiving:

Photo: Getty Images

This And That From Tuesday Afternoon

Worth checking out this afternoon are Vogs' profiles of Mathieu Perreault and Patrick McNeill over at Caps.com, as well a pair of pieces on Ted Leonsis, the first of which is an interview over at DCist, while the second is a lengthy recap of an AP interview.

Some highlights from the latter Leonsis article:

• "Every person in the organization's expectation is that we will make the playoffs."
• "We're under the cap. We have a lot of assets. I could see us during the season making trades. We've reached that point now where we're a team going up with good cap management. We have 'optionality.' We're very well-positioned in the new NHL. We're not a whining team."
• "I need another 2,500 season-ticket seats," Leonsis said. "What that would do is tip it, it would give us scarcity of tickets and allow us finally to raise prices. Our ticket prices, for the most part are exactly the same as they were in 1999."
• Leonsis said the Capitals "might never break even" financially, but added that the franchise right now could probably sell for at least $225 million, compared to the $85 million he paid for it eight years ago.

And one quote from Perreault that I couldn't let go unmentioned:

Perreault doesn’t hesitate when asked which NHL player he looks up to and tries to model his game after.

"Daniel Briere," Perreault affirms. "He played junior on Drummondville. I’m from Drummondville so I watched him play junior. He is the kind of player I want to be, so I’m working to be like him."

All things considered, I'd take that in a heartbeat.

Youth Will Be Served

NHL.com's Robert Picarello has an article up about five of the younger players the Caps have under contract (most of whom I'd expect to see at the Caps development camp next month), and it's definitely worth a read.

Caps Still Top Five

Hockey's Future has it's Spring 2007 Organizational Rankings up and the Caps are #5.

Here's HF's assessment:

Strengths: Washington's strengths start back in the net where they have Semen Varlamov and Michael Neuvirth. Varlamov and Neuvirth seem to have the biggest upside as of now. Both are highly athletic goaltenders that move very fast and are capable of making key saves. On the defensive end Jeff Schultz and Patrick McNeill are providing solid but unspectacular depth. Up front, Nicklas Backstrom, who is one of the best prospects outside of the NHL right now, leads the troops. He doesn't need any further introduction, while his fellow prospects Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann, Francois Bouchard still haven’t reached same status (but bring excellent offensive ability).

Weaknesses: The team could use some more depth on the left side, as the prospects behind Fleischmann aren’t really close to the NHL. The center position could also use another solid centerman, as the only two that look like future NHLers right now are Backstrom and Chris Bourque.

Top Five Prospects: Nicklas Backstrom (C), Eric Fehr (RW), Semen Varlamov (G), Francois Bouchard (RW), Tomas Fleischmann (LW)

Key Graduates: Mike Green (D)

Hockey's Future: Capitals Top 20 Prospects

Hockey's Future has updated its Top 20 Caps Prospects (with a couple of paragraphs on each player) and the only thing that really jumps out at me is that Francois Bouchard has leap-frogged Tomas Fleischmann. Travis Morin's low ranking and the omission of Viktor Dovgan have some scratching their heads, but all in all, the list is rather unsurprising (and it's great to see two goalies so high on the list). Here it is, with a cherry-picked, not-always-in-context money quote for each player:

1. Nicklas Backstrom, C - "has the potential and maturity to center a first line as soon as next season"
2. Eric Fehr, RW - "with his impressive offensive prowess and ongoing success in the AHL, Fehr will not be a man with two teams for much longer"
3. Semen Varlamov, G - "quick legs, and a very quick glove, which lets him excel at breakaways, especially shootouts"
4. Francois Bouchard, C/RW - "he might not just contribute, but be an impact player"
5. Tomas Fleischmann, LW - "with great hockey sense, along with an impressive shot and playmaking ability, Fleischmann has excellent offensive potential"
6. Michal Neuvirth, G - "a well-rounded butterfly style goaltender who shines under pressure situations. Rarely getting rattled, his mental toughness is remarkable for his age."
7. Chris Bourque, LW/RW - "has all intangibles -- great hockey sense, excellent skating, leadership, competitiveness, and above all, the ability to put himself in the right positions to score"
8. Jeff Schultz, D - "all the physical potential to become a keystone defenseman at the NHL level"
9. Patrick McNeill, D - "has enormous offensive potential, and is defensively sound"
10. Keith Seabrook, D - "has an incredibly hard shot from the point, and an ability to find open shooting lanes"
11. Oskar Osala, LW - "has incredible offensive talent, and at 6'4 his great speed and skating ability is very rare"
12. Sami Lepisto, D - "One of the best young defensemen in Finland, Lepisto excels at puck control; with a very calm demeanor he makes good passes and exudes confidence with the puck."
13. Joe Finley, D - "His incredible size, mixed with a certain aggressiveness, gives him the ability to take control of a game from a defensive standpoint."
14. Maxime Daigneault, G - "With good size, and an aggressively challenging style, Daigneault covers a lot of space in the net and uses his butterfly technique and quick glove to stymie shooters."
15. Sasha Pokulok, D - "Out of all the defensemen in the Capitals prospect system, Pokulok may be the most well-rounded."
16. Andrew Gordon, RW - "Gordon has what every club in the NHL looks for in offensive players: consistency at a high level."
17. Travis Morin, C - "His great playmaking skills, matched with excellent puckhandling, makes Morin successful on the power play."
18. Mathieu Perreault, C - "has enormous offensive upside"
19. Stephen Werner, RW - "Werner is a good playmaker and makes good decisions. He has a hard shot and is good through traffic, but his calling card is his speed."
20. Jamie Hunt, D - "extremely quick and a very good skater for his size"

Caps' Prospect Making Huge Strides

In the latest edition of Hockey's Future's HF Mailbag, the question was posed "What five players stand out as most improving their status as legitimate prospects?" HF's answer includes a Caps' prospect, defenseman Patrick McNeill, who was the team's fourth round pick (118th overall) in the 2005 draft. Quoth HF:

Human nature loves to root for the underdog and there is no larger of an underdog than a prospect that was passed over several times by every organization in the draft just to break out with an awesome season to prove everyone wrong. In any given year, there are several prospects that emerge onto the prospect radar. Here are just a few, and by no means all, of those that we feel deserve some mention.

...

Patrick McNeill, a fourth round choice for the Washington Capitals, went from 33 points in 2004-05 to 77 points in 68 games with Saginaw of the OHL as an 18-year-old for most of the season. He turned his plus/minus of -29 in 2004-05 to a +24 in 2005-06.

Back in early April, HF had a little more to say about McNeill, who they rate as either the Caps' 10th or 11th best prospect, depending upon which side of the screen you choose to look at:

A 2005 draft steal?

McNeill’s draft status may have suffered due to the fact that he was on a very bad team last season. However, it appears that this year he has done everything to prove his critics wrong. McNeill finished first in the OHL in scoring by a defenseman with 77 points (21 goals, 56 assists), and helped propel Saginaw to its first postseason appearance in team history. McNeill’s numbers were a far cry from last season’s 33 points (7 goals, 26 assists), and he also rebounded from last season’s woeful plus/minus (-29) by finishing the 2005-06 campaign at +24 defensively.

Saginaw faced a formidable opponent this postseason, as the Guelph Storm swept the series in four games. McNeill did manage to score four points (1 goal, 3 assists), and finished the four-game series with a –1 defensive rating.

McNeill is a solid player and has very few holes in his overall game. Although he does excel at the offensive aspects of the game, his willingness to join the rush does lead to some defensive lapses on his part. However, since defensemen usually take longer to develop than forwards, he still has time to refine the defensive aspects of his game before turning pro.

Although he is only 6’0 tall, he does weigh in at around 200 lbs and is solidly built. He is not known for being an overly physical player, but he does play the body well, and his speed also assists him with his positional play. He has a great outlet pass and a great shot from the point, and displays clever playmaking abilities as well.

McNeill is still several years away from becoming a consistent NHL contributor. However, Washington can’t ignore the pure talent in this young man and will likely be keeping a very close eye on his overall development. Look for McNeill to become a solid, power-play quarterback in the NHL if he can reach his full potential. He will remain in junior next season as he is too young to play in the AHL.

McNeill was the fourth defenseman the Caps selected in last year's draft, and if his draft classmates can follow his example, the future of the Caps blueline will be bright indeed.

Caps Draft Recap: Heavy On The D

Not surprisingly, the Caps loaded up on defensemen in yesterday's draft, taking five blueliners in the seven round draft, including packaging their picks #47 and #52 to grab the #27 pick. Here are your newest Caps-to-be:

1. (14th overall) Sasha Pokulok, D, 6'5", 220
2. (27) Joe Finley, D, 6'7", 229
3. (109) Andrew Thomas, D, 6'2", 196
4. (118) Patrick McNeill, D, 6'0", 195
5. (143) Daren Machesney, G, 6'0", 163
6. (181) Tim Kennedy, LW, 5'9", 170 (traded to Buffalo for a 6th round pick in 2006)
   
7. (209) Viktor Dovgan, D, 6'2", 200
   

There's a decent draft-day blog on WashingtonCaps.com that discusses many of the picks, and a very good recap (albeit from the team) here.

There's a nice capsule summary in the WaPo article. Not that anyone at the WaPo has any credibility as far as evaluating hockey talent, but they described the Caps two first round picks as "a surprise" (translation: "they could have waited and taken him later") and "a project," respectively, which is hardly encouraging.

The WTimes draft recap is here.

The Toronto Star recaps the Caps picks here and the entire draft, pick by pick, here.

The Caps' official message board has a thread with an extensive discussion of first pick Sasha Pokulok.