Prospect Info: Caps Prospects General Discussion Thread - 2024-25

[CapitalsCupReality]

Cole is at 1.08 p/g. Lane finished at 1.23. (If it matters, Lane has a February b-day as opposed to Cole's late June.) In fairness, Cole had a much more productive WJC.

But again, Cole has come on since WJC. If he keeps up his production since WJC for the rest of the season, he'll come really close to Lane's production.

I misread Lane’s games played, but still, pretty damn close.

 

[Silky mitts]

Hutson won't be replacing Sandin or Chychrun or Fehervary -- he'll be replacing Carlson.

Also, Wheeler's top 100 drafted prospects published today ($) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6101032/2025/02/11/nhl-2025-prospects-rankings-top-100/

Caps with 7 guys, tied for first with Chicago. Hutson is a little low for me, and while I get Cristall's overall ranking I still don't understand how guys consistently rank Iginla in a tier above him. Other than that, I think everything is extremely fair. The pool has come a long way!

Perrault is one spot behind Leonard and he says in the spiel that's it's because of his priors, has Nemec stupid high and says it's because of his priors, has Levshunov, Lindstrom, and Iginla rated high just because of draft stock AKA priors. The things these guys do on the ice matter, like what more can Leonard/Hutson/Protas do to move up? I'm sure fans of different teams complain but I think he's got those guys way too high and the Caps way too low and feel vindicated by Button's rankings.

 

[ynotcaps]

Really enjoyed watching last night's game -- thank you, ESPN+!

One thought on each of our prospects:

Lenny: As soon as he comes up, and definitely in the playoffs, teams are going to be trying to goad the living shit out of him. He's going to get suckered in a few times, but hopefully he learns quickly. But, oh my god, is he going to be an amazing "TDL-add"!

Hutson: He has some growing up to do. Literally. Physically. Would be nice if he could get taller, but not holding out hope. On the other hand, he needs to fill out a bit and add a little more functional strength. Once that happens, he's going to be an absolute menace for years to come.

Pretty damn good!

 

[qc14]

Perrault is one spot behind Leonard and he says in the spiel that's it's because of his priors, has Nemec stupid high and says it's because of his priors, has Levshunov, Lindstrom, and Iginla rated high just because of draft stock AKA priors. The things these guys do on the ice matter, like what more can Leonard/Hutson/Proas/AC do to move up? I'm sure fans of different teams complain but I think he's got those guys way too high and the Caps way too low and feel vindicated by Button's rankings.

I mean you can't just dismiss your priors/what guys did in previous years. I don't agree with all of Wheeler's rankings but I don't think there are any egregious decisions Caps-wise or in general, and I respect him and his opinion as a scout and a writer.

I think people often forget just how many prospects there are/how few players 100 is. Cristall may seem low at 29 but in a ranking that includes basically everyone drafted in the last 3 years (minus the elite that are already NHL regulars, plus a couple of guys from 4 years ago) he's basically saying that Cristall should've been a top 10 pick in his class or is the equivalent of a team's first best prospect.

 

[Langway]

I think the biggest adjustment for Leonard will be learning to play through a lot that he receives and cut out the embellishment. Going to the net in particular he's just got to play through it. That's when you know he's a legit, legit power forward. At the moment he's too willing to just try to draw something and refs long ago stopped buying it.

I'm confident this group will get him more focused and mentally tougher but between the WJC and last night it's the most evident area of his game that remains relatively immature.

 

[Silky mitts]

I mean you can't just dismiss your priors/what guys did in previous years. I don't agree with all of Wheeler's rankings but I don't think there are any egregious decisions Caps-wise or in general, and I respect him and his opinion as a scout and a writer.

I think people often forget just how many prospects there are/how few players 100 is. Cristall may seem low at 29 but in a ranking that includes basically everyone drafted in the last 3 years (minus the elite that are already NHL regulars, plus a couple of guys from 4 years ago) he's basically saying that Cristall should've been a top 10 pick in his class or is the equivalent of a team's first best prospect.

That's reasonable for Cristal and seeing Perrault so high after seeing him give the puck away last night instead of entering the zone, losing the game after Leonard set him up for a easy goal, confirmed my priors that the rankings were going to suck. I've seen as much Leonard and by extension Perrault as I can since the 2023 U18s and it's nuts to have them equivalent.
Leonard production is roughly the same this year with Smith gone and Perrault's has fallen off before you get into the eye test. Lindstrom and Iginla are missing a year of development and were overdrafted to begin with, it just feels like he starts with the draft order of guys and jumbles it a bit, like I do with a fantasy football draft board when I'm doing it last minute.
There's this pushback on things that just happened but Dickinson played like shit in the WJC and Nemec got sent down and looks very much available and the idea that they should barely move down the top 100 when they're so few spots is crazy to me.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

I think the biggest adjustment for Leonard will be learning to play through a lot that he receives and cut out the embellishment. Going to the net in particular he's just got to play through it. That's when you know he's a legit, legit power forward. At the moment he's too willing to just try to draw something and refs long ago stopped buying it.

I'm confident this group will get him more focused and mentally tougher but between the WJC and last night it's the most evident area of his game that remains relatively immature.

As the skill level (and experience) of the opposition increase, Lenny's going to have to adjust his game in other ways, too. He'll get knocked on his butt more than a few times and find it tougher to get around guys in the pros. He'll be body- or stick-checked off the puck and find it harder to get to an open space. I don't know of any reason to think he won't adapt but the question is how long will it take.

 

[Calicaps]

That's reasonable for Cristal and seeing Perrault so high after seeing him give the puck away last night instead of entering the zone, losing the game after Leonard set him up for a easy goal, confirmed my priors that the rankings were going to suck. I've seen as much Leonard and by extension Perrault as I can since the 2023 U18s and it's nuts to have them equivalent.
Leonard production is roughly the same this year with Smith gone and Perrault's has fallen off before you get into the eye test. Lindstrom and Iginla are missing a year of development and were overdrafted to begin with, it just feels like he starts with the draft order of guys and jumbles it a bit, like I do with a fantasy football draft board when I'm doing it last minute.
There's this pushback on things that just happened but Dickinson played like shit in the WJC and Nemec got sent down and looks very much available and the idea that they should barely move down the top 100 when they're so few spots is crazy to me.

This is probably dumb, but I have zero remorse about not picking Eiserman. I've watched a good bit of BU this year, and when he has a clear lane to the net, his shot is lethal, but he's shown me very little else. Obviously Wheeler has him way about Parascek, but I just think Terik's ceiling as an all-around player seems better. Maybe I'm just a homer.

 

[Kazer]

Perrault is one spot behind Leonard and he says in the spiel that's it's because of his priors, has Nemec stupid high and says it's because of his priors, has Levshunov, Lindstrom, and Iginla rated high just because of draft stock AKA priors. The things these guys do on the ice matter, like what more can Leonard/Hutson/Protas do to move up? I'm sure fans of different teams complain but I think he's got those guys way too high and the Caps way too low and feel vindicated by Button's rankings.

There's something to be said for not changing too much based on a relatively small sample size (50-ish games this year give or take the player/league). Also, in many cases, these are players that Wheeler has probably been evaluating for 2-3-4 years (Lapierre was drafted in 2020 and was probably being scouted by Wheeler in 2019 which was 6 years ago!), so you don't want completely disregard your past evaluations.

Yes, it can make you look stupid, but it can also make you stupid if you move up that hot prospect to top 10 and then they never flash again. It's all extremely subjective.

 

[trick9]

I think the biggest adjustment for Leonard will be learning to play through a lot that he receives and cut out the embellishment. Going to the net in particular he's just got to play through it. That's when you know he's a legit, legit power forward. At the moment he's too willing to just try to draw something and refs long ago stopped buying it.

I'm confident this group will get him more focused and mentally tougher but between the WJC and last night it's the most evident area of his game that remains relatively immature.

He'll be fine. Needs to adjust but i mean we have several players who have gone through the same. Ovechkin has been through a blender his entire career because players can't contain him within the rules. Wilson was a menace when he first entered the league and he drew an absolutely ridiculous amount of penalties early on because he was so good at entering scrums but keeping his cool there. Refs noticed him trying to draw calls and he's been at the opposite end for a long time. He still draws decent amount of calls (mostly offsetting roughing minors) but watching the games he often takes a beating for every call he draws, so much slashing, tripping, holding that the referees just look past now with him.