Our staff is very impressed with two young center prospects, one of them in Cody Eakin.
We are drafting and developing multiple young centers now.
That is a tough position to fill.
Backstrom will be here for years.
Marcus Johansson looks like he could develop into a very good center.
Cody Eakin too.
And there are others as well.
We have done a very good job of managing our salary cap and of developing young players to make our line-up now and to have even younger players ready to make the team in the out years creates real competition.
And ups the pace and tempo at camp. Everyone has to look over their shoulder.
And everyone plays hard in preseason games.
We are 2-0 after winning on Saturday night in Nashville 2 to 1.
We look forward to seeing a young center in the lineup this season. All of young guys – you mention Eakin and Johansson, and don’t forget Perrault who has already had some games with us – present more long term upside than others who didn’t work out. Can’t wait for tomorrow night at the VC.
Go Caps!
agreed – we do have a lot of depth at the #2 center spot. at some point, we will either have to move one (or more) of the prospects to wing…or try to get some value in a trade.
eakin reminds me of jordan stall (tho a bit smaller). great energy – good defensively – can put up some points. i think he is an ideal third line pivot.
If I were celebrated author Jim Collins, I’d say you’ve got your hedgehog working overtime. . . I’m so impressed with how well the Caps have drafted, recruited and developed such outstanding talent, at least on offense. It’s impressive, as Mike Vogel noted, that the Caps are a league leader on developing “home grown” talent. That’s smart. May not pay off in the short term, but you’re on the path to being “sustainable good.” Keep it up!