Update 11:09pm:  The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded D Zbynek Michalek to Phoenix for Harrison Ruoop, Marc Cheverie, and a 2012 3rd Round Pick.

Update 10:49pm:  The Los Angeles Kings have selected Tanner Pearson with the 30th overall pick.

Update 10:45pm:  The New Jersey Devils have selected Stefan Matteau with the 29th overall pick.

Update 10:38pm:  The New York Rangers have selected Brady Skjei with the 28th overall pick.

Update 10:32pm:  The Phoenix Coyotes have selected Henrik Samuelsson with the 27th overall pick.

Update 10:24pm:  The Vancouver Canucks have selected Brendan Gaunce with the 26th overall pick.

Update 10:19pm:  The St. Louis Blues have selected Jordan Schmaltz with the 25th overall pick.

Update 10:08pm:  The Boston Bruins have selected G Malcolm Subban with the 24th overall pick.

Update 10:03pm:  The Florida Panthers have selected Michael Matheson with the 23rd overall pick.

Update 9:56pm:  The Pittsburgh Penguins have selected Olli Maatta with the 22nd overall pick.

Update 9:49pm:  The Calgary Flames have selected Mark Jankowski with the 21st overall pick.

Update 9:43pm:  The Philadelphia Flyers have selected Scott Laughton with the 20th overall pick.

Update 9:36pm:  The Tampa Bay Lightning have selected G Andrey Vasilevski with the 19th overall pick.

Update 9:30pm: The Chicago Blackhawks have selected Teuvo Teravainen with the 18th overall pick.

Update 9:24pm: The San Jose Sharks have selected Thomas Hertl with the 17th overall pick.

The Washington Capitals have selected RW Thomas Wilson with the 16th overall pick.

Update 9:12pm: The Ottawa Senators have selected D Cody Ceci with the 15th overall pick.

The Buffalo Sabres have selected C Zemgus Girgensons with the 14th overall pick.

The Dallas Stars have selected C Radek Faksa with the 13th overall pick.

The Buffalo Sabres have selected C Mikhail Grigorenko with the 12th overall pick.

Update 8:45pm: The Washington Capitals have selected RW Filip Forsberg with the 11th overall pick.

Update 8:35pm: The Tampa Bay Lightning have selected Slater Koekkoek with the 10th overall pick.

Update 8:25pm: The Winnipeg Jets have selected Jacob Trouba with the 9th overall pick.

Update 8:12pm: The Pittsburgh Penguins have selected Derrick Pouliot with the 8th overall pick.

Update for trades: The New York Islanders have acquired D Lubomir Visnovsky from Anaheim for a 2nd round pick in 2013.

The Washington Capitals have acquired C Mike Ribeiro from Dallas for C Cody Eakin and a 2012 2nd round pick.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded C Jordan Staal to Carolina for C Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumolin, and the 8th overall pick in 2012

Update 8:04pm: The Minnesota Wild have selected Mathew Dumba with the 7th overall pick.

Update 7:56pm:  The Anaheim Ducks have selected Hampus Lindholm with the 6th overall pick.

Update 7:47pm:  The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected Morgan Rielly with the 5th overall pick.

Update 7:41pm:  The New York Islanders have selected Griffin Reinhart with the 4th overall pick. 

Update 7:31pm:  The Montreal Canadiens have selected Alex Galchenyuk with the 3rd overall pick. 

Update 7:24pm:  The Columbus Blue Jackets have selected Ryan Murray with the 2nd overall pick. 

Update 7:15pm:  The Edmonton Oilers have selected Nail Yakupov with the 1st overall pick. 

Stay tuned to Rockthered.net tonight as Harry Hawkings and Andy Green are covering the Draft from the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.  We will have coverage of the Capitals' first round picks and major trades.

With the NHL draft beginning Friday night, you probably know by now that the Capitals hold 11 picks in this year’s festivities, including two first round selections.  Below, I try and prognosticate whom Washington will take with those two first round picks, as they are key to restocking the talent pool in the DC farm system.

11th Overall Selection – From Colorado (Acquired July 2, 2012)

Option A: Jacob Trouba, D, USNTDP (USHL) – There is little chance that Trouba falls this far, but teams go off the reservation with top ten picks every year and it is possible that Trouba falls all the way to the Capitals at #11.  The Michigan native is a big, strong, mobile defenseman who likes to model his game after Shea Weber and can move the puck.  He would be a steal.

Option A-1: Radek Faksa, C, Kitchener (OHL) – Faksa is projected as low risk, medium to high reward player who will be a steady if unspectacular NHL contributor as a second line center the Capitals have craved for so long.  Faksa can score, play defense, cycle well, and even play on the penalty kill, and would be a great pickup for the Capitals here.  There is little that is missing from his game, and he would probably take one season to get to DC; regardless, adding depth at the center position is essential for the Caps at this moment.  He is the most likely pick for George McPhee to make here in my book.

Option B: Cody Ceci, D, Ottawa (OHL) – Ceci doesn’t fill the Caps’ need for a center, but if Faksa is gone, Ceci would be a good pick here.  He is big enough and strong enough to contribute right away, and can both run a power play and play a solid defensive game.  He could look really nice next to Dmitry Orlov; he and DC’s young Russian defenseman would be a hell of a second pairing behind Karl Alzner and John Carlson (in about 4 years).

NOTE: Center Mikhail Grigorenko, who plays for Quebec in the QMJHL, has been predicted recently to fall outside of the top 10 despite being ranked in the top five for most of the season.  Should that happen, it is certainly possible that the Capitals draft him - probably likely because of McPhee's penchant for Russians.  But he is a flight risk, and with Evgeny Kuznetsov staying in Russia for at least two years, it would be hard for the Caps to compensate for their two best prospects not coming to play in America.

16th Overall Selection – Washington’s own

Option A: Brendan Gaunce, C, Belleville (OHL) – This may be a bit of a stretch for Gaunce, as most have him going in the 20s or even past 25^th overall – but then again, some have him going as high as 13^th overall.  The bottom line with Gaunce is that he is a leader, on and off the ice.  Scouts think he has all of the leadership qualities you want in a young player and potentially future captain.  He’s also pretty good at hockey; he can score and play defense and, like Faksa, is viewed as an NHL second line center.  One weakness, according to an OHL scout, is his skating – but that will get better with time he continues to develop and is a small hole in an otherwise very solid player.  I would love to get him here and so should McPhee.

Option B: Zemgus Girgensons, C, Dubuque (USHL) – If Gaunce is gone, I still expect McPhee to take a center.  Giregensons is a Latvian but has spent the last several years playing in America, so there should be little concern about him jetting to Europe or adapting.  He profiles as a solid two way center as has been compared to Ryan Kesler by some scouts; though that is probably a bit much he is a good player.  One red flag: some scouts have questioned if he can be a true elite second line center.  But his basement is a third liner by most accounts and he is a very energetic player.

Option C: Sebastian Collberg, LW, Frolunda (Elitserien) – Collberg fits the George McPhee pedigree of a skilled speedy scoring winger.  He is flashy and has some unbelievable moves, but the return may not come for a couple of years as Collberg both wants to stay in Sweden and probably is not yet ready for the big time.  I don’t think this pick is overly likely, but certainly possible.

Option D: Tom Wilson, LW, Portland (OHL) – Tom Wilson is a monster of a man, almost 6’5” and over 200 pounds.  He is ruthless power forward who plays like Milan Lucic – and even though I hate Lucic and everything he represents, the Caps may benefit from having a player like him.  I don’t think this is very likely because it’s a bit of a reach, but it’s certainly a possibility.

We will be live from Pittsburgh for both days of the draft.  Follow me on Twitter here for all of your news needs leading up to, during, and after the draft.

As Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee prepares for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this Friday, he must figure out what to do with his league-high 11 draft picks.  He has two in the middle of the first round (11th and 16th), which will be aired on the NBC Sports Network on Friday at 7pm.  Keep an eye out for Rock the Red writers Andy Green and Harry Hawkings, as we will be at CONSOL Energy Center covering the event.

Looking back, McPhee has come full circle.  His first NHL Entry Draft at the helm of the Washington Capitals was in 1997, also in Pittsburgh.  The team was in a state of flux with a new coach, a new system, and new expectations.  McPhee used the 9th overall pick on a defenseman who played over 600 NHL games, played in the NHL All-Star Game, and won a Stanley Cup.  Of course, Nick Boynton re-entered the draft in 1999 and never played a game for Washington, but McPhee showed then that he sure knew how to pick 'em.  

Boynton was the first of McPhee's 126 draft picks, and it certainly won't be the last.  Over the course of the next few days, we will preview several likely prospects the Capitals may take in the first 3-4 rounds of the draft.  In these previews we will discuss:

Talent Analysis:
Just what can this guy do, anyway?

Last Season:
Where did he play and how did he do?

NHL Projection:
What does he project to be in the NHL and how does that fit into the Capitals' plans?

Will the Capitals draft him?:
Will he still be available when the Capitals draft?  Based on George McPhee's history, is he a likely target?

Plans for next season:
Assuming the Capitals draft him, what's the plan for next year, and what's his road to the NHL?

Keep an eye out for your future Capitals!

The Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League have announced the hiring of Dean Evason as their head coach for the 2012-13 season.  The Admirals, the primary minor-league affiliate of the Nashville Predators, finished second in their division this season and lost in the first round of the playoffs.  They were in need of a new head coach when Kirk Muller left to take over the Carolina Hurricanes mid-season. 

Evason moved on after he was told he was no longer a candidate for the Washington Capitals head coaching vacancy.  He had spent seven seasons as an assistant under three different head coaches.  This marks the second time Predators General Manager David Poile has hired Evason, as Poile also drafted the Winnipeg native to play for the Capitals in 1982.

Evason played the first 17 games of his NHL career in Capitals red, white, and blue.  All told, "Deano" played 803 NHL games over 13 seasons with Hartford, Dallas, San Jose, and Calgary, and his playing career also included stops in the AHL, Switzerland, and Germany.  Upon retiring from playing in 1999, Evason immediately stepped behind the bench as head coach of the WHL Kamloops Blazers.  He took over the Vancouver Giants in 2002 and also spent a season with the Calgary Hitmen in 2004-05 before joining the Caps' coaching ranks. 

During Evason's junior coaching career, he coached future Washington Capitals Shaone Morrisonn and Tyler Sloan in Kamloops and Jeff Schultz and Karl Alzner in Calgary.  He also coached future NHLers Ryan Getzlaf, Andrew Ladd, Scottie Upshall, Erik Christensen, Gilbert Brule, and Jared Aulin.

Best of luck, Deano.

As the 2011-12 season has come to a close, the time has come to evaluate what it meant for the Capitals, both as a team and as individuals.  As such, as the summer progresses, I will be writing a report card, or individual evaluation, for each player who played in 9 (~10%) of the team's games, or 4 playoff games. Next up is center Nicklas Backstrom, who finished his fifth NHL season, all with the Capitals, on this past year's campaign.

Season Summary: Marred by a concussion that caused him to miss 40 games between early January and late March, Backstrom's 2011-12 campaign was very good nonetheless.  Playing in 42 games, Backstrom was the only Capital to average more than a point per game and led the team in scoring for more than a month after he was hurt on January 3rd - it took Alex Ovechkin that long to catch him.  All told, the Swedish pivot had 14 goals, 30 assists, 24 penalty minutes, and a minus-four rating.  The bad rating was fueled by the fact that he was both unlucky (PDO of 986, fourth worst among Capitals forwards), and the fact that Capitals goaltenders only had a .900 save percentage when he was on the ice (second worst among forwards).  Backstrom was also one of only five Washington forwards to have a positive corsi rating for puck possession at 3.76, though he did it against very soft minutes. Grade: A-

Role Play: Coming off a very poor (by his standards) 2010-11, Backstrom was the Capitals' best player when he was healthy, producing steadily offensively and playing reliable defense as Washington's only above-average center.  His injury was obviously a huge loss for the Capitals, and with him out of the lineup, the team struggled mightily, but it't not in any way his fault that Rene Bourque decided to behead him.  In short, when he was able to lace them up, Nicky was a monster, which is what I expected - he's too good a player to be as average as he was two seasons ago. Grade: A

Playoffs: Backstrom played in 13 playoff games and was second on the team in playoff scoring with two goals, six assists, and a plus-two rating.  One of his goals was a game winner, in game two against the Bruins, and it was actually his suspension for cross checking Rich Peverley that led to Mike Knuble being inserted to the lineup - which helped DC win their series against Boston.  Backstrom was also the only (!!!) Capitals forward to have a positive puck possession rating in the playoffs at 0.27 - and this time, he did it against middle of the pack competition instead of easy competition.  Overall, I was impressed by a player who only played in four regular season games after a concussion before starting postseason play. Grade: A-

Future Potential: Now 24, Backstrom has become the best player on the Capitals, replacing Alex Ovechkin.  There is nothing that Nick cannot do - he can score, pass, run a power play, play defense, win faceoffs at a respectable clip, and possess the puck.  He is reliable, smart with the puck, and if the Caps are to win a Cup in the next eight years, he will be right at the center of it as the best and most complete player on the roster (pending a trade for one of the top 10 players in the NHL).  For his skill set and reliability, Backstrom's contract (eight more years at $6.7 million per) is a good value for all that he brings, too.  The only variable is the possible recurrence of concussion symptoms, which - as we all know from watching Sidney Crosby - are volatile and unpredictable. Grade: A

The next and final report card will feature winger and captain Ovechkin.

As always, follow me on Twitter here for news and updates.

The big day is near.

With the end of June right around the corner, the day Caps fans have been eagerly waiting for is near. It’s going to be amazing. People will talk. Money will be spent. Lives will change.

After June 30^th, nothing will be the same around here.

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Are you interested in becoming a professional sports writer? Want to enhance your resume by covering professional hockey as a credentialed reporter?

Rock the Red is seeking 2-3 local college students to intern with us for next hockey season.  Successful applicants will have strong writing skills, a good knowledge of sports in general and hockey in particular, and a desire to become a professional sports writer.

Applicants must:
-Be enrolled at a Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area college or university.  Writers will be expected to cover 12-20 Capitals home games and home practices.
-Be a rising sophomore or higher and must have passed English 101 and Journalism 101 or equivalents.
-Prior sports writing experience is preferred.
-Application must include a resume, a college transcript, a cover letter stating your college plans and career goals, contact information for 2 references (professors or editors), and 3 writing samples.  Please do not include your student number or social security number in your application.
Applicants will be rated upon materials provided and will be contacted for interviews this summer.

Please forward your application materials to:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

With the Washington Capitals entering a summer of salary cap uncertainty with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement looming, they still have several decisions to make regarding their pending free agents.  Chief among their restricted free agents this off-season is defenseman John Carlson.  Carlson made a base salary of $787,500 last season, the last of his entry-level deal, meaning the qualifying offer tendered to him by the Washington Capitals is for at least $826,875.  Judging by other young defenseman around the league, Carlson should earn quite a bit more than that as a top-pairing defenseman, likely a 4-year deal worth $3 million per season.

Read more about Carlson's expected new income!

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Photo by Elsa/NHL via Getty Images

Every time a team lifts the Stanley Cup, a different emotion runs through my body.

When the Ducks won in 2007, it was happiness for Chris Pronger, who was my favorite player growing up and had finally won his first (and now, seemingly, last) championship.

When Detroit won in 2008, it was relief that the Penguins had not.

When the Penguins and Bruins won in 2009 and 2011, respectively, it was disbelief and anger, pure jealously for archrivals.

But when the Kings won on Monday night, it was something completely different.   It was sadness.  Not jealousy, just sadness.

Don’t get me wrong.  I was thrilled to see the Kings win the Stanley Cup and see players like Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, and Jonathan Quick celebrate on the ice like ten year olds.  It was an unbelievable moment, just like it always is.  The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy in all of sports to win, and winning it is the crowning achievement for any hockey player.  You walk together forever with the men you win it with.

Watching that moment, however, made me think of the Capitals more than I have in years past.  Of course, I was sad because for another year, a team other than the Caps are popping $200 bottles of champagne in their locker room.  But also because I think the Caps are not closer, but farther away, than last season and in seasons past, when good, deep teams had come unglued in the playoffs for whatever reason.

Coming off another season in which they fell woefully short of preseason expectations, the Capitals are in a state of turmoil.  Currently without a head coach, whoever is pegged to be the next bench boss is likely to be a rookie, based on George McPhee’s track record; those rarely win the Stanley Cup.  In addition, having so much turnover among head coaches often does not lead to success. Since 1994, more than half of the teams to have three head coaches in two years since did not make the playoffs in the first year under their third coach and only one hoisted the Stanley Cup.

Moreover, the Kings have the pieces to set up a dynasty at important positions.  They have three of the very best centers in the NHL in Mike Richards, Kopitar, and Jeff Carter.  The Capitals have one center of that quality – Nicklas Backstrom.  The Kings have Doughty, a top-five defenseman on both sides of the puck, and a deep defensive corps that blends youth and experience.  The Capitals may have that soon, but they don’t now.  The Kings have Quick, who is now undoubtedly the best goaltender on the planet, while the Capitals have not had a true bona-fide number one goaltender in ten years.  They are a favorite every year now.

When looking at this past year’s Capitals team, you just didn’t see that.  The Capitals had a below average regular season, and they never really looked like a bona fide Stanley Cup contender to me.  Yes, they came together and won seven playoff games to match their deepest plunge into the postseason in 14 years.  But I never really got the feeling that they were good enough, really good enough, to bring it all home.  I sure wanted to, but I never saw it.

It sucks.  Especially with the way the three seasons before this past one played out.  You knew that the Capitals were a very good team after those seasons.  Now, you wonder, while watching a great team like the Kings win it all.

And that, friends, is why Monday night made me sad.  We all know how badly all of us want it as fans, and in that moment, success and achievement seem so far away.  But at the same time, it also gave me hope.  Because eventually, it will come.  It may not come next year, or the year after that, or any time in the next decade.  But it will come.

One day, we will get our damn parade.  We will get the champagne and the raucous celebrations.  We’ll get to celebrate like little kids while watching our team do the exact same thing.  We will all stand and cheer when the captain of the Capitals receives Stanley from the commissioner.

And all of this?  Well, all of this will be worth it.

The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup on Monday night, defeating in New Jersey Devils inside Staples Center to capture the first championship in franchise history.

Taking advantage of a five minute major for boarding handed to Steve Bernier in the first period, the Kings scored three goals during the major power play – one each from Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, and Trevor Lewis.  The Devils never had a chance after that, as the team that had scored first in the Final was 5-0 up to that point.  Carter would score another and Adam Henrique would keep his team from being shut out at the end of the second period, but all that achieved was a bit of dignity.  The Kings would add two more, one into an empty net and one right after Martin Brodeur was replaced, and closed it out with a 6-1 win.

Jonathan Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP, the second consecutive American goaltender to win the award.  Quick, who was the reason the Kings even made the playoffs in the first place, was superb all playoffs and really only had one below average game: game five of the Final.

And so closed one of the most dominant postseasons in the history of the National Hockey League.  For the first time in history, an eight seed won the Stanley Cup, and they did it while only losing four contests and conceding 30 goals across 20 games played.  Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead in all four series, the first time in NHL history that happened, and never felt any pressure except in the Final.

With the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire on September 15 and negotiations far apart, it could be the last hockey we see in 2012.  But for now, it’s time to celebrate the Kings – who smoked everyone on their way to the start of a dynasty.

The Black Parade, indeed.