There appears to be a great deal of depth to the class of 1998, too. Many players chosen after the first round are performing capably at the NHL level.
Notable later round picks include Jonathan Cheechoo (29th), Mike Fisher (44th), Mike Ribeiro (45th), Brad Richards (64th), Jarkko Ruutu (68th), Erik Cole (71st), Francois Beauchemin (75th), Brian Gionta (82nd), Josef Vasicek (91st), Shawn Horcoff (99th), Jaroslav Spacek (117th), Trent Hunter (150th), Chris Neil (161st), Andrei Markov (162nd), Ales Kotalik (164th), Pavel Datsyuk (171st), Tyler Arnason (183rd), Michael Ryder (216th) and Karlis Skrastins (230th).
Washington did not have a first round choice in 1998; former GM David Poile swapped the pick to Colorado in the November 1996 deal that brought Chris Simon to DC. None of the Capitals' 1998 choices went on to establish himself as an NHL regular. Left wing Krys Barch has played 74 games (none with the Caps) in the league, the most of the five Washington picks who did manage to make it to the NHL.
Hindsight is 20/20: With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that the Capitals (and many other teams, too) passed up some solid picks in the middle and later rounds. Arnason -- a Calder Trophy finalist in 2003 -- went just four picks after Washington chose defenseman Nate Forster with the 179th overall choice. History shows 1998 as a deep draft, but the Caps' picks haven't been very fruitful.
Full Draft Results Here
