Sunday morning was a muggy one in Annapolis; the humidity was above 90 percent before 10 a.m. Many of the locals sought shelter at McMullen Arena on the campus of the Naval Academy, where the Caps conducted the first of three on-ice sessions of their annual rookie camp here on Sunday.
This year’s crop of young Caps hopefuls made the trek to Annapolis on Friday afternoon, and the players and staffers convened that evening for a team dinner in Maryland’s capital city. The players spent Saturday in a team-building exercise; the entire group was split into three random groups at a local escape room, which was a change of pace from last September’s rope/obstacle course visit.
All 21 players were back in their element on Sunday morning, with only second-year pro forward Patrick Thomas sporting a light blue non-contact sweater. Goalies hit the ice at 10:30 and were joined by the rest of the squad shortly after 11, as the Caps’ development crew of Steve Richmond, Jim Slater, Brooks Orpik, Olie Kolzig and Alex Chaisson worked with the players on the ice – along with Hershey goaltending coach Juha Lehtola – while the rest of the Bears coaching staff looked on from above.
The players put in a full 90 minutes in the first of their three practices here, and by this time next week, most of them will be a few days into Washington’s main training camp, which is now a highly abbreviated camp. With the NHL stretching the length of its regular season from 82 to 84 games this season, training camps will shrink from about three weeks to a maximum of 13 days and a max of four preseason tune-up contests.
After Sunday’s first skate concluded, we talked to a trio of players for their thoughts on the experience. Andrew Cristall, the Caps’ second-round choice (40th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft, is in the midst of his third Annapolis rookie camp as he gets set to begin his sophomore season as a pro this fall. Cristall comes into the campaign on the heels of an impressive 20-goal, 60-point performance with AHL Hershey as a rookie in that circuit last season.
Cristall has also put together two straight strong main training camps with Washington, but he will have a shorter window in which to make an impression this time around.
“It’s definitely a shorter camp,” says Cristall of Washington’s camp, which begins Thursday at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. “It’s harder to make an impression, obviously, but I’ve been lucky enough to be at the last few camps and play okay. I think that has maybe helped me a bit, but I think it’s just taking every drill and every shift – and if I get into preseason games – just taking it 100 percent and playing like it’s the last drill or the last shift or the last game I’m going to have. I’m just going to do that and hope to go well.”
Big winger Lynden Lakovic scored 45 goals and rolled up 87 points in his last 69 games with WHL Moose Jaw, but those numbers were compiled over a pair of seasons. An upper body body injury last season limited Lakovic to just 22 games, but he managed to light the lamp 18 times in that span.
Still three months shy of his 20th birthday, Lakovic has almost certainly seen the last of the WHL and he is expected to begin his pro career this fall. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds on the official camp roster, Lakovic looks even bigger and may still have some room for growth as he closes out his teen years.
This weekend marks Lakovic’s second camp in Annapolis, and he is pleased with his familiarity of the area and the camp as he heads through the process for a second time.
“I’m definitely more comfortable,” Lakovic says. “Last year, you come here and you don’t know what to expect when you’re competing against the pros and obviously some top young guys as well. Last year I was a little bit nervous, but I got more comfortable as it went on. And now that this is my second year, I definitely feel like I more than belong, and I’m very comfortable here.”
That comfort shows on the ice. Lakovic was flying on Sunday, showcasing some strong wheels for a player his size. And as he prepares for his first season as a pro, he is working on some of the nuances of the game as well.
“It’s just the little details and helping me out with the little things,” says Lakovic of his Sunday session, and specifically in working with Chiasson on some of the finer points of wall play. “I don’t know if you were watching me and Chaser there, but with rim pick-ups, just a slight [change] of the angle of the [stick] blade and stuff like can be maybe the difference in getting a puck out of the [defensive] zone or holding on to a puck on the forecheck.
“And that’s the difference, right? You watch the pro guys, and I think that’s what separates them, just the little stuff like that. I just want to continue to work on that.”
Defenseman Cole Hutson is in Annapolis for the first time, and he’ll be at Washington’s main camp for the first time in the week ahead. A second-round choice (43rd overall) in the 2024 Draft, Hutson spent the last two seasons skating for Boston University, and he went directly from the Terriers’ final game of last season to signing his NHL entry-level contract and making his NHL debut as a 19-year-old with the Caps last March 18 against Ottawa.
Hutson dazzled with three goals and 10 points in his 14-game NHL trial last spring, and although everyone has him penciled into Washington’s top six this season, he is taking nothing for granted.
“I think you never get too comfortable at this level, ever,” says Hutson. “And as hard as it is to make the League, it’s harder to stay in it. So that’s my main focus right now, is being able to maintain in this League and hopefully to have a good start to the season.”
That start to the season is now less than three weeks away. For Cristall and Lakovic, seeing the Caps add a trio of accomplished and experienced NHL forwards – Boone Jenner, Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch – over the summer would seem to dim their hopes of arriving in the NHL on the fast track. But Cristall takes a highly mature view of those offseason additions.
“They’re obviously looking to win, and it’s awesome,” says Cristall of the Caps. “If I was ever to get a chance to play, as you can tell, there are a lot of great players on the team, and I feel like on any line there’s a lot of great players. So, if I was lucky enough to get into the lineup, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing with at that point; you’re playing with some really good hockey players.
“I look at it as an opportunity to, if I get up there and I’m able to play, I think I’d be able to show well. It’s cool, and you obviously want to be on a winning team, so it’s going to be awesome.”
