Washington Capitals | CollegeHockeyPlayers

11Dec

Patrick Wellar(33) Hershey Bears

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9th year veteran defenseman has skated in his last five seasons with Hershey Bears or their ECHL affiliate.

He was originally a Washington Capitals‘ 3rd round pick in the 2002 draft (#77 overall) but didn’t start playing within their organization until 2009. He has yet to sign an NHL contract with any team.

The 29-year old d-man won the Kelly Cup with South Carolina Stingrays in 2009 and Calder Cup in 2010 with Hershey as he split time during both seasons playing games for each team.

He’s a big presence out on the ice at 6’3″ 231 lbs. but could utilize all his size a bit more effectively knocking down opposing players that dare to stand around in front of his net putting condiments on their sandwich as they wait for scoring chances.

For the first time in a couple of seasons he was sent down to skate 18 games with new affiliate Reading Royals before recently getting called back up.

It would be little surprise to see him get his name on the Kelly Cup a second time, as the Royals have the kind of team that could very well go the distance.

He’s played a career 282 AHL regular and postseason contests and 360 in the ECHL.

07Dec

Dmitry Orlov(28) Hershey Bears

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Washington Capitals‘ 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft (#55 overall), Russian-born defenseman Dmitry Orlov(28) had every reason to believe the first 15 games he spent last season with their affiliate Hershey Bears would be his last in the minors.

In 60 NHL games in what turned into his rookie campaign he scored 3 goals and added another 16 assists and was reliable in his own zone, ending 2011/2012 with a +1 plus/minus.

At 6′ 205 lbs., he is a sturdy frame with offensive upsides that are already pretty well-developed for his young age.

With the NHL lockout in full effect, the 21-year is back in Chocolatetown guarding the blue line at the Giant Center.

He picks up where he left off on the scoresheet with a goal and 8 assists in 18 games. In 52 AHL games over three seasons he has 7 goals and 20 assists.

He’s signed with the club through 2014. 2-year extension city is written all over this one.

23Nov

Chris Bourque(17) Providence Bruins

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Fully ensconced in his 8th pro year, left wing Chris Bourque(17) now sports a spoked emblem on the front of his jersey similar to the one his dad wore for 21 seasons.

The first son wears a “P” for Providence on his sweater, whereas his dad proudly wore the “B” for Boston Bruins.

Temporarily with no place to move up the ladder, the AHL veteran forward is right at home playing his games at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, a building he skated many a contests for opposing teams, instead of up the highway at the TD Garden.

The still only 26-year old is off the scoring pace that made him the top point getter in the league last season with 93, but 14 games in he has a pair of goals and 8 assists, which is very respectable.

If things stayed stalled with the NHL talks, he may not be a league leader in 2012/2013 with the talent pool the way it is but he’ll almost certainly for a fourth start year end the campaign as a point per game performer.

20Nov

Stanislav Galiev(10) Hershey Bears

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Washington Capitals‘ 3rd round pick in the 2010 draft (#83 overall), Russian left wing Stanislav Galiev(10) has been put in a bit of a tight situation when he was reassigned to get a midweek game in with their new, now geographically nearby ECHL affiliate Reading Royals.

He was immediately recalled as planned after his one appearance in the league but now is having a tough time finding an open roster spot with Hershey Bears, the team he started his rookie season with through the first 9 regular season games.

The 20-year old 6’2″ 187 lbs. forward has only managed 1 assist but did also score the game-winner in his shootout debut.

He was basically a point per game guy in his junior career.

No doubt he’ll either get the nod to go again with the Bears soon or could get reassigned for a longer run.

08Nov

Ryan Stoa (21)

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4th year center Ryan Stoa(21) was originally a Colorado Avalanche 2nd round draft pick in 2005 (#34 overall) and stayed in their system for 3 seasons, first under a 2-year entry level deal and one-year extension.

He’s played in 37 NHL games over his first two years scoring 4 goals and 3 assists but skated the full 2011/2012 season with their affiliate Lake Erie Monsters.

The rugged 6’3″ 200 lbs. forward has played in 177 AHL regular season contests connecting for 55 goals and 54 assists.

He leads the young team in overall tallies.

Going into the offseason, the 25-year old faced his first unrestricted free agent status but was quickly scooped by Washington Capitals and signed to a one-year, two-way contract.

Reporting to Hershey Bears, he has struck for 3 goals and an assist in 9 games with a -2 rating.

That does seem to be the one hindrance to his play as he’s on the ice for more goals against than he probably should be and does seem to eat up a lot of minutes.

18Oct

Francois Bouchard(61) Cincinnati Cyclones

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5th year Washington Capitals‘ 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft (#35 overall), center Francois Bouchard(27) found himself at the start of the season without a contract in what’s maybe been a bit of a tricky year for more than a few players to get work playing pro hockey.

After his initial 3-year entry level deal was up, he signed on for one more campaign in the Capitals‘ prospect system but was bounced from his time with Hershey Bears (where he won back-to-back Calder Cups in 2009 & 2010) to New York Rangers‘ AHL affiliate Connecticut Whale and uneventfully finished out the term of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent.

For the first time in his career he signs a minor league deal to play in the ECHL with Cincinnati Cyclones for 2012/2013.

It just maybe a smart move as he needs to reenergize that scoring touch he showed in his second year, when he popped in 21 and assisted on another 31 in 74 games played and was a crazy good +21 plus/minus.

If he starts to ignite and the NHL unfreezes the lockout, expect him to move back up the ladder.

20Sep

Josh Godfrey(3) Las Vegas Wranglers

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He was a high draft pick of Washington Capitals in 2007 (round 2, #34 overall), defenseman Josh Godfrey(3) never seemed to materialize much higher than their then ECHL affiliate South Carolina Stingrays, although he did play 18 games with Hershey Bears registering no goals and 6 assists.

Last season on pto’s with a poor Binghamton Senators‘ team is where he has mostly come alive, scoring a couple of goals and adding 6 assists in 38 games, all AHL career highs.

In the ECHL he’s skated in 120 games and netted 26 goals and 45 assists for a modest 71 points. He also holds the league’s hardest slap shot at 102.7 mph as clocked at the 2011 All-Star Classic.

For 2011/2012 he returns to the league signing a one-year deal to join Las Vegas Wranglers, while the AHL pool is fairly well stocked.

15Sep

Theo Ruth(25) Springfield Falcons

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As the NHL prepares for another lockout, the big club’s are stocking the minor league ponds with all the two-way contracts they’ve got.

One such player is Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 3rd year defenseman, Theo Ruth(25). He’ll be in the final year of his entry level deal.

The 6’1″ 207 lbs. blue liner looks bigger than his stats might indicate. So far in his pro career he’s skated 106 AHL games with their affiliate Springfield Falcons and had identical scoring of 1 goal and 5 assists each year. One stat he’s probably not bragging about though is the cumulative -38 plus/minus he’s run up in just two campaigns.

He was originally a Washington Capitals‘ 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft (#46 overall) but “Ted” found himself dished in a trade for Sergei Federov before he ever skated a game with the team. That will always be something for him to brag about.

He’s still fairly young at 23-years old but he’ll need to step up his game big in what will be a difficult AHL season to gain some notice.

15Aug

Zach Miskovic(25) Chicago Wolves

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After 3-seasons of one-year two-way deals with Washington Capitals, spent entirely with their farm team Hershey Bears, undrafted defenseman Zach Miskovic(25) signs an AHL contract to join his close to home team, Chicago Wolves for the 2012/2013 season. He was born 27 years ago just 19 minutes (with traffic) down the street.

The 6′ 192 lbs. blue liner has played in 166 regular and postseason AHL games scoring 14 goals and 32 assists with a three year +28 plus/minus to his credit. It was only last season that he trailed off and found himself to be a healthy scratch probably a whole lot more than he would have liked. He only had three assists in 35 games and went a -2.

No time like now for a new start with maybe a home-cooked pre-game meal every now and then.

29Jul

Phil DeSimone(10 ) Albany Devils

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Center Phil DeSimone(10) was originally a Washington Capitals‘ 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft (#84 overall) but never signed a deal to play with the team.

Instead he scored himself an invite to join Montreal Canadiens‘ training camp on a tryout. It went well enough for the 6’1″ 191 lbs. forward that he offered a one-year AHL contract to join their affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs for his rookie season.

He appeared in all 76 regular season games scoring 14 goals and 19 assists, good enough for fourth overall. Playing with a club that struggled in net though, he had an eye-popping ugly team high plus/minus -30.

Heading into his second year as an unrestricted agent, New Jersey Devils‘ welcomed him to skate at their 2012 prospect camp, yet strangely wasn’t listed on their roster. Impressive enough as one of the older attendees, they hooked him up with Albany, where he took another AHL contract to continue his pro career.

At the very least, he should have a much better netminding situation and might even show more strength up front for a few more points.