Caps Prospects Are a Pleasant Surprise at Lake Placid

(@russianmachine) on August 12, 2013 | 0 Comment

Riley Barber checks Sweden’s David Gunnarsson (Photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Six Washington Capitals prospects participated in the Lake Placid National Junior Evaluation Camp tournament held this past week featuring teams from the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. The Swedes unofficially won the tournament with three wins in five games.

Under the jump, I recap the performance of all Caps prospects.

Yeah, I watched a lot of internet streams last week.

Connor Carrick, D, USA, 5 GP, 1 G, 4 A
Carrick was perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament, becoming a primary candidate to play on his team’s blue line at World Juniors this winter. Carrick earned a first-pairing role at the camp and was arguably the USA’s best player in each game. He orchestrated the team’s powerplay with deft passing, while his skating speed allowed him to support the offense with a few timely rushes.

Andre Burakovsky, LW, Sweden, 5 GP, 3 G, 2 A
Despite not being a primary offensive force for the Swedes and getting limited minutes, Burakovsky became the team’s leading scorer, showing creativity, a great release, and a whole lot of speed. And he wasn’t afraid to mix it up after the whistle too, reminding me a bit of Jeff Skinner or Danny Briere.

Riley Barber, RW, USA, 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A
Barber had a strong camp as well. Playing on the USA’s second line, he showed off some fancy skating and shooting skills in addition to his already well-known physicality. More consistent play would be nice, but he’s made progress in almost every area of his game since last World Juniors.

Christian Djoos, 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A
Djoos played on Sweden’s number-one pairing on the powerplay. He started the tournament hot, but regressed somewhat later on. He also showed some good skating, but seemed hesitant to use it at times. He needs to take fewer chances starting the play out of his own zone.

Thomas DiPauli, LW, USA, 4 GP, 0 G, 1 A
A versatile speedy forward, DiPauli was used on the fourth-line. While he didn’t get a lot of ice time at even strength, he was a regular on America’s PK unit. He had tremendous defensive awareness which, combined with his footwork, made it very tough for opposing defenseman to run their powerplay.

Tom Wilson, RW, Canada, 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A
Team Canada played just three games in the tournament, and Wilson dressed for only one. He played on the fourth line, doing all the things expected of an energy-line player: forechecking, hitting, and wearing the opposition down.

Top scorers:
Teuvo Teravainen (FIN) – 8 points
Artturi Lehkonen (FIN) – 6 points
Will Butcher (USA) – 6 points
Andre Burakovsky (SWE) – 5 points
Connor Carrick (USA) – 5 points