The Washington Capitals made an incredible march to the playoffs in the regular season, just squeaking by the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth and final spot in the East.
While that race was exhilarating and took until the final game of their regular season to sort out, the Capitals’ experience in the playoffs was a different beast. They were swept by the New York Rangers, the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, in four games.
While winning the Stanley Cup is ultimately the goal, the Capitals did themselves a favor, in a roundabout way, by just having the bandaid ripped off quickly and being axed in seven days. There are 15 losers in the playoffs — the disappointment is the same for all (minus the Leafs) — and being eliminated before the Conference Finals means the Capitals will have the best draft pick of any team that made the postseason.
Draft Order Update:
Picks 17 and 18 are now locked in:
17: Washington
18: New York Islandershttps://t.co/950OhwVqcp pic.twitter.com/Rg0jrDpkwU— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) May 1, 2024
Per Cap Friendly, the Capitals will pick 17th in the 2024 NHL Draft just ahead of the New York Islanders, the other negative goal-differential team to make the playoffs. The Islanders were eliminated in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals were the only team in both conferences to be swept this playoff year in the first round.
While the NHL Draft Lottery determines picks 1 through 16 based on the inverse order of the regular season standings, picks 17 through 32 are based on regular season standings and playoff results.
Determining where exactly the playoff teams pick factors in whether or not they won their division during the regular season or played in the Conference Finals. Where you fall within those groups is sorted out via regular season standings points.
So the Washington Capitals won’t be able to draft the next Ryan Leonard this summer, but maybe they’ll be lucky enough to nab the next Tomas Hertl or Travis Sanheim.
