ARLINGTON, VA — The Washington Capitals ended their week of Development Camp on Saturday with a competitive 3-on-3 tournament featuring many of the organization’s top prospects. Hundreds of Capitals fans packed into MedStar Capitals Iceplex to watch along.
The Capitals’ ice sheet was cut into thirds as small-area games were played on the opposite ends of the rink. The nets were placed along the sideboards.
30 participating prospects split into five different teams, with rosters decided by a draft:
White
Ryan Leonard
Terik Parascak
Ilya Protas
Eric Charpentier
Nikita Nikora
Nicholas Kempf (G)
Coach: Brooks Orpik
Light Blue
Ryan Chesley
Cole Hutson
Brent Johnson
Ludwig Persson
Petr Sikora
Mason Beaupit (G)
Coach: Garrett Allen
Navy
Patrick Thomas
Alexander Suzdalev
Leon Muggli
Eriks Mateiko
Miroslav Satan
Antoine Keller (G)
Coach: Patrick Wellar
Red
Cam Allen
Zac Funk
Brett Hyland
Oasiz Wiesblatt
Duncan Ramsey
Collin MacKenzie (G)
Coach: Nick Bootland
Gray
Andrew Cristall
Joaquim Lemay
Hudson Thornton
Ryan McGuire
Ayodele Adeniye
Haakon Hanelt
Jack Watson (G)
Coach: Jim Slater
Several of the Capitals’ decision makers and coaches, including head coach Spencer Carbery, assistant coach Scott Allen, assistant general manager Ross Mahoney, and guest goaltending coach Braden Holtby, were all in attendance and could be seen watching the action.
The most heralded prospect to participate in camp this week was Ryan Leonard — the team’s first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft who electrified the NCAA with Boston College last season. The sandpapery winger did not take long to get physically engaged in the tourney, exchanging slashes and shoves with 20-year-old free agent center Oasiz Wiesblatt.
“Yeah, nothing you really can do,” Leonard said of the moment. “I mean, at the end of the day you’re trying to compete, but there’s just no point of that. Almost taking someone’s knee off ten seconds apart, two of them. So not trying to be the hardo, but there’s just no point.”
Throughout the tournament, Leonard showed off his advanced skill and competitiveness, scoring and dangling his opponents. He also was involved in several hits.
Other prospects who impressed during the tournament included Ilya Protas, Ryan Chesley, Andrew Cristall, and Cole Hutson. The games did see one injury as goaltender Collin MacKenzie exited early after a collision with Leonard.
In the championship game, Leonard’s Team White, which featured Protas and 2024 first-round pick Terik Parascak, faced off against Team Light Blue, led by Chesley and Hutson. Leonard’s team emerged victorious to hoist the coveted Future Caps Cup.
Leonard raised the trophy first, taking a lap and waving to his supporters before handing off to Protas. The two had spent time together throughout the week before becoming teammates for Friday’s tournament.
“I always like to surround myself with guys that have high energy, a little bit loose, guys that like to have fun,” Leonard said of Protas. “He’s always smiling, he’s always a good guy to mess around with before. And on the ice he’s a great player, plays hard, takes the puck to the back of the net. Yeah, he’s very good.”
Leonard was also impressed by Parascak’s skill during week-long camp.
“[He’s] very good, very, very good,” Leonard said. “I like the way he plays. It was nice playing with him three-on-three, make a little bit of a connection. Connected a couple times, he had an unlucky shot off the crossbar. But yeah, great player.”
In the stands, Buffalo Sabres’ legend Miroslav Satan Sr. looked on as his son, also named Miroslav, finished out his first camp with the Caps. Miroslav Sr. scored 735 points (363g, 372a) in 1,050 NHL games and tallied career-high 40 goals during the 1998-99 season. His son, a 6-foot-7-inch tall Slovakian centerman was selected in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Capitals.
As camp’s on-ice festivities came to a close, Spencer Carbery admitted that he enjoyed watching the players compete after going through a series of drills earlier in the week.
“I’m not taking a ton out of [the camp] because there’s a lot of individual stuff that goes on, but this day is interesting because now you get the competitive juices flowing,” Carbery said. “I like to see when, now there’s a little bit on the line in a three-on-three tournament and now you get to see some guys compete and want to win. And that’s what I just watched out there, so that’s good to see.
“And you know what else? I was thinking about this earlier this week is, it’s amazing — when you see players every day and they get bigger, faster, smarter, you almost like — but when you don’t see them for a full year and then you [see them again], like a Ryan Chesley for example, I’m like, ‘Whoo. He’s grown up a lot.’ So there’s a huge, you watch them grow right in front of your eyes from a stature and physical standpoint, but also in the way they play the game and their skills and their skating ability. So for us to have not seen them for a full calendar year and then get to watch them, I always appreciate how far they can grow and how much they can grow in a full calendar year.”
The Capitals concluded camp with two signings, inking both Ilya Protas and Cam Allen to entry-level deals.
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