2016 NHL Draft

An Emotional George McPhee Tears Up After Son Graham Gets Drafted by Edmonton Oilers

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Photo: @EdmontonOilers

For 17 years, George McPhee served as the Washington Capitals’ General Manager and Vice President of Hockey Operations. He presided over many drafts and selected superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Braden Holtby.

But on Saturday, McPhee — now serving a different role as a special advisor to Garth Snow — left the New York Islanders table on the floor of First Niagara Center and found a seat in the crowd. He had a different role to perform once the fourth round of the draft began: being a dad.

“After all the years in the business, it’s torture sitting there,” McPhee said to Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt about the experience.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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A Closer Look at the Six Selections the Caps Made on the Second Day of 2016 NHL Draft

Photo: @Capitals

A day after drafting talented defenseman Lucas Johansen with their first round pick, the Washington Capitals made six other selections on Day Two, including two picks two spots apart in the fifth round.

“The theme this year was to get intelligent players that work hard and can skate,” Assistant General Manager Ross Mahoney said to reporters after the Draft concluded. “We’re really happy with the results we got. Moving back and picking up an extra pick and still getting the person we want in the first round. Plus getting that extra pick so that was good because we were down a few picks after some of the trades that have taken place. Very happy with that.”

The Washington Capitals selected center Garrett Pilon in the third round, left wing Damien Riat in the fourth, left wings Beck Malenstyn and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby in the fifth, defenseman Chase Priskie in the sixth, and defenseman Dmitriy Zaitsev in the seventh. Below, we profile each player.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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Washington Capitals Select Center Garrett Pilon In Third Round of 2016 NHL Draft

With the 87th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals went off the board and selected the 109th ranked North American skater, Garrett Pilon, of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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Lucas Johansen Calls Being Drafted by Capitals the ‘Best Feeling I’ve Ever Had’

Lucas poses with his brother Ryan. (Photo: @Capitals)

The Washington Capitals selected left-handed defenseman Lucas Johansen with their first round pick Friday night. After being introduced on stage and taking photos with Caps management, Johansen met with the NHL press for the first time. He called being drafted “the best feeling I’ve ever had.”

Lucas talked at length about his brother Ryan, a center with the Nashville Predators, during his press conference. Lucas even credited the 2015 NHL All Star Game MVP as the reason why he decided to be a defender.

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By Spenser Smallwood 3 years ago

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GM Brian MacLellan Says Caps Have Found Their Third-Line Center in Lars Eller

Photo: @CapitalsPR

Standing in front of reporters three hours after the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft began, Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan was happy that he finally got his man. He was not referring to the draft pick the Caps made an hour earlier.

With a sly “yes” and a smile, MacLellan confirmed that Lars Eller, whom the Capitals traded for earlier in the night, would be the team’s third-line center heading into next season. According to the 2016 GM of the Year finalist, the deal was in the works for a long time and that he inquired about the center’s availability frequently.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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Lucas Johansen Loves Snapchat, Fears Snakes, and Sings Shania Twain at Karaoke

Photo: @CapitalsPR

With the 28th pick in the NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals selected Ryan Johansen’s brother Lucas. The six-foot, two-inch, 176 pound defenseman led all Kelowna defensemen in goals, assists, and points. And according to his NHL.com draft profile, Lucas admires Tom Brady.

I’m not sure how I feel about this.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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Washington Capitals Select Defenseman Lucas Johansen In First Round of 2016 NHL Draft

With the 28th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals selected left-handed defenseman Lucas Johansen of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. Minutes before the pick, the Caps swapped first round selections with the Blues and gained back a third-round pick out of the deal, the 87th overall pick. Kelowna is the same WHL team that produced Madison Bowey.

Congrats to my boy @LucasJohansen97 and welcome to the @Capitals family. Proud of ya buddy, see you in a few days

— Madison Bowey (@m_bows4) June 25, 2016

This selection comes nearly two hours after the Caps made their first big move of the night, trading two future second round picks for depth center Lars Eller.

Johansen is the first defenseman the Caps have drafted in the first round since John Carlson in 2008.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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2016 NHL Entry Draft Live Blog: First Round

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Photo: Bruce Bennett

Liveblog for the draft? Why not. Auston Matthews is the consensus number one overall pick, but let’s see how the rest of the draft will go. The Caps are selecting 26th. I’ll be happy with anything but another goaltender.

Spenser is joining me and will be providing analysis on some of the highlighted picks throughout the night.

Leggo.

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By Chris Cerullo 3 years ago

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Prospects the Caps Could Select With Pick 26

Photo: Derek Leung

The first round of the 2016 NHL Draft begins tonight at 7:00 PM on NBCSN. Before then, we want to be able to provide our readers with an idea of who the Caps could select with the 26th pick they currently own. These are profiles of some of the players generally ranked around that area.

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By Spenser Smallwood 3 years ago

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Photo: Bruce Bennett

This Friday, the Capitals will be picking from the 26th position during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The Caps have had great success recently drafting from the bottom of the first round and will try to find another diamond in the rough again this year.

Over the last few weeks, NHL draft experts have been publishing their Mock Drafts. I’ve collected who they believe the Caps might pick to see if there are any patterns.

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By Spenser Smallwood 3 years ago

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