20 Thoughts On Caps Development Camp

Capitals Development Camp wrapped up Saturday with a intrasquad scrimmage where all three goaltenders stole the show from the offensive firepower. Caps fans and management learned a lot over the five days; here are 20 things that I learned.

1. Ilya Samsonov is under the gun. He has enough pressure to perform in net, but he needs to learn English on top of that. The one benefit to not knowing the native language is that very few press members could ask him anything. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post is fluent in Russian, so that gave her a major leg up on fellow press members. Then there’s the issue of his contract.
2. Samsonov has two years remaining on his Kontinental Hockey League deal with Mettalurg Magnitogorsk, the reigning Gagarin Cup champions. Whether or not he plays out those two years before arriving stateside is another question. A buyout is plausible if Samsonov wishes to come over sooner. He still has to prove himself against Vitek Vanecek and Adam Carlson.
3. Carlson is the epitome of the tendency for larger goaltenders in hockey. The 6′ 3″ Minnesotan fills a lot of the net with his size, but relied on positioning to stop shots from far away. With rebounds and chances from within seven feet, goals tended to go in with greater ease. He, like all three goalies, played much better under game conditions during the scrimmage.
4. So, how did the Caps handle having three goalies and two teams for one scrimmage? The coaches had a sheet saying what time each goalie needed to play taped behind them on each bench. Samsonov, Carlson, and free-agent invitee Jay Williams changed nets and teams on the fly, something I’ve only seen twice:  on YouTube and at a Women’s hockey game last year. When asked who got the win, Carlson said “We all got the win.”
5. Williams played admirably well the entire camp, but he now has an uncertain fate. There is no guarantee free-agent invites will be offered anything after Camp, save a thank you from the coaching staff and the official Camp t-shirt. The McLean, VA native drove home from Camp to “see if anything come up in the next couple weeks” as he awaits a place to play next season. Williams graduated from Miami University (Ohio) in the Spring.
6. I’ve given a lot of attention to the goalies so far, and that is because they were the story of the scrimmage. For all the talk of defenders like Madison Bowey and Lucas Johansen and forwards like Riley Barber and Travis Boyd, none of them scored. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, a 2016 fifth round selection, got the game winner.
7. Jonsson-Fjallby practiced as if he had to prove why he was drafted in the first place. That effort should not go unnoticed or forgotten by the time he returns to the junior ranks. He plans to travel home to Sweden before that.
8. On Bowey, Caps management got a short glimpse of what he is like manning a power play in the last 90 seconds of scrimmage. Samsonov was pulled for the extra attacker on Team Red, and Bowey took center point. None of his slap shots found the net, but he was the point through which all pucks flowed. If a shot came, no more than two other players touched the puck after Bowey’s first pass.
9. One-time Kelowna Rockets teammates, Bowey and Johansen, were among the most popular players at this camp. Both lost track of how many things they signed for the fans, but Bowey remembers signing, I kid you not, a sandal. “I signed right in the sole of the sandal, so right where people step on,” Bowey said.
10. Hershey Bears head coach Troy Mann does not think the head coaching change in South Carolina will affect his plan for the prospects he will be assigned by Washington. “[Specncer Carbery] was a good coach and we wish him well, but at the same time I’m sure things will work out fine with whoever we have down there,” Mann said.
11. Barry Trotz used a simple analogy in regards to the language barrier with Samsonov: “if you’re sitting in a meeting and we’re talking about motivation and ownership and all that, it’s like Charlie Brown. You know, the teacher; waa waa waa.” Capitals public relations director Sergey Kocharov skated with the team at times to act as Samsonov’s interpreter with the coaches.
12. Riley Barber gets his news like the rest of us: from Twitter. When Hershey Resorts and Entertainment terminated Scott Stuccio’s position, none of the Bears players received a heads-up or a warning. “I haven’t heard much about it or how it went down or anything. I just know that he got let go it’s pretty sad. I really liked him and I’ll miss him,” Barber said.
13. Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan was a little envious of other teams as he saw the big names fly off the board in the opening minutes of free agency. “We’re playing in a different market; trying to find a guy in a certain salary range that might have some upside and become a good player for us,” MacLellan said.
14. Speaking of the big names, more conversation from fans than is warranted was given to signing some of those big names to the Capitals. Face it: the Caps are fine. Blowing up a President’s Trophy winning team poised for another good season is a bad idea. Plain and simple.
15. Stan Galiev hung around the rink all camp long. He made small talk with Mitch Korn between drills and signed some autographs for fans, but his reason for being at Camp is unknown. Galiev was the healthy scratch for most of last season and he may fill the same role next year, barring a major improvement in his game.
16. Travis Boyd needs to be called up by Washington at some point next season. This year marked his SIXTH Development Camp since being selected in the sixth round  in 2011 from the US National Team Development Program. He then went on to a four-year career at the University of Minnesota before jumping on board with the Hershey Bears at the end of 2014-15. His 53 points (21 goals, 32 assists) did not go unnoticed, but he will be best known for his Game 7 winner against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, one of two goals the whole playoffs.
17. Boyd (177, 2011) is the only one left from the 2011 Draft. Out of all the draft invites to Camp, only Tyler Lewington (204, 2013), Kevin Elgestal (194, 2014), and Dmitry Zatisev (207, 2016) were taken with a later selection.
18. Did you know that the Caps did not have a draft pick until the fourth round in 2011? You do now.
19. Turnout for the Alumni Game Wednesday night rivaled that of the prospects scrimmage on Saturday. This may be due to the crowd gathered for Caps Fan Fest on Wednesday, but excitement for Caps hockey is healthy even amid the summer.
20. I’ll finish with Dylan Margonari. Margonari played the last four games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for South Carolina this year on an Amateur Tryout and displayed a blazing speed, but no points to show for it. The Minnesota State-Monkato graduate signed an ATO with the Hershey Bears upon his team’s elimination in the WCHA Finals, playing two games there before getting sent down amid injury troubles to assist the Stingrays. His performance at Camp indicated a trip back to the ECHL is likely, with occasional AHL call-ups should he get a contract.

Last season, all three teams in the Capitals organization won their division. Given the talent pool on display last week, there is little reason to assume the same result is out of reach for next season.