2018 NHL Draft: Report card grades for every team

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadians pose for a picture of the 2018 NHL draft on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

19 of 32

DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: Alexander Alexeyev poses after being selected thirty-first overall by the Washington Capitals during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Washington Capitals – B

First Round Pick: Alexander Alexeyev (D) (31)

The Capitals not only kept their first round pick while nearly every other Stanley Cup contender traded away their pick to load up for a Cup run. But the Capitals ended up winning the Cup. Let that be a lesson to every general manager out there. Don’t trade your first round pick for a guy who you think will help you win. He won’t. Keep your pick and trust the team you already have. Especially if they’ve failed miserably over the years.

Alexander Alexeyev is a rare defenseman who isn’t under six feet. He’s 6-foot-4, but moves like any player under six feet. That’s good and bad. Good because it means his size doesn’t hold him back from leading and joining the rush. Bad because he doesn’t play like a traditional bigger defenseman, meaning he could stand to be more physical in his own end. The Capitals already have one defensive spot open after trading Brooks Orpik. More might become available if they lose John Carlson.

Other Notable Picks: Martin Fehervary (D) (46), Kody Clark (RW) (47), Riley Sutter (RW) (93)

The Capitals went with bloodlines later in the draft. Can’t knock them for that.

Trade: Traded Philipp Grubauer and Brooks Orpik to Colorado for No. 47

They were able to dump Orpik’s salary, freeing up the necessary space to re-sign Carlson. Based on every recent report, Carlson re-signing sounds like a foregone conclusion. They were looking for a first round pick for Grubauer and they reportedly had better offers from teams in the East, but they wanted to send him out of conference. If they don’t re-sign Carlson, this deal looks slightly worse the immediate cap relief may go unused. As long as Carlson re-signs, this is a good deal by Washington.

It’s a conditional high B for right now. It becomes an A if Carlson is re-signed.

Home/NHL Draft