Summer\u2019s End \u2013 On the final full day of the summer of 2025, a youthful group of Capitals is making its way to Boston for the first of Washington\u2019s six preseason games of training camp. While the rest of the Caps engaged in a Sunday morning scrimmage at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, today\u2019s game group takes a plane ride to Beantown following three high-paced practice days to start camp.<\/p>\n
All Things New Again \u2013 If it\u2019s mid-September and the Caps are playing their first preseason tilt, then someone is almost certainly getting their first taste of NHL preseason action. The Caps have a few such players today, including 18-year-old Lynden Lackovic, the team\u2019s first-round choice (27th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n
Lackovic attended Washington\u2019s summer development camp in July and its rookie camp in Annapolis last weekend, and after three days of training camp drills, practices, scrimmages and scrums, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound winger makes his NHL preseason debut skating the left side of a line with Eriks Mateiko in the middle and Spencer Smallman riding shotgun.<\/p>\n
Less than three months after hearing his name called in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, Lackovic is opening eyes at Caps camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s looked fantastic,\u201d says Carbery of Lackovic\u2019s early camp performance. \u201cFrom all the reports in Annapolis he was great there, and then the first two days of camp he has looked excellent. The things that I notice, two things: one, he\u2019s got deceptive speed for a bigger guy. He skates really well, and you saw it in the skate test and that; he blew away his group.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a guy his size and his age to be that efficient as a skater is really impressive. For someone that big that you think is only going to grow into a big power forward that can skate like that is very unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then he\u2019s got a great presence about him. Usually, the first crop of your first pro camp, you\u2019re a little tentative, nervous, just kind of getting where you fit in. He is asking questions, looking you in the eye, \u2018What do I do here, coach?\u2019 You can feel he\u2019s got a confidence and a little bit of swagger, but not in an arrogant way, in a way that he feels like he fits in and can play with everybody out here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lackovic also seems very even and level; he doesn\u2019t seem rattled or intimidated by anything he is going through here in camp. Those characteristics should serve him well as he takes this step today in his hockey career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely surreal,\u201d says Lackovic. \u201cIt\u2019s every kid\u2019s dream to throw on an NHL jersey for the first time in a game situation. I\u2019m definitely going to be amped up and looking forward to it. I\u2019m happy to be out there with some of the veteran guys and to learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In just 47 games with WHL Moose Jaw in his draft season of 2024-25, Lackovic piled up 27 goals and 58 points. With a December 2006 birthday, he would be eligible to play in Hershey as early as 2025-26. But first things first; camp is only a few days old and he\u2019ll be aiming to stick around and continue making a strong first impression as long as he can.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust competing is the biggest thing for myself and what I think the management is looking for, and whatever is going to help us win the game,\u201d says Lackovic. \u201cAnother thing would be my details. In defensive zone coverage and on the forecheck, I have to be real detailed with my routes, my timing and my checking. If I do all that, at the end of the day, my bread and butter is a skill game. So I think if I\u2019m moving my feet and I\u2019m making plays and I\u2019m using my hockey IQ, I think it\u2019s going to go well for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mateiko was the Caps\u2019 third-round pick (90th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft, and he got his first taste of preseason activity a year ago at this time. What would he tell his linemate Lackovic about the experience?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust enjoy it; it\u2019s your first time,\u201d says Mateiko. \u201cI had my first time last year. Try to soak it in. It\u2019s a really good experience, especially playing in Boston too, against pro guys. Obviously, not a lot of players can have that on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9, so just be grateful and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lackovic\u2019s training camp roommate is Terik Parascak, the Caps\u2019 first-round pick (17th overall) from the 2024 Draft. Parascak also got his first taste of NHL preseason action last fall. Preseason NHL games are different birds in a lot of ways, especially road games. That\u2019s magnified a bit with a 5 pm start time, an unusual starting time for hockey players at any time of year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was talking to my roommate about this the other day,\u201d says Lackovic. \u201cI’ve never hopped off a plane and played a game a few hours later. So that’s going to be different for me, but I’m going to treat it like any other game, even though it isn’t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I still have a lot to prove. I’m going to go out there and compete, but if you’re not sleeping at night, then you’re thinking about too much and I don’t think you\u2019re going to play too well, so you have to treat it like every other game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seconds Of Pleasure \u2013 Coming off another strong season in the QMJHL, the 19-year-old Mateiko \u2013 who will turn 20 in November \u2013 is eligible to begin his pro career this season, and he will be looking to prove he is worthy of doing so at camp this fall.<\/p>\n
After the Caps drafted him in the summer of 2024 and he got his own first taste of the NHL preseason last fall, Mateiko returned to the QMJHL where he served as captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs in his third season with that club. Following a dazzling performance \u2013 five goals in as many games, including an overtime game-winner against Germany \u2013 at the 2025 World Junior Championship, Saint John swapped Mateiko to Rimouski, where the lanky Latvian went on a lengthy playoff run with the Oceanic. The 6-foot-6, 214-pound Mateiko totaled seven goals and 11 points in 18 playoff games after putting up 26 goals and 41 points in 47 regular season contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel way better this year,\u201d says Mateiko, \u201cand not \u2018way\u2019 better; but I feel like I know what\u2019s coming. And I had a good summer getting ready for this camp. So yeah, I feel pretty good.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still working on getting bigger \u2013 more strength, more weight. I still have to do that and I\u2019m still growing. But it\u2019s puck battles \u2013 board battles and puck battles \u2013 and I feel like I did some good work this summer, put in some good work in getting the weight and strength up. So that was my biggest goal of the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mission accomplished. Last season, the Washington media guide listed Mateiko at 6-foot-5, 207 pounds. He has added an inch and seven pounds since.<\/p>\n
Something Wild \u2013 Defenseman Declan Chisholm, obtained from the Minnesota Wild in a deal during the 2025 NHL Draft, will also pull on the Washington game sweater for the first time this afternoon in Boston.<\/p>\n
A fifth-round pick (150th overall) of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2018 NHL Draft, Chisholm has logged 99 NHL games with Winnipeg and the Wild, scattered over three NHL campaigns. He skated in 66 games with the Wild last season, scoring a pair of goals and putting up a dozen points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say I’m a two-way [defenseman],\u201d says Chisholm. \u201cI think I’ve really worked on my defensive game, especially last year. And I want to continue just trying to create more offense in this league; it’s obviously a lot harder. So I want to use my skating and my quick breakouts, quick passing and transition to my advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
In The Nets \u2013 Logan Thompson and Garin Bjorklund are the two netminders going to Boston for Sunday\u2019s preseason opener. There\u2019s no early word on how they\u2019ll be deployed, but last season, the Caps split their goaltenders midway through the preseason opener against Philadelphia. However, the two goaltenders for that game were last season\u2019s Hershey tandem of Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson.<\/p>\n
Thompson will share the Washington net with Charlie Lindgren this season while Bjorklund is expected to be part of the Hershey netminding duo along with Stevenson.<\/p>\n
All Lined Up \u2013 Here\u2019s how we except the Caps to look when they take the ice today in Boston and a roster of likely Bruins participants for Sunday\u2019s game:<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON<\/p>\n
Forwards<\/p>\n
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank<\/p>\n
15-Milano, 29-Lapierre, 72-Beauvillier<\/p>\n
63-Miroshnichenko, 58-Rybinski, 87-Trineyev<\/p>\n
14-Lackovic, 73-Mateiko, 81-Smallman<\/p>\n
Defensemen<\/p>\n
47-Chisholm, 57-van Riemsdyk<\/p>\n
25-Rosen, 2-Iorio<\/p>\n
45-Muggli, 41-Chesley<\/p>\n
Goaltenders<\/p>\n
48-Thompson<\/p>\n
68-Bjorklund<\/p>\n
BOSTON<\/p>\n
71-Arvidsson, Victor<\/p>\n
13-Blumel, Matej<\/p>\n
38-Brown, Patrick<\/p>\n
62-Duran, Riley<\/p>\n
39-Geekie, Morgan<\/p>\n
84-Jeannot, Tanner<\/p>\n
28-Lindholm, Elias<\/p>\n
23-Lysell, Fabian<\/p>\n
93-Minten, Fraser<\/p>\n
51-Poitras, Matt<\/p>\n
21-Steeves, Alex<\/p>\n
48-Viel, Jeffrey<\/p>\n
Defensemen<\/p>\n
59-Brunet, Frederic<\/p>\n
6-Lohrei, Mason<\/p>\n
73-McAvoy, Charlie<\/p>\n
26-Peeke, Andrew<\/p>\n
29-Soderstrom, Victor<\/p>\n
58-Sweezey, Billy<\/p>\n
91-Zadorov, Nikita<\/p>\n
Goaltenders<\/p>\n
60-Cavallini, Luke<\/p>\n
80-DiPietro, Michael<\/p>\n
85-Zajicek, Simon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer\u2019s End \u2013 On the final full day of the summer of 2025, a youthful group of Capitals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-159257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}