Twenty-three players took to the ice at McMullen Arena in Annapolis, Md. as the Capitals opened up their 2025 Rookie Camp on Friday. The group was led on the ice by director of player development Steve Richmond and Washington\u2019s player development team of Olie Kolzig, Brooks Orpik and Jim Slater. Former Caps goalie Braden Holtby and Hershey goalie coach Juha Lehtola were also on hand to assist with the netminders, and first-year Hershey coach Derek King and assistants Nick Bootland and Patrick Wellar were also on the scene.<\/p>\n
By this time next week, most of these young players will be participating and competing against full-fledged NHL players in the Caps\u2019 main training camp, which gets underway Sept. 18. Sixteen of the 23 participants are Washington draft choices.<\/p>\n
Following Friday\u2019s opening session, a trio of recent Caps\u2019 draftees \u2013 one from each of the Caps\u2019 last three drafts \u2013 took some time to speak with the media.<\/p>\n
As Washington\u2019s first-round choice (27th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft earlier this summer, 18-year-old left wing Lynden Lackovic is the newest to the organization of the three; he was drafted less than three months ago and his only prior exposure to the organization was the team\u2019s annual summer development camp in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely different,\u201d says Lackovic of the difference between this weekend and July\u2019s camp. \u201cI\u2019m having fun so far, but it\u2019s a lot more competitive, I feel. And you know the pace is really high, but I think my game adapts to that, and so far, so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even that brief exposure \u2013 combined with this weekend\u2019s camp in Annapolis \u2013 can go a long way toward preparing players for what\u2019s ahead next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a step for sure, a step up,\u201d says Lackovic. \u201cBut I\u2019m ready for it, and you\u2019ve just got to make a good first impression and be consistent throughout the week, and you never know what can happen. I\u2019m real happy with the work that I put in, and I guess it\u2019s time to show that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lackovic has played the last three seasons for Moose Jaw of the WHL. With a Dec. 12, 2006 birthdate, he\u2019ll be eligible to play in the AHL as early as 2026-27.<\/p>\n
Ilya Protas is the younger brother of Washington forward Aliaksei, who had a breakout season with 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games. Ilya Protas was the Caps\u2019 third-round choice (75th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft, and he had a monster season of his own with OHL Windsor last season, amassing 50 goals (third in the OHL) and 124 points (second in the OHL) in 61 games. He also added five goals and 25 points in a dozen Memorial Cup Playoff games.<\/p>\n
Protas has OHL eligibility remaining, but he could also begin his pro career this season. Protas told reporters he\u2019s been working hard all summer, with his brother mentoring him as always.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust what my coach told me to do \u2013 it was my brother \u2013 so what he told me to do, I did,\u201d says Protas. \u201cAnd probably most of it was conditioning and physical, and stuff in the gym. Because my next step, I want to make it to pro hockey, and I\u2019ve got to be ready; like my body and physicality is a big part of it. But on ice, we are doing what we did last summer, because me and him had successful years. And we keep doing what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether Aliaksei was a demanding coach, Ilya responded with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, sometimes when it doesn\u2019t go great,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we always kind of beat on each other at the practices and kind of yell; he yells more at me for sure. But it\u2019s always understandable because preseason, offseason is always a tough time. He is always hard on himself for sure, and you see how he works and you\u2019ve got to work the same way with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not all of the 23 players here in Annapolis this weekend will be extended an invitation to next week\u2019s main training camp, though most are virtually assured of a slot. But all 23 of them dream of playing in the NHL someday, and although they\u2019re aware it\u2019s the tallest of tasks, they dream of making the varsity roster this fall. One or two may actually do so, and others are not far off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make the team; that\u2019s my main goal,\u201d says Protas. \u201cBut I want to play pro this year, and I think that\u2019s going to be my biggest step. So I\u2019ve got to be ready for it and getting prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
At training camp last season, Andrew Cristall nearly cracked the Washington roster with a sterling performance in camp and in his exhibition showings. Cristall \u2013 the Caps\u2019 second-round choice (40th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft \u2013 was one of the last players cut. Cristall got into four of the six preseason games \u2013 including the finale \u2013 and he scored in each of his first two preseason contests and added an assist in his third game, finishing camp with two goals and three points.<\/p>\n
Although the competition might even be stiffer as he attempts to crack the roster again this season, Cristall is a confident player who draws even more confidence from his preseason showing a year ago, and his performance in his final season of junior hockey. Cristall led the WHL in scoring in 2024-25 with 132 points (48 goals, 84 assists) in just 57 games, and he now prepares to embark upon the first season of his professional hockey career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a good amount [of confidence],\u201d he says. \u201cI think through the [2024] preseason that I was year and another good year in the [WHL], I think I can bring confidence from both of those things. But then again, you\u2019ve got to prove it every day. Whether it\u2019s a skate like this or a preseason game or whatnot, you\u2019ve got to prove it every day and earn it. So you can pull that confidence, but you don\u2019t really want to get too complacent, and you always want to keep pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cristall is now a three-year veteran of Washington\u2019s summer development and late summer rookie camps. He is quite familiar with the lay of the land and the organization, and his focus is on making a run at a roster spot and getting ready for his first pro season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on a little bit of a newer program with my speed and my skating, and I think it\u2019s helped a lot,\u201d says Cristall. \u201cI feel a lot faster. We\u2019re testing every two weeks with our sprints and on-ice sprints as well, and when you see numbers and things like that improving, it only helps your confidence. So, a little bit of that but also in the gym and on the ice, just trying to get bigger and get that weight up for battles in the corners.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the battles for roster berths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-three players took to the ice at McMullen Arena in Annapolis, Md. as the Capitals opened up their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-141258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}