{"id":154574,"date":"2025-09-13T19:40:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/154574\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T19:40:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:40:06","slug":"lynden-lakovic-believes-he-took-big-steps-after-summer-training-with-nhl-veterans-im-real-happy-with-the-work-ive-put-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/154574\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynden Lakovic believes he took big steps after summer training with NHL veterans: \u2018I\u2019m real happy with the work I\u2019ve put in\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals\u2019 latest first-round draft selection, Lynden Lakovic, jumped on the ice for the first day of 2025 Rookie Camp on Friday. The big forward is attending his first fall NHL camp after being made the 27th overall pick in last June\u2019s draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Capitals inked the 18-year-old to his three-year, entry-level contract at development camp in July<\/a>, and he\u2019ll be involved at the club\u2019s training camp next week. Lakovic, a 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound winger, is likely headed back to the WHL\u2019s Moose Jaw Warriors for the 2025-26 season, but believes he has taken big steps in his game over the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s definitely a step for sure, a step up, but I know I\u2019m ready for it,\u201d Lakovic said Friday. \u201cYou just got to make a good first impression and be consistent throughout the week, and you never know what can happen. So, I\u2019m real happy with the work I\u2019ve put in, and I guess it\u2019s just time to show that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lakovic says he particularly focused on aspects of his game that will be important for his transition to pro hockey in the coming years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of board work, and I put on some pounds,\u201d he said. \u201cKind of just rounding out my defensive side of the game. And I think those are all traits you need to have at the next level. And I feel like those have all taken big steps this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of his first experience at an NHL camp, Lakovic spent the offseason training with a few names that already know the league inside and out. The West Kelowna native returned to his hometown for the summer, a hockey hotbed that many NHL players also return to after their seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trained with a lot of veteran NHL players,\u201d Lakovic said. \u201cThe Schenn brothers, to name a few, and Shea Theodore, to name another one. Just kind of learning from them, what it takes to make it, and really pushing yourself day to day. They\u2019re there helping you out. It really is an advantage, I\u2019d say, and I think it\u2019s going to help me this camp for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it definitely makes me more comfortable, and at the end of the day, it\u2019s my first NHL camp, so you don\u2019t really know what to expect. All you know is it\u2019s going to be hard, and it\u2019s going to be competitive, right? But skating with NHL pros definitely helps and makes me more comfortable for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the start of this year\u2019s rookie camp, Lakovic had already begun his WHL preseason with the Warriors. He played in one exhibition matchup for Moose Jaw, a 2-1 overtime victory over the Swift Current Broncos, where Lakovic scored the game\u2019s opening goal and recorded the primary assist on the game-winning goal.<\/p>\n

During the 2024-25 campaign, Lakovic recorded a team-leading 58 points (27g, 31a) in 47 games for the Warriors and was named the team\u2019s captain in February. Moose Jaw was the worst team in the WHL, winning just 15 games and not expecting much better this season, so it\u2019s likely Lakovic could see himself eventually flipped to a contending team like Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall was by the Kelowna Rockets last January.<\/p>\n

For now, though, Lakovic is focused on making the most of his time with the Capitals and enjoying the unique experience of participating in camp at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s actually pretty cool,\u201d Lakovic said. \u201cIt\u2019s my first time in this city, and the whole academy here \u2013 this rink\u2019s pretty cool. It\u2019s an awesome bonding experience. It\u2019s a great experience for me and the other rookies, and so far I\u2019m having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rookie camp portion of the Capitals\u2019 preseason runs until Monday, September 15. Three days later, the team\u2019s main training camp will begin at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals\u2019 latest first-round draft selection, Lynden Lakovic, jumped on the ice for the first day of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-154574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}