..... Which brings us to the upcoming NHL draft.
A lot of speculation has the Caps taking either center Dalibor Dvorsky, or Russian RW Michkov if he happens to fall because of concerns about Russia and his current contract to play the next 3 seasons there. But I'm not so sure about that.
The Caps have two equally glaring needs for the near future: Center, with Backstrom and Kuznetsov being problematic, and right defense. If you look at the Caps' defense, the 3 apparent LD -- Fehervary, Alexeyev, and Sandin -- are all age 23. The 3 RD -- Carlson, Jensen, and TVR -- are all 30+.
The top two defensive prospects in this year's draft are David Reinbacher and Axel Sandin Pallikka, both RD. Reinbacher is the bigger, stronger player with some offensive upside; Pallikka is the smaller, shiftier type with more PP potential. Either of these guys is considered by some evaluators as a bit of a stretch at #8, though I have seen mocks that place Reinbacher as high as #6.
I have no inkling of the organization's thinking about individual prospects. As always, a lot depends on what happens with the picks in front of them. But my own guess is that it's 50/50 that the Caps go C or RD with the pick at #8. Or if the draft is going in a certain way and some other team is interested in a particular player at #8, the Caps may trade down a few places to try to pick up another draft pick, if they think they can get a desired player a few places later in the draft.