Welcome to the September 2021 edition of the DobberProspects 32-in-32 Series! This month, we will be diving into the depth of each organization, looking at their recent graduates, risers, fallers and top 20 prospects.

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The Capitals are coming in to the 2021-2022 season with largely the same roster and only minor tweaks completed. They are still a Stanley Cup contender but the window is slowly closing, but many Capitals (and hockey fans) may not care as long as Ovi breaks the goal scoring record. The roster is still full with veterans and one-way contracts so the young players the Capitals have, with good upside, may need to wait another year before they are given a legitimate chance.

Graduating Players

Alexei Protas, C – Protas will not require any time in the WHL this season and will start (unless given a few games in the NHL because of injuries) in the AHL. He should be a top two centre for the Bears, but Hershey has a history of bringing new players in to the system slowly

Oskar Magnusson, RW – Magnusson is starting in the HockeyAllsvenskan league in Sweden. He has surpassed the HockeyEttan and J20 leagues, while also not being ready for a full-time role in the SHL but he could still get some games in the top league

Bogdan Trineyev, RW – Last year Trineyev played most of his games in the MHL and this year he is starting in the VHL

Possible Graduates

Alexander Alexeyev, D and/or Martin Fehervary, D – These two may be battling for a roster spot on the Capitals defense, but Washington did sign a Laviolette favorite in Matt Irwin, and he is likely better suited for the seventh defenseman role. Unless either can beat out one of the six signed defensemen they will likely play in the AHL, again, and will have to wait until 2022-2023 until two spots can potentially open up

Brian Pinho, C – Pinho has the inside track to be the 13^th forward for the Capitals, who can fill in for almost any spot in the bottom nine forwards, as he has a one-way contract and requires waivers to be sent down

Hunter Shepard, G – Fucale and Copley should be the goalies in Hershey but with rumours of a third goalie “taxi squad” style spot on the rosters this season Shepard could spend enough time in Hershey to earn at least 30% of the starts, instead of spending the entire season in the ECHL

Risers

Bobby Nardella, D – He is a great offensive weapon on the backend who played exceptionally well in his first AHL season, and followed that up by dominating the SHL. Now he is back in North America with a new two-year contract, where the second year is one-way. If Carlson is hurt during the season Nardella may be the first call up

Zach Fucale, G – Yes, Fucale still counts as a prospect. He also came out of nowhere last season and posted fantastic goaltending numbers for Hershey. He may have impressed the Capitals management enough to be the first goalie called up if an injury occurs to Samsonov or Vanecek, and now may have a future in the NHL if he can play well again

Alexander Alexeyev, D – Alexeyev was loaned to the KHL to start last season, played great, and came back to Hershey and posted nine points in 12 games. He has a very bright future

Connor McMichael, C – McMichael started slow in the AHL and then posted 14 points in his final 11 games. He will continue to post great numbers in the AHL until the Capitals finally give him a shot. On almost any other NHL team he would be a lock for the opening night roster, but on Washington he will have to wait

Fallers

Lucas Johansen, D – He continues to both fall down the depth chart and get hurt each season in the Capitals organization. He needs a fresh start somewhere else

Shane Gersich, LW – Gersich did improve in the latest AHL season but he still just appears to be more and more like an AHL forward than an NHL forward

Kody Clark, RW and Riley Sutter, RW – Both players cannot hide from the injury bug and both players are not really improving. They each need healthy seasons to look like they have a future in the NHL in a bottom-six role

Damien Riat, RW – Riat posted nine points in 33 games for Hershey as the Bears brought him along slowly. However, during the off season, he was loaned back to the Swiss league as he may have given up on playing in North America

Prospect Depth Chart

The list is a combination of NHL readiness and upside

Top 20 Fantasy Prospects

1. Connor McMichael
2. Hendrix Lapierre
3. Alexei Protas
4. Bobby Nardella
5. Alexander Alexeyev
6. Garrett Pilon
7. Brett Leason
8. Mitchell Gibson
9. Joe Snively
10. Oskar Magnusson
11. Martin Fehervary
12. Martin Hugo Has
13. Bogdan Trineyev
14. Garin Bjorklund
15. Hunter Shepard
16. Zac Fucale
17. Brian Pinho
18. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
19. Vincent Iorio
20. Brent Johnson

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Thanks for reading, follow me on twitter: @FHPQuinn

Pat Quinn