Was just checking out Hershey roster to see which players could be considered "prospects" and saw that he was with them in the regular season but is not playing in the playoffs. Was that an injury or is he not on the roster since he was with Washington?
Interesting that the Bears have five defensemen who were first or second round picks.
Are any of them (Johansen or Iorio perhaps) likely to see significant NHL time in the future?
Where does Aktell fit in this mix?Id go with
Iorio is on a path to NHL. Too early to say in what role or timeline, but Caps is hoping for a top4-5 defence from him in 2- years. So next year is likely in Hershey, hopefully in a leading role. Maybe few games of taste from the big league.
Johansen is a tough one. He has been at the verge of ’make it or break it’ for couple years now but always seems to buy another year. This looks to go at that route too. He needs to have a monstrous training camp and some roster-luck to get a real chance to make it to the NHL with Caps. Id figure the right route for him is going to take his service for some bottom feeders AHL team in hopes to get an easier set of road blocks to catch a momentum.
Outside of Hershey Caps have Chesley who we have hopes for. But in overall, its not deep d-pool for us. Though we do have already a really young LD crew up with Fehervary, Sandin and Alexeyev, so its not that dooming either.
Where does Aktell fit in this mix?
I'm penciling in Johansen as the 7th Dman on the Caps roster for 2023/24. Iorio or Carlsson getting call ups when injuries occur to the D-corps (and they will).Carlsson has been playing with McIlrath in the playoffs. Some sites just haven't added AHL playoff stats yet.
Johansen has been the best of the bunch. He still can't seem to pack on much mass so probably not more than a 5-7 at the NHL level but the polish and tools are there. Iorio is bigger and a bit more skilled but pretty raw and likely needs at least another year in Hershey. He's got more upside but as the youngest also a while to go yet tying it all together.
I got to watch Iorio in person against Hartford, I was extremely impressed with every part of his game. I think he will be pushing for a spot halfway through next season. He just needs to play as much as possible.I'm penciling in Johansen as the 7th Dman on the Caps roster for 2023/24. Iorio or Carlsson getting call ups when injuries occur to the D-corps (and they will).
To start the season the 6 d will be, Carlson, Sandin, Jensen, TVR, Fever and AA.
Figure Chesley makes the jump to Hershey in 24/25 season. Iorio by that time may be ready for permanent roster spot with Capitals. Could mean time to move TVR or Jensen come the TDL that season or maybe even this coming season.