Washington Capitals sign four or five...

[ALL CAPS]

WASINGTON CAPITALS SIGN FOUR OR FIVE...
DC Leaks Sports Media & Entertainment, 2023

Washington, DC - -

After a couple of seemingly quiet weeks in the nation’s capital, the Washington hockey team has broken their brief silence this past weekend by making official a handful of depth signings.

“The Washington Capitals are pleased to announce the additions of veteran players Wayne Simmonds and Scott Wedgewood through unrestricted free agency (UFA),” stated the official press release.

Simmonds should be expected to bring physicality, toughness, and strong defense acumen to the bottom six forward group in Washington throughout the life of the new 2-year deal.

Meanwhile, the addition of Wedgewood, a veteran journeyman goaltender, will increase the competition for the backup role in Washington. He could play somewhere between 10-20 games in the NsHL this season, plus another 50+ in the AsHL, as the Caps hope to groom him into their backup goaltender for the long-term.

“That’s a realistic workload for (Scott’s) short-term and long-term development, and one that we feel will help to cement his future within our organization,” said Capitals goaltending coach Andre Racicot about Wedgewood’s role with the team.

The Capitals also announced the signing of Jesse Ylonen (acquired: via trade, March 2021) and Lukas Rousek (acquired: via 2019 NsHL draft, 166th overall) from their reserve prospects list.

Ylonen, son of former professional hockey player Juha Ylonen, is a speedy winger who plays a quality, 200-foot game. He should get an opportunity to audition with the Capitals for ice-time as soon as this season and it will be interesting to see how he responds when the opportunity presents itself.

In the meantime, Ylonen, along with Lukas Rousek, should be expected to provide significant upgrades to the top six-forward group for the London Patriots (AsHL) hockey team.

In other ALLCAPS news, there were rumors circulating on Washington’s reddit following over the weekend that the Capitals have officially/unofficially signed coveted free agent defenseman Marcus Bjork. This comes after claims that the team may have posted confirmation of the signing in error on their social media account before later removing the post.

If true, the Capitals would be poised to have quite the competition for the 6th defensive spot in the line-up between youngsters Alexander Romanov, Jordan Spence, and now Marcus Bjork. This healthy competition for an everyday roster spot is the fruit of GM Willis’ efforts to acquire quality young talent throughout the last year.

When it became clear that the Capitals would miss the Season 20 playoffs, Washington made a concerted effort to overhaul their reserve prospect depth. Less than a year later, the results already appear overwhelmingly positive with the Capitals adding a wealth of new prospect depth, including: Jordan Spence (D, Pro); Nate Danielson (C, WHL/CHL); Tom Willander (D, NCAA); Jagger Firkus (W, WHL/CHL); Maveric Lamoureaux (D, QMJHL/CHL); Artem Duda (D, NCCA); Martin Misiak (OHL/CHL), Carson Bjarnason (G, OHL/CHL) and more.

“If each of those players (Romanov/Spence/Bjork) suits up in around 10-15 games apiece, I think it will be fairly clear who wants that spot the most by that point, and the team should have an easy decision by then,” offered veteran Capitals media personality Richard Thingyi.

Stay tuned in the weeks ahead as the Capitals are sure to make more changes leading up to opening night.

We want playoffs - but, so long for now, hockey fans.

W.B. Kokov, Washington Capitals media correspondent with DC Leaks Sports Media & Entertainment.