The Washington Capitals hold eight picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, which begins on Friday, June 28 and will air on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET. Rounds 2-7 will take place on Saturday and will air on NHL Network and ESPN+ starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. Last year, the team made six selections, including right wing Ryan Leonard with the eighth overall pick. For more information on the Capitals’ 2024 Draft presented by Verizon, visit WashCaps.com/draft.
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Capitals 2024 Draft Picks
Round 1 - 17
Round 2 - 52
Round 3 - 82
Round 3 - 83
Round 3 - 90
Round 4 - 114
Round 5 - 146
Round 6 - 178
17th Overall – The Capitals’ first selection in the 2024 NHL Draft is in the 1st Round, 17th overall. The Capitals hold the 17th overall pick for the sixth time in franchise history. Washington previously selected Kevin Hatcher (1984), Jason Allison (1993), Brad Church (1995), Jaroslav Svejkovsky (1996) and Boyd Gordon (2002) with the 17th pick. The five players combined to play 2,530 career NHL games and 1,220 games with Washington, led by Hatcher’s 1,157 career games and 685 games in a Capitals sweater. Hatcher’s 149 goals rank second in franchise history among defensemen, while his 277 assists and 426 points rank fourth. Notable players selected with the 17th overall pick in the last 12 NHL Drafts include Tomas Hertl (San Jose, 2012), Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia, 2014), Kyle Connor (Winnipeg, 2015), Dante Fabbro (Nashville, 2016) and Timothy Liljegren (Toronto, 2017).
5 Top-100 Picks – The Capitals own five picks (17th overall, 52nd overall, 82nd overall, 83rd overall, 90th overall) in the top 100 for the first time since 2008. Among the players taken with Washington’s first five picks in 2008 were defenseman John Carlson (27th overall) and goaltender Braden Holtby (93rd overall). Carlson is the franchise’s all-time leader among defensemen in games played (1,009), goals (151), assists (523) and points (674), while Holtby ranks first in save percentage (.916) and goals-against average (2.53) (min. 200 GP), tied for first in shutouts (35) and second in games played (468), games started (458) and wins (282). Both Carlson and Holtby won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018. The Capitals had six picks in the top 100 in 2006, where they selected Nicklas Backstrom (4th overall), Semyon Varlamov (23rd overall) and Michal Neuvirth (34th overall), and seven top-100 picks in 2004, including Alex Ovechkin (1st overall), Jeff Schultz (27th overall) and Mike Green (29th overall).
First Rounders – Three of Washington’s recent first-round picks – Connor McMichael (2019), Hendrix Lapierre (2020) and Ivan Miroshnichenko (2022) – all appeared in games with the Capitals during the 2023-24 season. McMichael (18g-15a–33p in 80 GP) and Lapierre (8g-14a–22p in 51 GP) each set NHL single-season career highs in points and games played, while Miroshnichenko (2g-4a–6p) appeared in 21 games, including his NHL debut on Dec. 20, 2023. The trio appeared in 19 regular season games together and in Game 3 of Washington’s First Round playoff series against the New York Rangers.
Homegrown – Fourteen Capitals draft picks appeared in games with Washington last season (Alex Alexeyev, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Martin Fehervary, Vincent Iorio, Lucas Johansen, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Hendrix Lapierre, Beck Malenstyn, Connor McMichael, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Alex Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson). Capitals draftees accounted for 50.4 percent of the team’s goals, 51.9 percent of the team’s assists and 51.4 percent of the team’s points in 2023-24.
Calder Cup Champs – Four Hershey Bears that were dressed for the series-clinching Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals are Capitals draft picks: Hendrix Lapierre (2020 Draft, 1st rd, 22nd overall), Ivan Miroshnichenko (2022 Draft, 1st rd, 20th overall), Bogdan Trineyev (2020 Draft, 4th rd, 117th overall) and Chase Priskie (2016 Draft, 6th rd, 177th overall). Two others, Vincent Iorio (2021 Draft, 2nd rd, 55th overall) and Lucas Johansen (2016 Draft, 1st rd, 28th overall), were regular contributors for the Bears before suffering injuries during the Calder Cup Playoffs. Lapierre was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Calder Cup Playoffs MVP after leading all skaters with 22 points (7g, 15a) in 20 games. Lapierre, a two-time Calder Cup champion, recorded a team-high seven points (3g, 4a) in six games during the Calder Cup Finals against Coachella Valley. Miroshnichenko recorded 12 points (7g, 5a) in 20 playoff games, ranking tied for second in goals and tied for third in points among AHL rookies.
20 Years of Ovi – The 2024 NHL Draft marks the 20th anniversary of the Capitals selecting Alex Ovechkin with the first overall pick in 2004. Ovechkin, who will enter the 2024-25 season 42 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for first place on the NHL’s all-time goals list, has the most goals by a No. 1 overall pick in League history. In addition, Ovechkin’s 1,426 games played with Washington are the second most by a No. 1 overall pick with the team that drafted them (Mike Modano: 1,459 GP w/ MNS/ DAL) and he is one of 13 No. 1 overall picks to win the Stanley Cup with their drafted team.
