The Washington Capitals are hoping that Ivan Miroshnichenko takes the next step in his development after a successful time last season with the Hershey Bears and a good look in D.C. In fact, the team is confident that he can turn into a 25-30 goal scorer once he graduates to the NHL.
Sammi Silber of The Hockey News writes there are definitely high hopes in the air for the Russian forward. He recorded six points in 21 NHL games and gained valuable experience. Then in the AHL he tore it up with the Hershsy Bears and as a result would play multiple roles within the team.
Miroshnichenko finished with 25 points in 47 regular season games with the Bears and in the Calder Cup run added seven goals and five assists through 20 playoff games. It was their second straight Calder Cup.
It won't be easy for the 20 year old to make the roster right out of training camp. He faces some stiff competition as the Caps welcome Pierre-Luc Dubois, andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddyish in addition to Jakub Vrana who was signed recently on a PTO.
But the good news for the young Russian is he already has a vote of cofidence from Spencer Carbery, saying in an interview with NHL.com's Tom Gulitti that he wanted the forward to develop into a top point producer at the highest level and play a much bigger role rather than limited minutes with the Caps.
""We would like to see Miro become a quality, well-rounded player, but also someone that can produce in the NHL and can be a potential 25-30 goal scorer. So you want to make sure we're taking the necessary steps to enable that inside of him and not putting him in a scenario where he's playing 10 minutes and playing on the fourth line.""
- Carbery to Gulitti
It's up to Miro to show the coaching staff and the teammates that he has what it takes to graduate from prospect status to NHL status. It won't be easy but that's the joy that comes with training camp.
The Caps open the preseason on September 22nd against the Philadelphia Flyers at 3 p.m. in a Sunday afternoon matinee at Capital One Arena. Training camp should begin a few days prior to that.
