The Washington Capitals start the 2024-25 season preparation on Friday, September 13, with the beginning of their rookie camp. The Capitals announced earlier Wednesday the full list of rookies who will be participating in the four-day event. The entire camp is open to the public and will be free of charge. It takes place at McMullen Hockey Arena in Annapolis, Maryland. Each day for camp, there will be goalie ice that takes place starting at 10:30 AM. Then, there will be a full practice from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. There will also be media availability after each practice. With all that being said, the team has mentioned all of the rookies taking part.
Rookie Camp Forwards
Leading the way on offense for the rookie camp is 2024 first-round draft pick Terik Parascak. Joining him from that draft class includes Ilya Protas and Eriks Mateiko. For those who do not know, Ilya Protas is the younger brother of Capitals forward Aliaksei. The Capitals drafted him in the third round with the 75th overall pick.
Other forwards in the camp lineup are Andrew Cristall, Zac Funk, Jeremy Davidson, Alexander Suzdalev, Brett Hyland, Kyler Kupka, Oasiz Wiesblatt, Tyler Weiss, and Patrick Thomas. Cristall was Washington’s second-round pick (40th overall) from the 2023 NHL Draft. He played the 2023-24 campaign with the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League (WHL). He had 40 goals and 71 assists for 111 points in 62 games. Zac Funk used to play with Parascak on the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
Rookie Camp Defense and Goaltending
The defensive group for the camp includes Leon Muggli, who Washington selected in the second round (52nd overall pick) in the 2024 NHL Draft. Muggli played the 2023-24 campaign for EV Zug of the National League in Switzerland. In 42 games, he had three goals and nine assists for 12 points.
Also included on the blue line for the rookie camp are Cam Allen, Hudson Thornton, Ayodele Adeniye, and Jayden Lee. Hudson Thornton played with both Parascak and Funk on the Prince George Cougars. Cam Allen was drafted by the Capitals as a fifth-round selection (136th overall) in 2023. He suited up last season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Guelph Storm. He wore an “A” on his sweater for the club, and scored two goals while providing seven assists for nine points in 25 games. He also played in four postseason games for the Storm, not registering a point in any of them.
Between the pipes, the Capitals have three goalies suiting up for this. They are Garin Bjorklund, Seth Eisele, and Collin MacKenzie. Bjorklund was drafted by Washington in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. Last season, he played in the ECHL for the South Carolina Stingrays. Bjorklund posted a record of 14-11-1 in 27 games played. He had a goals against average (GAA) of 3.33 and a save percentage (SV%) of .882.
