It’s no secret that winning the Stanley Cup isn’t easy, even for a first-round pick. In fact, at least one franchise hasn’t drafted even a single player who has gone on to have his name engraved on the holiest of hockey grails (perhaps an indication as to who might win tomorrow night’s winner-take-all Game 7). All of which raises the question, some version of which we always pose in these parts – how have the Caps fared in this regard?
Obviously the franchise has never picked a player who won the Cup for the team by whom he was drafted, but having made 377 draft picks in their history, at least a handful had to have gone on and had their names engraved on Lord Stanley’s chalice, right?
Sure enough – six Caps draftees (or 1.59%) have been a part of at least one Cup-winning team. Here’s the list:
| Player | Drafted | Stanley Cup Wins (Team, Year) |
| Scott Stevens | 5th, 1982 | 3 (New Jersey, 1994-95, 1999-2000, 2002-03) |
| Tim Taylor | 36th, 1988 | 2 (Detroit, 1996-97; Tampa Bay, 2003-04) |
| Bobby Carpenter | 3rd, 1981 | 1 (New Jersey, 1994-95) |
| Rick Green | 1st, 1976 | 1 (Montreal, 1985-86) |
| Ryan Walter | 2nd, 1978 | 1 (Montreal, 1985-86) |
| Mats Hallin | 105th, 1978 | 1 (New York Islanders, 1982-83) |
Bringing it back to the here-and-now, Sergei Gonchar has a chance to add his name to this list tomorrow night with a Pittsburgh win.
I don’t know about you, but I’m comfortable waiting until names like Ovechkin, Backstrom, Alzner and others can be added en masse, even if that 1.59% drops a bit in the interim.
Update: One more stat for you, and it’s a more encouraging one – four of the nine top-five selections the Caps made prior to taking Alex Ovechkin first overall in 2004 went on to win the Cup at least once. The ball’s in your court, Alex, Nick and Karl.