There are only two things to look forward to in the summer – one is NHL free agency, the other is the NHL draft, which thankfully is coming up soon. June 28 and 29, to be exact, when the Washington Capitals will hit the draft floor with (for now) eight picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, including #17 in the first round.
With that in mind, let’s start looking at some players that could be available at for the Caps to pick in the first round, kicking things off with some long shots.
Every draft, there seems to be a couple of players that fall below where they probably should, and end up as a steal for a team picking later. Matvei Michkov (7th), Zach Benson (12th) and Gabe Perreault (23rd) from last year’s draft are great examples. So here are three guys who could (but probably won’t) fall to the Caps at 17…because you never know.
(Scouting reports and profiles courtesy of EliteProspect, The Athletic, Scouching, McKeen Hockey, NHL Draft Pros, and Hockey Prospecting.)
Cole Eiserman, LW
- 6’0” 196lbs
- 17yo 8/29/06
- NTDP: 57GP – 58G – 31A
- USHL: 24GP – 25G – 9A

The Good: Eiserman does the hardest and most important thing in hockey at an elite level: scoring goals. He’s a snipe machine who has one of the best releases I’ve seen in a while. Outside of Connor Bedard or Auston Matthews, he might have the best release the last 10+ years in my opinion. To be honest, he reminds me a whole lot of Alexander Semin and his ability to not just receive the puck from any position but then to release it in any position. The puck can be too far ahead of him, too much behind him, in his feet, anywhere and he can corral it and effortlessly release it bar in or by the goalie’s ear.
Cole doesn’t have the quickest first couple steps, though not bad, but once he gets going he has some really good speed, which helps him get to dangerous areas for scoring chances. He’s also an above-average passer – not elite, but good enough that if teams cheat him because of his shot, he can get passes through to the open man for a high danger chance.
Maybe the best part about all of this is he’s incredibly young. He was about two weeks away from having to be eligible for next year’s draft. That means he has more time to improve across the board.
The Bad: As is the case with a lot of elite goal-scoring wingers, Eiserman isn’t the strongest defensively. He can show effort but it just isn’t there consistently. As usual, however, any time you hear about a player being bad defensively, it’s always something they can be taught as they move up in their respective leagues. It certainly isn’t so bad that you don’t think it’s fixable or will be a net negative with his offensive skill. The NCAA should be a tremendous league for him to get stronger and improve his two way game.
As I mentioned above, he is an above average passer, but the issue is he simply doesn’t pass enough. He’ll often shoot way more than pass, which is understandable with his shot, but sometimes he’ll shoot pucks from the wall or from a distance with no screen, so they become easy saves for the goalies. Cole needs to realize, even if it isn’t a great scoring chance for his linemate, he needs to dish off the puck to live another day, then use his ability to find those dangerous areas to create a new scoring chance.
Caps Take: The Caps really need a potential first-line center (preferably a playmaker) or a potential number one defensemen (preferably offensive) in their system, but those are very hard to find outside of the top 10. Next-best option would be a winger, and Eiserman is about the best you can find in this year’s class. A future of forwards involving Eiserman, Ryan Leonard, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Andrew Cristall on the wings with Ryan Strome, Hendrix Lapierre or Connor McMichael up the middle would be a pretty potent top-six in the NHL. The Caps will still need a number-one center, but those wingers might be so talented a 1B like Strome could work. Again, chances Eiserman falls are slim, but teams have been souring on him because of his play away from the puck, so maybe that continues into the draft.
Carter Yakemchuk, RHD
- 6’3” 194lbs
- 18yo 9/29/05
- WHL: 66GP – 30G – 41A

The Good: Carter is a big boy who plays physical but also has some slick hands, good vision and an absolute ripper of a shot. He almost reminds me of John Carlson in that way. He scored 30 goals this season, most ever by a draft-eligible WHL defensemen in the last 20 years. The Caps were one of the worst teams in the league this past season in goals from defensemen so adding someone like Yakemchuk would be a breath of fresh air.
In the offensive zone, Carter is a machine. He has the shot but also has the vision and passing ability to make himself a legit dual offensive threat. He can win puck battles with his size, see an opportunity for a prime scoring chance to dish it off or to rip it on net, or deke around a guy and give himself even more options. His wrister is hard and accurate and his slapper is an absolute bomb.
Defensively, Carter is not great, but his physical play can stop a lot of chances along the wall or even in the open ice. And once he gets the puck he has a laser outlet pass to start things going the other way. If he can make some better decisions in his own end, knowing when to attack or step back, he could easily become, at the very least average defensively, which is perfectly fine when he’s so elite offensively. Again, sounds a lot like Carlson.
The Bad: While Eiserman is one of the younger players available, Carter is at the other end of the spectrum and was two weeks away from being in last year’s draft. Any time you see a big player who’s also on the older end, it’s always a concern that they could just be punching below their weight. Can Carter keep up the same offensive prowess at the next level or is he just thriving because he can manhandle players physically because they are younger/smaller/etc.? That’s something teams will need to guess on before drafting him.
It also doesn’t help that he takes a ton of penalties. Only five players had more than 100 penalty minutes last season and he was one of them, ranking third out of the bunch with 120. Just taking penalties isn’t too big a deal but to take that many, even if they would be for good reasons, isn’t great. This means he’s making dumb plays that are putting his team in dangerous situations both before and after the penalty. If he’s letting that happen at the junior level, it could multiply the more difficult leagues he plays in going forward. Hopefully, this is just a one season thing, because the year before he only took 31 PIMs in one extra game too.
Caps Take: You know how I mentioned above the Caps need a number one defensemen, preferably an offensive one? Well, Carter might be your answer. Even if he doesn’t turn into the number-one guy, the Caps still desperately need offense from their back end. Carlson only has a few more years in him as the offensive guy, after that there’s really only Rasmus Sandin in the system who can deal out points from the backend. A big right-shot, offensively gifted defensemen is probably not escaping the top 10 – but of all the best defensemen in this draft he’s noted as probably the last taken.
Konsta Helenius, C
- 5’11” 181lbs
- 18yo 5/11/06
- Liiga: 51GP – 14G – 22A

The Good: Helenius is a complete package center who is thriving in Finaland’s top league. He’s a great skater who uses that skill at both ends of the ice well. He backchecks and chases down his man in his own zone, and once he helps get the puck back he’s able to make a beautiful outlet pass to get the puck up the ice or use his skating to get it out himself. He goes strong into the forecheck and despite his small frame is still able to win a lot of puck battles. His IQ is his best asset as he always knows what to do and where to be. Mixing that IQ with his effort and average to above average skill sets, makes him a great play driver.
He has a great shot, though he could work on his accuracy. Still, he gets to the right places and if he continues to do that with his speed he’ll get close enough that accuracy won’t be a huge problem. His best offensive talent, though, is his playmaking. I don’t know if I would call it top-tier elite but when you mix it with his speed and shot he can create a lot with his vision.
Another positive for Helenius is that, like Eiserman, he is quite young. He’ll only have turned 18 a month ago. The fact he’s putting up solid numbers in a men’s league is encouraging, even more so after realizing just how young he is. If he was born even eight months earlier how much better could he have been?
The Bad: There’s not truly anything bad about Helenius’ game but you could argue that lack of true elite abilities might keep him from being a top line center. I’d argue he could still be one, though, since he’s so reliable at both ends of the ice as well. Will he ever hit 80 points? Probably not, but he could flirt around 70 and be a very reliable, speedy, do-it-all center – think a Roope Hintz-type, or Sebastian Aho. He outpaced Aho’s Liiga draft season (30GP – 13PTS) as well. But I think at the very least you’ll get a player like Artturi Lehkonen, who is an elite possession forward that every team needs.
Caps Take: The Caps need a potential number-one center in their system, and while Helenius isn’t a sure thing, he does have that potential and at worst could just be a very good reliable second line center. Caps don’t really need that with Dylan Strome, Hendrix Lapierre, and Connor McMichael on the team, but it can’t hurt to have, especially if any of those three leave the team at some point before Helenius is ready to make the jump.
…but this is also wishful thinking since the Caps haven’t drafted a Finnish player in nearly 20 years. Maybe they can finally change that.
So yes, realistically, none of these players will probably drop to 17 – but if one of them does start to fall out of the top 10, the Caps could move up in the draft to snag one. The Caps do have five first- or second-round picks between this year and next year’s draft. If a team wanted to add some good draft capital just for moving 3-4 spots back, the Caps could take advantage.