5) Cole Hutson LHD
Age: 19
2024-2025 season (NCAA): 39GP, 14-34-48
2024-2025 season (WJC): 7GP, 3-8-11
All eyes were on Cole this season, seeing if he could live up to what big brother Lane did in his first collegiate year (also at Boston University). Well, Cole literally put up the same amount of points in the same amount of games as Lane and it’s worth noting that Cole was 4.5 months younger than when Lane put up those points. Cole also got to the NCAA Finals but lost to the dynamo Western Michigan. Cole’s season wasn’t totally lost, of course, as he won gold with Team USA at the World Juniors, putting up 11 points in the process to lead the whole tournament… as a defensemen. It was the first time that has ever happened in the tournament’s history and the first time a defenseman has led Team USA in points.
Hutson decided to go back to college for a second year, like his brother, so the hope is after another strong season where he hopefully takes home a national title as well as another gold at the WJC, he will sign with the Caps. The question is will he instantly jump into the NHL like his brother (who just won the Calder Memorial Trophy for best rookie) or if he’ll go to Hershey. The Caps are very deep on the left side of their defense so they can let Hutson cook if they want. Either way, Caps have a legit defensive prospect on their hands with top pairing ability.
4) Ivan Miroshnichenko LW/RW
Age: 21
2024-2025 season (NHL): 18GP, 1-3-4
2024-2025 season (AHL): 53GP, 23-19-42
Our favorite goofy Russian prospect had a good season last year. Miro has been improving in the AHL over the last three seasons, which is always a good sign, though there’s certainly something to be said about his defensive game, but overall, he’s improving what his strengths are: his shot, passing and offensive brain. He didn’t look far out of place while in the NHL either. He put up a solid 52.37xGF% while getting only 27.08% of offensive zone starts because he was playing with the fourth line. He proved he could physically hold his own in the NHL. The next step for Miro is getting into a top-nine situation, proving his offensive worth, and holding onto it.
The issue is, will he get a shot in the top nine? The Caps are very deep at wing currently, with a spot only opening up in the top nine if McMichael moves to third-line center. If he doesn’t then all top nine spots are taken (Ovechkin, Wilson, Protas, McMichael, Leonard, Beauvillier), so Miroshnichenko could be forced to play in the AHL again next season, which isn’t the worst thing in the world. He’s still only 21 and still has more to learn; from a mental standpoint, though, it will probably be frustrating for Miro, who seems to be just about ready for the NHL. He has a possible future as a top-six scoring winger that can get you possibly 30 goals a season, but at the very least should settle into a middle-six scoring winger, a very important depth piece for contending teams.
3) Ryan Leonard RW
Age: 20
2024-2025 season (NHL): 9GP, 1-0-1
2024-2025 season (NCAA): 37GP, 30-19-49
2024-2025 season (WJC): 7GP, 5-5-10
Leonard had a strong NCAA season, though not as good as the year before, then won gold at the World Juniors and made his NHL debut. That’s a hell of a year for the kid. He didn’t produce a lot at the NHL level but it’s a lot to ask for a kid to come in and instantly be offensively impactful. It’s also worth noting Leonard was put on Lars Eller’s wing, who, though he’s reliable, is not offensively potent at all in his career so Leonard didn’t have a lot to work with. Still, Leonard put up a strong 57.29xGF% in his nine regular season games and a 55.44xGF% in his eight playoff games. He was not coddled either, getting a lot of defensive zone starts.
With a full summer behind him and his first glimpse at the NHL under his belt, expect Leonard to have a strong season this upcoming year. No more college or world junior tournaments, it’s just the NHL. How offensively potent he’ll be in his first full year remains to be seen, but it’s likely he hits around 35 points -which is perfectly fine with the most likely third line minutes he’ll receive. That said, it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising if he shattered those numbers, especially if he can force his way into the top-six and/or get some power play time. The future is bright for this kid and the rest of the league is going to hate it.
2) Connor McMichael C/W
Age: 24
2024-205 season (NHL): 82GP, 26-31-57
McMichael had a huge leap production-wise last season. His career high was the previous season with 33 points; he topped that by 24 points last season, and passed his previous goal total by eight goals. He and Aliaksei Protas surprised the league by coming in and cementing themselves as young, highly skilled top six players and the Caps desperately needed that. Without them they are nowhere near first in the East.
Like Protas, it’s now up to McMichael to continue developing and sticking in the top six. What’s interesting is the front office has mentioned McMichael possibly moving to third-line center, which McMichael seems to be okay with (although his agent may not be happy about, going into a contract year, as McMichael would likely produce more in a top-six winger position than as the team’s 3C). Either way, look for McMichael to play his heart out for a new contract this season.
1) Aliaksei Protas C/W
Age: 24
2024-2025 season (NHL): 76GP, 30-36-66
Like McMichael, what a glow-up season for the big man! Protas has always had the ability to be a top-six player; it was just a matter of putting it all together, combining the elite hockey IQ and passing ability he’s always had while growing into his frame and learning how to use it. And with Protas’ skating ability vastly improving (he was in the 91% percentile in skating speed last year according to NHL Edge) he is a near complete package of a player. He truly is a unicorn player.
The question now is, can he keep up this type of play or was last season just a fluke? He did shoot 21.1% (8th among players that played more than 40 games), which is not sustainable, so it’s unlikely (although not impossible) that he hits 30 goals again…unless he has morphed into a sniper or starts shooting the puck more. Still, even with shooting regression, you could probably bank on Protas being a consistent 60+ point player with his skillset, and potentially even getting to an 80-point year at some point – but a 60-point base is still amazing for a third-round pick, and anything more is icing on the cake.