Washington Prospect Update
(11-12-08) Washington Post -
The Washington Capitals are on top of most of the league; 5th place. Many believe the days of having a spectacular farm are numbered, but not this General Manager. Sviland sat down with us today to talk about a few prospects that many dont know a lot about.
Reporter: Hello GM Sviland, you ready?
Sviland: Definitely, lets discuss.
Reporter: You recently had Oscar Moller make a impact on your roster, making the roster out of camp. How has this helped your club?
Sviland: Oscar is a phenominal talent. He does everything average or better and majority of the things he does is on the better end. He's got phenominal instincts all over the ice, a very sound two-way game at the age of 19 already and he's got a great offensive instinct. He does not mind going into traffic areas and a few of his points have come from around the opposition's crease area. He made our club through hard work and determination, we expect him to flourish this year and by December/Janruary he should really start to take off offensively. I talked to Brian Bruke of the Anaehim Ducks and he was upset his club did not get a shot at him. He went off the record to say "Osmar Moller is a phenominal talent and if my club see's him on a nightly basis, he is going to hurt us big time."
Reporter: This sounds promising. Who else does the public underrate in your system?
Sviland: The one that stands out the most is Andrei Loktionov. We heard he was working out with Igot Larionov over the summer and heard a lot of similar qualities in his game so you would find in any finesse, highly skilled playmaking forward. He has a natural sense of offense along with a NHL style game. He was a late send down to start the season and so far he's been phenominal; plotting 18 points in 17 games. Most say its because he plays on Windsor, which is stacked; but when you watch the kid, the coach is high on him. He plays more PP time sometimes then guys like Ellis and Hall, which is amazing for a young European kid that is just learning the NA game.
Reporter: Andrei could make the club soon huh?
Sviland: He almost made it this year; he could easily make it next year if his development contines.
Reporter: Who else are you extremely high on that no one else knows about?
Sviland: How about Engenvi Dadonov. The kid is playing great hockey. Not only is he a young player, but he's been in the RSL/KHL playing against men for three years now. he just led the U-20 Nations tournament in scoring and is going to be Russian's potentially top player at the WJC U-20 tourament next month. He wants to play in the NHL and could be another dark-horse to make the NHL next year.
Reporter: Tell us about him.
Sviland: Well, Dads is a typical Russian. He has great puck handling and skating stride. He's on the smalelr side (5'10) but he knows how to ditch a oncoming check perfectly. He does have some weakensses on the defensive side, but that is something we can teach. You cannot teach a kid creativity, vision and offensive instincts and he has all of them.
Reporter: What plan is next?
Sviland: Well, we are starting to send some scouts out to watch some 2009 draftees, and we are currently watching the development of a few players. Jonathan Ericsson is beyond NHL ready and we expect him to make our roster for sure next season. Casey Borer and Mike Weber should recieve NHL call up duty this year if injuries progress around the league and we see them as very responsible players too. Kris Chuko has finally gotten his game going, which we are pleasently suprised with. Dan Ryder is back playing, regardless of his slow start the kid has some real talent and we, as you can see, are a patient group. We will not make the same mistakes at letting real talent go as we did with Jason Pominville, Andy McDonald, David Booth, and Tobby Enstrom.
Reporter: If you could tell me a little about Kaspar, most people dont realize his problem.
Sviland: We really dont know either. We had faith in him at the draft to develope his game but he has yet to keep up his end of the bargin. He has a offensive game, but does not fit every teams style of play. Maybe he does not fit outs, maybe he does. We are waiting for him, like Alex Picard, but time could be running out.
Reporter: What is the state of the union address about goaltending?
Sviland: We realize our team is extremely weak at the goalie position and we are looking into signing a few guys. We recently had one kid signed by a rival club so we need to do some more careful scouting and snag one.
Reporter: What moves are you looking to make?
Sviland: We are thinking about adding another top 6 forward. We made a few proposals but no one is biting right now. We might just wait for those clubs to start dropping and make another offer soon. We are in 5th place right now with the guys we have so were really in no position to do something "out of the ordinary". We actually are a little upset with the way one proposal went down the past week with another manager. We thought we made a strong offer but he turned around and sent our guy to a rival for less; we will now be eliminating talks with him now and in the future.
Reporter: Ok, well Ken we want to Thank you for your time and hope your season continues to progress better then expected.
Sviland: Thanks a mill. We hope so too.
The Washington Capitals are on top of most of the league; 5th place. Many believe the days of having a spectacular farm are numbered, but not this General Manager. Sviland sat down with us today to talk about a few prospects that many dont know a lot about.
Reporter: Hello GM Sviland, you ready?
Sviland: Definitely, lets discuss.
Reporter: You recently had Oscar Moller make a impact on your roster, making the roster out of camp. How has this helped your club?
Sviland: Oscar is a phenominal talent. He does everything average or better and majority of the things he does is on the better end. He's got phenominal instincts all over the ice, a very sound two-way game at the age of 19 already and he's got a great offensive instinct. He does not mind going into traffic areas and a few of his points have come from around the opposition's crease area. He made our club through hard work and determination, we expect him to flourish this year and by December/Janruary he should really start to take off offensively. I talked to Brian Bruke of the Anaehim Ducks and he was upset his club did not get a shot at him. He went off the record to say "Osmar Moller is a phenominal talent and if my club see's him on a nightly basis, he is going to hurt us big time."
Reporter: This sounds promising. Who else does the public underrate in your system?
Sviland: The one that stands out the most is Andrei Loktionov. We heard he was working out with Igot Larionov over the summer and heard a lot of similar qualities in his game so you would find in any finesse, highly skilled playmaking forward. He has a natural sense of offense along with a NHL style game. He was a late send down to start the season and so far he's been phenominal; plotting 18 points in 17 games. Most say its because he plays on Windsor, which is stacked; but when you watch the kid, the coach is high on him. He plays more PP time sometimes then guys like Ellis and Hall, which is amazing for a young European kid that is just learning the NA game.
Reporter: Andrei could make the club soon huh?
Sviland: He almost made it this year; he could easily make it next year if his development contines.
Reporter: Who else are you extremely high on that no one else knows about?
Sviland: How about Engenvi Dadonov. The kid is playing great hockey. Not only is he a young player, but he's been in the RSL/KHL playing against men for three years now. he just led the U-20 Nations tournament in scoring and is going to be Russian's potentially top player at the WJC U-20 tourament next month. He wants to play in the NHL and could be another dark-horse to make the NHL next year.
Reporter: Tell us about him.
Sviland: Well, Dads is a typical Russian. He has great puck handling and skating stride. He's on the smalelr side (5'10) but he knows how to ditch a oncoming check perfectly. He does have some weakensses on the defensive side, but that is something we can teach. You cannot teach a kid creativity, vision and offensive instincts and he has all of them.
Reporter: What plan is next?
Sviland: Well, we are starting to send some scouts out to watch some 2009 draftees, and we are currently watching the development of a few players. Jonathan Ericsson is beyond NHL ready and we expect him to make our roster for sure next season. Casey Borer and Mike Weber should recieve NHL call up duty this year if injuries progress around the league and we see them as very responsible players too. Kris Chuko has finally gotten his game going, which we are pleasently suprised with. Dan Ryder is back playing, regardless of his slow start the kid has some real talent and we, as you can see, are a patient group. We will not make the same mistakes at letting real talent go as we did with Jason Pominville, Andy McDonald, David Booth, and Tobby Enstrom.
Reporter: If you could tell me a little about Kaspar, most people dont realize his problem.
Sviland: We really dont know either. We had faith in him at the draft to develope his game but he has yet to keep up his end of the bargin. He has a offensive game, but does not fit every teams style of play. Maybe he does not fit outs, maybe he does. We are waiting for him, like Alex Picard, but time could be running out.
Reporter: What is the state of the union address about goaltending?
Sviland: We realize our team is extremely weak at the goalie position and we are looking into signing a few guys. We recently had one kid signed by a rival club so we need to do some more careful scouting and snag one.
Reporter: What moves are you looking to make?
Sviland: We are thinking about adding another top 6 forward. We made a few proposals but no one is biting right now. We might just wait for those clubs to start dropping and make another offer soon. We are in 5th place right now with the guys we have so were really in no position to do something "out of the ordinary". We actually are a little upset with the way one proposal went down the past week with another manager. We thought we made a strong offer but he turned around and sent our guy to a rival for less; we will now be eliminating talks with him now and in the future.
Reporter: Ok, well Ken we want to Thank you for your time and hope your season continues to progress better then expected.
Sviland: Thanks a mill. We hope so too.
posted by Washington Post at 7:58 AM
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