Lucas Johansen

Selected with the 28th pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the 21-year-old defenseman has been a solid producer in his major junior time posting 17 goals, 98 points, and a plus-54 rating in 202 games with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets. The younger brother of Nashville Predators center Ryan Johansen is likely to spend the balance of 2016-17 with AHL Hershey where he can continue to get plenty of ice time to further his development. A strong training camp performance, however, might give him a look at the NHL ranks sooner than later. Although he has all the tools needed to be a productive offensive defenseman at the NHL level, he remains a "watch and see" candidate in the short term.

Although he’s never lived up to his billing as a first-round pick in 2009, Johansson’s become a consistent second-line presence for the Caps over the past several seasons, and he signed a three-year contract in July to ensure he’ll continue holding down the No. 2 left wing role behind Alex Ovechkin. In each of the NHL’s last four full seasons, the Swedish winger’s finished with a point total in the mid-40s, with the past three campaigns factoring a healthy portion of power-play production into that mix. Never a voluminous shooter, he’s more of a playmaker than a goal scorer, but Johansson found twine when it counted last year – seven of his 17 goals were of the game-winning variety. And at 25 years old, he still has room to grow his game as well as the opportunity to do so alongside a budding superstar in second-line center Evgeny Kuznetsov.