A look at the start of a new youth movement for the aging Caps
7 – The number of players on the Capitals’ 2021-22 opening roster that are 25 or younger, with rookies Hendrix Lapierre (19), Connor McMichael (20), Martin Fehervary (22), Beck Malenstyn (23) joining Daniel Sprong (24), Ilya Samsonov (24) and Vitek Vanecek (25).
That marks the first time since 2015-16 that the Caps have had as many youngsters on their opening roster – a time when that group included John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Tom Wilson (along with former Caps Andre Burakovsky, Michael Latta, Nate Schmidt and Marcus Johansson).
With his pending start tonight, Lapierre also becomes the 19th player in franchise history to make his NHL debut on opening night as a teenager.