BALLSTON – The Capitals made promising selections at this year’s 2016 NHL Entry Draft, selecting Lucas Johansen in the first round and plenty of other strong performing players to follow. One of their most unique selections came in the fifth round, when Washington selected centre Beck Malenstyn 145th overall.
Extremely honored and excited to be apart of the @Capitals organization!
— Beck Malenstyn (@malenstyn) June 25, 2016
Moving Up the Levels
The 18-year-old centre is a product of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. In 70 games with the Hitmen this season, Malenstyn racked up 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists), as well as 47 penalty minutes.
Malenstyn spent this past week at Washington’s Development Camp, and so far, he has seen the experience as different from his time in the WHL.
“You know what, I think it’s just the speed and quickness out there,” Malenstyn said. “Obviously, it gets faster and faster as you go up through the levels, but it’s super exciting to be out there.”
The Capitals’ prospect is a two-way forward notable for his physicality and grit. He is someone who fights for position and finishes his checks. Most of his scoring comes from his ability to get into position and crash the net, and that will be useful within the Capitals’ depth system.
Despite the differences he has seen in his time at camp, he has also seen familiar faces from the WHL in the locker room. For Malenstyn, this makes the NHL Development Camp experience a bit more comforting.
“For sure, you definitely feel a bit more comfortable that way,” Malenstyn said. “You know, lots of the guys, we play with and against all the time, so it’s definitely nice to have some familiar faces around.”
From B.C. to D.C.
For the White Rock, British Columbia native, Washington, D.C. has been the perfect location, not just because of the hockey, but the city as well.
“It’s been beautiful,” Malenstyn said. “You know, this is my first time here so I didn’t really know what to expect. My grandparents are from the States, so I had a little bit of a picture coming into it, but yeah, no, it’s phenomenal.”
On his bucket list, Malenstyn wanted to see the monuments that D.C. is famous for, and he got to do that on Friday.
Washington’s fifth-round selection called it “a really cool experience for a Canadian kid, to walk around” and see the historic sites that the city had to offer.
The Little Things
At the end of the day, Malenstyn believes that Capitals’ camp has helped him pick up on more when it comes to offense, as well as the smaller picture.
“I think it’s just those little details,” he said. “You know, we’ve worked a lot on the offensive side of the game, coming in and out of the corners and things like that, getting shots off quick. So yeah, just stuff I wanted to work on in the off-season anyway, so it’s nice to continue to work on that here.”
