Washington Capitals 5 Notable Washington Capitals Who Went Undrafted

Some of the best hockey players to ever lace up the skates in the NHL were undrafted into the league. One of the most famous players who was never drafted and became a Hockey Hall of Famer is winger Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Some other examples around the league for solid players who were not drafted include Ed Belfour, Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Marchessault, Torey Krug, Mark Giordano, Curtis Joseph, and John Madden among others. Some of these undrafted talents once donned the sweater of the Washington Capitals too. Ranked are the top five undrafted players who have played for the D.C. franchise.

The best accomplishment for the forward from Calgary, Alberta native Beagle was being a part of Washington’s first Stanley Cup championship in 2018. During that postseason, he scored two goals and accrued six assists for eight points in 23 games. Following 2017-18, Beagle became a free agent and signed with the Vancouver Canucks. He played there for three campaigns, before he suited up for his last NHL season with the Arizona Coyotes in 2021-22. Beagle retired from the league having played in 646 games. In that span, he scored 58 goals and tallied 86 assists for a total of 144 points.

2.) Adam Oates

The Washington Capitals had an assist machine when they had Adam Oates on their team. He was more known for his playing time with the Boston Bruins, but he spent quite a few seasons in D.C. too. He came to the Capitals by trade in the middle of the 1996-97 season. Washington acquired Oates from the Bruins, along with goalie Bill Ranford and forward Rick Tocchet. In exchange, the Bruins received Jason Allison, Anson Carter, Jim Carey, a third-round pick in 1997, and a conditional second-round pick in 1998.

3.) Dino Ciccarelli

Dino Ciccarelli originally played for the Minnesota North Stars. He was part of a blockbuster trade that saw him go to the Washington Capitals. The full deal was Ciccarelli and defenseman Bob Rouse to the Capitals for forward Mike Gartner and blueliner Larry Murphy. Ciccarelli had played with the North Stars for parts of nine campaigns. During his time in Minnesota, he scored at least 30 goals in seven of those seasons, scored at least 40 in four seasons, and got 50+ in both the 1981-82 and 1986-87 seasons. He was a superstar in the league.

4.) Jeff Halpern

Forward Jeff Halpern had a solid college hockey run with Princeton University. This included his campaign in 1997-98, when he scored 28 goals and notched 25 assists for 53 points in 36 games. This helped land him a contract as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Capitals. The player from Potomac, Maryland debuted for the club during the 1999-2000 NHL season. He scored 18 goals and provided 11 assists for a total of 29 points in 79 games.

5.) Jay Beagle

Jay Beagle spent the majority of his career as a member of the Washington Capitals. He was a significant part of their bottom six forward group, and played for the team for parts of 10 seasons. He debuted for the franchise in the 2008-09, where he suited up for three games and registered no points. Not really known for his offensive production, his career high in points came in 2016-17. In 81 games for the Capitals, Beagle scored 13 goals and provided 17 assists for 30 points. Beagle did not need to be relied on for scoring though. Other teammates like Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Evgeny Kuznetsov took care of the scoring more. Beagle, meanwhile, provided solid stability in the forward lineup through some tough series.