With the NHL draft beginning this Friday evening, the Capitals must be excited to possess the fifth overall pick. That high pick gives them a chance to add one more skilled young prospect to a corps of young talent that includes First Team All Star Alexander Ovechkin, hard-shooting winger Alexander Semin and enough other good young players to get their top minor league affiliate to the last two AHL finals.

One player likely to slip back to the fifth position is Alexei Cherepanov. Not only is he the namesake of the Caps’ All Star, he’s actually scored more points than Ovechkin scored at the same age. However, Russia and the NHL do not currently have any agreement for how to share players, so it looks like whichever team drafts Cherepanov will end up paying his current club many millions of dollars for a chance at his services. Or not…

If one of the clubs picking ahead of the Capitals takes a chance on Cherepanov, then other top north American prospects will still be available. Because we have milked the name, “Semin,” for all the salty comedy it’s worth, we hope the Caps take a long hard look at James Van Riemsdyk.