George McPhee's Son Graham Gets A Lesson From Adam Oates

On Saturday, after the Washington Capitals wrapped up their final scrimmage of Prospect Development Camp, a young man came out to the empty ice rink with a bucket of pucks.  The teenager looked like he had some skills as he fired long range shots into the net.

After a few minutes Adam Oates emerged from the locker room and headed out on the ice to feed the young man passes.  As the shooter skated past the small crowd that remained in the arena, the back of his shirt clearly read, "McPhee"; as in Graham McPhee, son of Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee.

Graham doesn't live the life of a typical kid headed into his adolescent years.  How many other kids his age can brag to their friends about the time that Alexander Ovechkin gave them an atomic wedgie (video below) while they were on the ice at the 2011 Winter Classic?  Graham gets to do a lot of interesting things because of his father's position.  

George McPhee had a seven year run in the NHL with the Rangers & Devils.  His son is aspiring to follow in his footsteps.  Graham was an All-Star last season in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League (AYHL), having an opportunity to play in front of several college coaches and scouts. 


What better way is there to improve your hockey skills than by learning directly from NHL players and coaches?  On Saturday afternoon, Graham got to do just that, one of the many benefits of being the son of a professional general manager.




Adam Oates joined the young McPhee on the ice and spent time feeding one-timers to the soon-to-be high school freshman, watching him and analyzing his shot.  After one-timers came catching passes and firing wrist shots, a session where Oates got on the young man for a bad leg kicking habit that he had developed.

The practice session was only about twenty minutes long, but those minutes were probably very helpful to a young man who aspires to play hockey in college and possibly beyond.  Shooting with a former 10-time NHL top 20 scorer isn't a bad way for a kid to spend a Saturday afternoon.  And perhaps one day, young Graham will find himself on the ice during a scrimmage, playing in development camp for his father's hockey team.


Wedgie Video after the jump

NHL Draft: What we need and what we don't

As we all (should) know, the 2012 NHL Draft starts tomorrow. The Edmonton Oilers have the 1st pick for now three years in a row, the Blue Jackets have the 2nd yadda yadda, and the Caps have pick #11. As you all know, the Caps got two picks from the Avs (one first round and one second) for Semyon Varlamov during last years off season.

The Caps have pretty good picks this year, compared to last year anyways. Since the Caps desperately need a strong second line Center, picking one up in the draft or with our draft pick and someone's rights (I'm looking at you, Green) seems like a great idea. I'm all for it.

What I'm not a fan of is the idea of trading Green's rights (or any other star UFA's rights) and  our #11 pick for Yakupov. He's a right wing. The Caps are up to their ears in right wings, I don't care if the kid is the second coming to Jesus. The Caps don't need a right wing. They need centers and that's what they need to focus on.

Whether that comes in the form of Grigorenko (these Russian names are killin' me), Jason Arnott (personal favorite), or another free agent or draft pick. All I know is the Caps shouldn't waste their draft pick on something they don't need.

While I've been ranting about needing a solid center, I completely forgot to bring up the whole no coach thing. Not having a Coach and picking guys in the draft is a little tricky. I know that GM's basically do all the picking, signing, etc. but they have the coaches input based on the kind of team he wants to run. Without having a coach with input on the kind of team he wants to build is going to be tricky. Yeah, the Caps need a center. But depending on the coach the Caps have, having a strong center could range from being vitally important to just being a good bonus.

In the end, GMGM knows what he's doing and will make the best deal to get the best player possible for the Caps to become  a strong contender for the Cup in seasons to come. I just hope the Caps can get a Coach before September.