Drafting the ultimate Capitals all-time lineup

If you could put together the best Capitals lineup, who would you take? That was the question we tried to answer on the Capitals Talk Podcast. With no games, all the local hockey experts have some extra time on their hands so we decided to get together for a Capitals fantasy draft.

The rules were simple. We each would select eight Capitals players: two wingers, one center, two defensemen, one goalie and two "wild card" players you could take for any reason. Any player who had played for the Caps at some time during the team's history was eligible. Random names were pulled to determine the draft order and we held a snake draft on the podcast. We then got together the top Caps experts we could find, i.e. everyone who was just as bored with the season pause as we were and who would return our calls. Here was the draft order: JJ Regan, Rob Carlin, Ben Raby, Joe Beninati, Ryan Billie and John Walton.

Hijinks ensued all of which you can hear on the episode of the Capitals Talk Podcast.

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So who put together the best lineup? Obviously, me. But who put together the second-best lineup?

Check out the draft results:

JJ Regan, Capitals Insider

Picks:

Alex Ovechkin, W
Jaromir Jagr, W
Larry Murphy, D
Adam Oates, C
Semyon Varlamov, G
Sylvain Cote, D
Dave Christian, W
Quintin Laing, W

Lineup:

Ovechkin - Oates - Jagr
Cote - Murphy
Varlamov

WC: Christian, Laing

Rob Carlin, host of the Capitals Talk Podcast and the pre and postgame shows

Picks:

Nicklas Backstrom, C
Mike Green, D
Braden Holtby, G
T.J. Oshie, W
Tom Wilson, W
Phil Housley, D
Michal Pivonka, C
John Druce, W

Lineup:

Oshie - Backstrom - Wilson
Housley - Green
Holtby

WC: Pivonka, Druce

Ben Raby, Capitals Radio host

Picks:

Peter Bondra, W
John Carlson, D
Olaf Kolzig, G
Dennis Maruk, C
Matt Niskanen, D
Bobby Carpenter, C
Mike Knuble, W
Chris Simon, W

Lineup:

Maruk - Carpenter - Bondra
Carlson - Niskanen
Kolzig

WC: Knuble, Simon

Joe Beninati, NBC Sports Washington's Capitals play-by-play announcer

Picks:

Mike Gartner, W
Kevin Hatcher, D
Sergei Gonchar, D
Bengt Gustafsson, C
Jakub Vrana, W
Philipp Grubauer, G
Mike Ridley, C
Craig Laughlin, RW

Lineup:

Vrana - Gustafsson - Gartner
Gonchar - Hatcher
Grubauer

WC: Ridley, Laughlin

RELATED: WATCH OVECHKIN RETAKE THE ICE

Ryan Billie, NBC Sports Washington's Capitals game producer

Picks:

Scott Stevens, D
Calle Johansson, D
Evgeny Kuznetsov, C
Alex Semin, W
Kelly Miller, W
Pete Peters, G
Joe Juneau, C
Sergei Fedorov, W

Lineup:

Semin - Kuznetsov - Fedorov
Stevens - Johansson
Peters

WC: Miller, Juneau

John Walton, radio voice of the Capitals

Picks:

Rod Langway, D
Dino Ciccarelli, W
Dale Hunter, C
Don Beaupre, G
Al Iafrate, D
Steve Konowalchuk, W
Marcus Johansson, C
Alan May, W

Lineup:

Konowalchuk - Hunter - Ciccarelli
Langway - Iafrate
Beaupre

WC: Johansson, May

Some of the highlights:

After the podcast, Carlin tried to pull a fast one and texted us all he was sending Druce down and signing Ilya Kovalchuk. He was immediately (and rightly) called out.
I thought Jagr going with the last pick of the second round was a huge steal for me. Everyone else just made fun of me for declaring it a steal.
Jagr was a steal...but good on Billie for snagging Fedorov with his eighth pick.
I would not want to meet Walton's team in a dark ally.
Of course Joe B. would take Vrana...and Locker.
Raby brought lots of visual props which usually work great in a podcast.
Carlin sees a lot to like with the current Caps as they make up a big part of his lineup. He did steal Housley away from me one pick before I could grab him which I was not happy about.
Good luck keeping my offense of Ovechkin, Oates and Jagr from scoring.
Raby's team would be great if it just played exclusively on the power play.

So who has the best lineup? Let us know what you think!

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