Caps prospect Cody Eakin didn’t look himself at rookie development camp last week.
He missed some quality scoring chances. He seemed to get muscled out of the faceoff circle at times by Mattias Sjogren — technically a fellow prospect, but at age 23 a far more experienced one. But expecting Eakin to dominate a camp against some quality competition probably wasn’t realistic.
Even though he will be in the mix for a roster spot when Washington opens training camp in September, we’re still talking about a 20-year-old coming off a long playoff run to the Memorial Cup during his last year in juniors. That season didn’t end until May 27.
“Sometimes we forget: [Eakin] just finished playing [six] weeks ago,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “This is his third camp, and I thought he competed hard. But I think he’ll be better in September. Hockey’s such a draining sport. To keep going at the same level that you’ve been at for 12 months is difficult.”
Eakin didn’t let himself off the hook.
“I’m not in the best shape,” Eakin said. “There’s no excuse for it, but I had a good exit meeting [with the coaches] to discuss what I need to do. I progressed, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
His goal for the next six weeks is to regain some of that strength before training camp. It seems unlikely Eakin will start 2011-12 in Washington unless he clearly earns a top-12 forward spot at training camp. No need to have a top prospect playing once a week in the NHL when he could get all the ice time he needs at Hershey of the American Hockey League.
