Focus on... um... Dudes Traded to the Caps

I've admitted that I have a weakness when it comes to the Western Conference - basically I don't (edit: can't without Center Ice which I can't afford) really watch much of it or know all the players.  But I definitely wasn't the only Caps fan saying "Who?" when it was announced that the Capitals traded (Ed. note: *sniffle*) prospect Stefan Della Rovere to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for D.J. King.  So for all those Caps fans who were wondering who the heck this D.J. King is, I've compiled some information, much in the style of my "Focus on Prospects" posts.  Just to help Caps fans get acquainted and know what to expect.  Here we go...

photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Name: Dwayne "D.J." King

Position: LW
Shoots: Left
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 lbs
Birthdate: 1984-06-27

Hometown: Meadow Lake, Sask.

Based on popular opinion, there's no question over what King's role is on a hockey team: he's a fighter.  A Donald Brashear 2.0 if you will - obviously younger than Brash at 26, but big, tough, and willing to drop the gloves with the toughest guys in the league.  In fact, he's already dropped the gloves with, well, all the toughest guys in the league.  Blues fans have pointed most often to his regular bouts with Derek Boogaard pretty much every single time the Blues met the Wild (and now with Boogaard also joining the East as a New York Ranger, their bouts can continue).  A notable fight with Boogaard is below, and is one of the longer hockey fights I've seen, as well as covering about half the ice:
 

He's also regularly matched up with Ducks tough guy George Parros (three times alone in the 2007-08 season).  King has even traded blows with... John Erskine?  In the 2003 preseason (a year after King was drafted), Erskine was with the Dallas Stars.  In a preseason game against the Blues, King and Erskine got into it, and King dropped Erskine with a heavy right hook.

All right, so the guy can fight.  Anything else?  Well, not really.  But that's why he's a fourth-line guy.  King started out his career playing in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.  While there, his stats very much mirror Matt Bradley's current NHL stats - usually averaging around 12 goals a season.  He hasn't scored much more than 1 goal a season since being in the NHL, though that's not his job.  Hockey's Future says he can be a "fourth-liner in the NHL when his team is in need of some muscle."  He doesn't have much of an offensive prowess but can "bang in the occasional goal."  Not that we would need another power forward with the likes of Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin.

And "muscle" is something that the Capitals need - the Caps have been without a proven fighter since the departure of Donald Brashear, aside from the occasional fights courtesy of Matt "Paper Skin" Bradley, and to a lesser extent, Jason Chimera.  This has been a bit of a weak spot for the Caps - without a tried and true enforcer, guys like Mike Green, Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom have had a target on their backs (targets that have gotten Green and Semin injured in the past).  It's important to note in the above video that in the scrum, King seems to be coming to the defense of his teammate Weaver, who was boarded a bit after the whistle.  Case in point: after the trade, King was told about Max Talbot's recent comments on Ovechkin, and King responded:

"Wow. I guess that’s not going to be happening too much longer, I guess."

In summary, King is huge, physical, and protects his teammates.  While he's not exactly a 2C or the defensive defenseman that the Caps still need, he is filling a role that has been missing in the past.  He's had major problems with injuries, but seems to be recovered from his latest, and is fresh off a conditioning stint in Peoria.  He should be right at home on a tough forechecking line with Bradley and David Steckel.  It's tough to say how well he's going to do in an offense-loaded system as is typical to the East, but let's just say that training camp should be very interesting.

Focus on Prospects: Stefan Della Rovere

photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images

Name: Stefan Della Rovere

Position: LW

Shoots: Left

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 200 lbs

Birthdate: 1990-02-25

Hometown: Maple, Ontario

For anyone who watched the 2010 World Junior Championships, Stefan Della Rovere ("Delly" to fans) is not an unfamiliar name. Famously losing the Gold Medal to American hero John Carlson, Della Rovere wore an "A" for that Canadian team and had three goals and three assists in Team Canada's six games. 2010 was not his first WJC - he also played in 2009, notching one goal and one assist - oh, and a disconcerting 26 PIMs in just six games.
 

In fact, Della Rovere's lack of discipline is really the only thing that coaches and scouts have found wrong with his game. He's been perceived as a "pest" and even "dirty." He's not one to shy away from a fight, but his propensity for taking dumb penalties has thankfully waned a bit as he matures. In his first full season with the Barrie Colts (his current club in the OHL), he led the team in PIMs with 171. He promised to cut down on the questionable penalties after the 2009 WJC in order to make the 2010 roster. This season, he has gained a little more discipline and spent 125 minutes in the penalty box. However, the "pest" role can be a useful one for the Capitals, as Jason Chimera showed us during the postseason series with Montreal, so long as Della Rovere can keep it under control, continue to improve on his discipline and not turn out to become a goon.

The best part about the "pest" status is that Della Rovere can also score goals. In his 2008-09 Barrie regular season, he scored 27 goals. This season was his first after being drafted in the 7th round (204th overall) by the Capitals, and made the late pick a standout prospect. He was subsequently signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals in April 2009. After his season with the Barrie Colts ended in 2009, Della Rovere played two games with the South Carolina Stingrays (the Capitals' ECHL affiliate) and recorded one assist.

He returned to the Barrie Colts for the 2009-10 season, now wearing the "C" for his club, and racking up 18 goals and 23 assists in the regular season. He's continued to build on his reputation as a grinder; Corey Masisak has compared him to Matt Bradley for his willingness to sacrifice his body to make the tough hits. For this, he has earned his teammates' respect. A Canadian junior hockey news site interviewed several of Della Rovere's teammates and his coach after his 2010 WJC selection. Teammate Ryan Strome said he deserves the letter on his jersey - in Barrie and at the WJC:

"He's probably the most appreciated player on our team... He puts the team ahead of himself. That's why he's where he is."

Teammate Kyle Clifford added:

"He's definitely a heart and soul guy... When you need inspiration, you go to him. Just being around him, it's hard not to be inspired."

The Barrie Colts are currently fighting the Windsor Spitfires for the OHL Championship. Windsor leads the series 3-0, with Game 4 on Tuesday. Whoever wins will compete against hosts the Brandon Wheat Kings, as well as the WHL and QMJHL champions for the CHL Memorial Cup. Whatever the outcome, at 20 years old, this should be Della Rovere's last OHL season. Next year, he's likely to join South Carolina, or, depending on what the coaches see in this summer's development camp (he missed most of last year's camp with a shoulder injury), even the Hershey Bears. Hockey's Future rating system puts him as a probable third-liner, but also as the #12 prospect for the Capitals. Barrie coach Marty Williamson agrees:

"He's not going to be the leading scorer on a team, or lead the league in scoring, but he's a hard-working guy who finds a way to get the job done... He always finds a way."

UPDATE 5/11/10: I somehow missed this news the day of, but according to the Barrie Colts (who lost Game 4 to the Windsor Spitfires and thus were knocked out of the playoffs), Della Rovere has been called up to Hershey as of May 6. I've been unable to confirm if he has yet joined the team, but he is expected to be on the Black Aces practice squad and will likely not see game action in this Hershey postseason.

Thanks to Nate Ewell, he has confirmed to me that Delly has joined the Black Aces practice squad in Hershey.