The Capitals’ Top 25 Under 25: 2018-19, Part I

In this day and age, it’s hard to envision winning a Stanley Cup without a homegrown core of players, and the 2018 Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals (which never gets old to type) were no exception to that roster construction, with 16 of the 25 players to appear in the playoffs coming up through the organization.

Some of those players were highly touted picks taken after a stretch of lean years. Others came from a run of terrific late-first round hits. Still others were later round diamonds in the rough. Take Christian Djoos, for example. Djoos, a seventh-round pick in 2012, made his NHL debut this past season, playing 63 regular season games for the Caps and then another 22 (the last…