Capitals Ink Stefan Della Rovere
 

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals have signed forward Stefan Della Rovere to a three-year entry-level contract beginning next season, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Della Rovere, 18, will join the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL and could make his debut tonight at Charlotte. He is also eligible to return to his junior team next season.

Della Rovere captained the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) this year and recorded 51 points (27g-24a) and 146 penalty minutes in 57 regular-season games. He played in all five playoff games for the Colts, recording two goals and two assists before the team was eliminated in the first round by the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. Della Rovere was named to the 2009 OHL Eastern Conference All-Star team, where he recorded one goal.

The 5'11", 200-pound Richmond Hill, Ontario, native was a member of Team Canada that won the gold medal at the 2009 World Junior Championship in Ottawa. He also participated in the 2008 ADT Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Canada/Russia Challenge, an annual six-game exhibition tournament between all-star teams representing the three leagues of the CHL and a select team of Russian junior players.

Della Rovere was Washington's seventh-round choice, 204th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Watched this guy in Barrie. He's a great all round player. Caps are lucky.

really? i thought he was a bit of a d!ck in the jr world championships. he took tons of cheap shots and got a lot of stupid penalties

I think he was just having trouble finding his "role" in the World Jr's. He is a hell of a spark plug and a tough kid. 51 points in 57 games this year for Barrie to go along with 9 fights. (He had 15 last year) Hopefully he can develop into a full-time NHLer.

Yea, I dont know what was up during World Jrs with him. I think as Moxie said, he had a hard time finding his role. I also thought that his performance there wasn't the greatest. But in Barrie it's been decent. I know the Nhl is a big step up from the O, but I think he'll do alright.

Not to be nitpicky, since you only posted the PR Thrill, but Della Rovere is 19, not 18. His birthdate, both here and on hockeydb, is February 25, 1990, so he's already had his 19th birthday.