When he suits up for the Caps on Friday against Montreal, defenseman John Carlson will give the Capitals seven first-round, homegrown draft choices in the lineup and nine on the roster.

Carlson, a first-rounder (27th overall) in 2008, joins 2002 first-rounders Alexander Semin and Boyd Gordon, 2003 first-rounder Eric Fehr, 2004 first-rounders Alex Ovechkin, Jeff Schultz and Mike Green, 2006 first-rounders Nicklas Backstrom and Semyon Varlamov on the roster. Semin and Gordon are both currently on injured reserve.

Washington has made a total of 45 first-round selections in the draft over the years, and Carlson becomes the 38th of those to don a Capitals’ sweater for a regular season contest.

More significantly, Carlson becomes just the ninth teen-aged defenseman to play for the Caps and the first since Steve Eminger in 2003-04. The others: Nolan Baumgartner, Eric Calder, Tony Camazzola, Jakub Cutta, Sergei Gonchar, Kevin Hatcher.

And Scott Stevens.

Born in Massachusetts, Carlson grew up in New Jersey and greatly admired Stevens as a youngster.

For what it’s worth, Stevens, Hatcher, Gonchar and Eminger are the only defensemen to play more than five games with the Capitals as teen-aged defensemen.

“[At] nineteen,” recalls veteran Washington rearguard Brian Pothier, “I think I was in high school. I had about six years to go before [my NHL debut].”

Caps defenseman Tyler Sloan made his own NHL debut last season at the age of 27, first touching NHL ice in his hometown of Calgary. When he was 19, Sloan was skating for Kamloops of the Western Hockey League.

“I can’t even imagine,” exclaimed Sloan. “For [Carlson] to be the way he is … I would have been a mess. I was nervous enough last year in Calgary. I don’t know. I can’t even imagine being that young and inexperienced. He hasn’t even played a full year of pro. He’s got 18 games of playoff experience and the beginning of this season. I can’t even imagine what it would be like.”

Carlson had just finished dining up in Hershey on Wednesday when The Call came.

“I was at home and I was sitting on the couch after dinner when I got the call,” he says. “I don’t even know how to describe it. I was so happy. I was with one of my buddies there, and I told him right away and called my parents and everything. It was unbelievable.”

His parents and brother are expected to travel in for Friday’s game. Everyone else in the Caps’ locker room has experienced what Carlson is going to experience on Friday.

“Just play, have some fun,” says Pothier, when asked what he might say to the kid. “We get so worked up and so anxious for those big moments that sometimes we forget to enjoy them. I think that’s probably the biggest thing you can do as a young guy. Just go out and play, have fun. Don’t worry about making a mistake. Obviously, play responsible but don’t worry about making mistakes and just go out and have some fun.

“I think he’s a confident guy. He knows how to play the game and he knows he can play. He’s done a great job in the playoffs last year and in training camp he was effective for us. I don’t think it’s going to be a big jump for him. He’s a good enough player to make the transition. If he just plays, he’ll be fine.”

“He’s a great player, a high pick,” notes Caps captain Chris Clark. “He’s gotten to this point by playing his game and nothing should change. That’s what everybody tells the guys coming up. You shouldn’t change anything. Play the game, play your style, play the way you normally do and you should do all right.”

A right-handed shot, Carlson is likely to spend his first game playing alongside the Caps’ most experienced defenseman, Tom Poti. Poti, who has never played in the minors, played the first of his 738 regular season NHL contests with Edmonton in 1998-99. 

“Nothing yet,” says Poti, when queried as to what he’ll say to Carlson. “Maybe talk to him [Friday] a little bit and just tell him, ‘You’re going to be nervous, but once that puck drops you’ll be fine. There is a reason you’re here. Play to your strengths. Just go enjoy yourself. Have fun.’ 

“It’s a skating game today and he’s a great skater. He’s going to be fine out there.”

“He’s played exhibition games, too,” notes Caps forward Brooks Laich, “which helps. And they play the same way in Hershey that they play here so it’s a seamless transition for Carl.”

Carlson skated in 16 playoff games for Hershey last spring as the Bears won their 10th Calder Cup title. Bob Woods, who was the head coach of that championship Bears team, is now a Washington assistant.

“He’s got Woody back there [behind the bench],” says Laich. “Bob Woods is really going to help keep him calm. I’m sure our coaching staff is going to put him in positions to succeed on the ice, not positions where he feels out of place. 

“He’s not going to be out there in 5-on-3 penalty kill where he’s not going to know what to do. They are going to put him in safe positions and give him a chance to succeed and he’ll do great.

Carlson is the ninth Capital to make his NHL debut in the last 13 months, so the team is familiar with the situation and with helping him get adjusted and acclimated on and off the ice.

“We have great depth in the minors and we can just plug guys in and away we go,” says Clark.

“I think our young guys come up with a lot of energy and they do a great job of filling in for guys who are injured,” opines Laich.

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau won’t be treating the kid with kid gloves.

“When they get in the lineup, I treat them as if they’ve been here for five years,” says Boudreau. “They know they have to do. They get crap if they don’t do it and they get praise if they do. I believe this is just a golden opportunity for them rather than, ‘Hey, don’t blame it on me. I’m just a minor league guy’ type of thing. We’ve never had that attitude. I got called up enough to know that if you don’t perform, you don’t stay up. That’s why [Mathieu] Perreault is still here. He’s playing real well.”

Boudreau also offered up some advice for Carlson on the eve of his debut.

“Enjoy it,” says the bench boss. “You only get one first NHL game. Don’t over-stress. It’s not going to make his career or break his career. If he’s horrible, it’s going to make no difference. We still think the world of him. And if he’s great, we still think he’s a first-year guy who has played one game. I hope he doesn’t lose any sleep over it.”

It didn’t sound like he would.

“You’ve just got to play with confidence,” declares Carlson. “You can only do what you can do, that’s all.”