Vincent Iorio: 2024 Annual Review and Forecast


We continue our Washington Capitals annual prospect review and forecast series with Vincent Iorio, defenseman for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page in the top menu or right here.)

VITALS

Iorio, 21, is a 6’3”, right-handed defenseman from Coquitclam, British Columbia. He was a second round pick (#55 overall) of the Capitals in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Iorio signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Capitals on October 4, 2021. The first two seasons were entry-level slide seasons for Iorio, which will make him a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.

CAREER SUMMARY

Before playing junior hockey, Iorio played two seasons with the Shattuck St. Mary’s AAA team. When he first started playing hockey, he was a forward, but eventually switched to defenseman.

In the 2018-19 season, Iorio recorded just a single goal and four assists in 50 games during his rookie campaign for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL. In 2019-20, Iorio scored four goals and 17 assists in 59 games, recording 21 points overall.

There was a good chance he would have exceeded his career-high in overall points in 2020-21, but the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He finished the season with five goals and seven assists in just 22 games.

Iorio attended Capitals’ prospect camp in September of 2021 and participated in the Capitals 2021 main training camp. He also played in one preseason game against the Devils on September 29th before he was returned to the Brandon Wheat Kings on October 1 in time for the Wheat Kings season-opener.

Iorio was invited to Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp, which opened in Calgary, Alberta on December 9, but was cut from the team on December 12.

For the 2021-22 season, Iorio was named an assistant captain to start the season. He was a steady starter in his fourth season with the Wheat Kings, playing on the right side of the top defensive pairing. Offensively, Iorio recorded 11 goals and 33 assists for 44 points in 60 games played, which was a career-high for points and 16th-best among all defensemen in the WHL. He added another goal and an assist in six postseason games.

The Capitals recalled Iorio to Hershey immediately following the conclusion of his WHL season on April 4 but did not see any game action.

The 2022-23 season was Iorio’s rookie campaign in the AHL. While there were significant struggles in the early part of the season, typical for any AHL rookie defenseman, Iorio picked things up rather quickly and ultimately secured a regular starting position on the Bears blueline. Iorio’s progress was very noticeable as the season unfolded, as he became more and more comfortable with the professional game. Offensively he finished the regular season with just two goals and 20 assists in 63 regular season games and added one goal and four assists in 20 postseason games. Iorio was called up to the Capitals in March and played in three games. He recorded his first NHL point assisting on an Alex Ovechkin goal.

Iorio was a member of the Calder Cup-winning Hershey Bears team of 2023. During the playoffs that season, he played in 15 games, scored 1 goal, and recorded 4 assists.

For the 2023-24 regular season, Iorio played in 60 games for the Bears, scoring 4 goals and recording 10 assists for 14 points overall. He doubled his goal output from the previous season but halved his assists. He was called up by the Capitals when they had a rash of injuries to their defensemen and played the last 5 games of the regular season but scored no points. He played in 1 playoff game for the Capitals but got injured in the first game.

Once the Capitals were eliminated from the playoffs, he was returned to Hershey to rehabilitate his injury and practice with the team. The injury kept him out for the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs and the first two games of the second round, but he returned for the third and last game of the second round. He played all games during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Monsters but left Game 7 early due to injury. The injury kept him out for the entire Calder Cup Final series. He ultimately played in 8 games but did not record any points. The theme for the late season and postseason was injuries, both to him and to other members of the bluelines for both the Capitals and the Bears.

2023-2024 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS

The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Vincent Iorio during the 2023-2024 season. You can find all our monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

OCTOBER

After a strong training camp with Washington, Iorio got off to a slow start. He was without a point through six games in October. The second-year defenseman missed the last two games of the month with an illness. Iorio fanned on a clearing attempt in the third period against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on October 25 and then stumbled trying to retrieve the puck. The mistake led directly to Marc Johnstone goal that put the Baby Penguins up 4-1. Much is expected of the Coquitlam, British Columbia native this season and he will need to handle those expectations. The talent is there, Iorio just needs to get his game going.

NOVEMBER

November was a bit of a mixed bag for Iorio. The good news is that his offense showed up after being held without a point in October. The second-year defenseman amassed four points in the month. He broke his 11-game scoreless streak with a second-period goal on November 15 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native got Joel Blomqvist to drop to the ice and then wristed a shot past the netminder’s glove. Iorio then earned the secondary assist on Alex Limoges’ overtime winner.

He tallied his second goal of the season on November 29, once again in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Defensively, Iorio still has his issues. He struggles with his zone exits and often turns the puck over. The blue liner needs to simplify things in his own end. He will have path up the boards to get the puck out but will turn into traffic and lose the puck. Iorio also gets into trouble by trying to force passes. He needs to just take what the other team gives him and make the simple play.

DECEMBER

December was by far the best month of the season thus far for Iorio. He was better in every aspect of the game. The most noticeable area of improvement was defensively. Iorio still had a few “oh no what is he doing” moments, but they occurred less frequently than they did in the first two months of the decisions. He has begun to take what is open instead of trying to force passes. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native has chased the place less and been better positionally. Iorio has also raised his game on the penalty kill. He has been blocking shots and diving to clear pucks out. The improved defensive game has coincided with Iorio’s best month offensively. He scored two goals and added five assists for seven points in December. a shot up and over the glove of Brandon Bussi to give Hershey a 3-2 triumph.

The second-year defenseman had four points coming into the month. Both of Iorio’s goals came against the Providence Bruins, including an overtime game winner on December 13. He came down the right wing on a two-on-one with Ethen Frank. Iorio looked in Frank’s direction, causing Trevor Kuntar to dive down to block a pass. Instead, he lasered

JANUARY

After posting seven points in December, Iorio went without a point in January. The offensive drop was not unexpected as he had never had another month like it in his young career. The drop in production did not affect the rest of his game. Iorio was steady defensively and made good decisions with the puck. He did not force passes. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native has been a steady presence on Hershey’s league-leading penalty kill. He does a good job blocking shots and does whatever it takes to get the puck out.

FEBRUARY

In October and the first half of November, Iorio was a liability defensively and made poor decisions with the puck. Now, the second-year defenseman is a reliable and steady presence on the back end. He has shown great growth in his game. Iorio rarely forces passes like he did at the beginning of the season. Instead, he takes what is available and makes the easy play. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native is positionally sound and gets in passing lanes. He has turned himself into a quality penalty killer who has become an asset on the team’s top-ranked unit. Iorio has not registered a point since December 30, but he is still a major contributor to Hershey’s success. Iorio has formed a solid pairing with Chase Priskie. He leads the team in plus/minus with a plus-20 rating and has only been a minus player twice since November 26.

MARCH

Iorio finally ended a 24-game scoreless drought on March 16, posting his first point of 2024 with the primary assist on Riley Sutter’s third-period goal against Syracuse. The helper began a three-game assist streak for the second-year blue-liner. He picked up the secondary assist on another Sutter tally versus Hartford on March 17 and then recorded another secondary apple on Matt Strome’s first-period marker in Cleveland on March 22.

Defensively, Iorio had some breakdowns. Late in the first period in Charlotte on March 8, he chased the puck and left the net front open. This left Will Lockwood wide open to score to give the Checkers a 2-1 advantage. In Utica on March 15, he got caught up the ice as Brian Halonen brought the puck into the zone. This left Henrik Rybinski with Hardy Haman Aktell trying to break up the rush and Kyle Criscuolo wound up scoring the tying goal in the third period. The defenseman made a pair of errors in the first period against Syracuse the next night that led to the first goal of the contest. First, he tried to force a pass to the center that was taken away by Ilya Usau. The Crunch held the puck in and with the puck behind the net, Iorio followed Lucas Johansen to Usau behind the net. This left a vacancy in front and when Maxim Groshev’s shot produced a rebound, Gabriel Fortier was there to outmuscle Garrett Roe to score the goal. If Iorio had stayed home, he would have been positioned to clear the rebound. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native also took an unnecessary holding penalty on Trevor Kuntar of Providence on March 26. He had three teammates with him in the zone with just Kuntar possessing the puck and Iorio grabbed the Bruin behind the net. Providence would score on the power play. The defenseman was recalled to Washington on March 27 and played 13 shifts against Boston on March 30.

APRIL

Iorio remained on the Capitals roster but did not play again until April 9 against the Detroit Red Wings, after Rasmus Sandin had gotten injured. With both Nic Jensen and Sandin injured, Iorio ended up playing in all five of the remaining regular season games for the Capitals but did not record any points.

He was in the lineup for the first game of the Capitals’ playoff series against the New York Rangers but only skated 1:50 due to getting injured himself, adding to the Capitals’ long injured list on their blueline. That was the last game he would play for the Capitals.

For the regular season, Iorio played in 60 games for the Bears, scoring 4 goals and recording 10 assists for 14 points overall. He had doubled his goal output from the previous season but halved his assists.

POSTSEASON

After the Capitals were officially eliminated from the playoffs, he returned to Hershey to rehabilitate his upper-body injury and to practice. Once he was cleared to play again, He was officially loaned back to the Hershey Bears on May 22 and rejoined them in time to play Game 3 against the Hartford Wolves in Round 2.

Iorio played in all seven games in the Eastern Conference against the Cleveland Monsters but did not record any points. He was injured during Game 7 and left the game early. He was one of the numerous Bears defensemen who were injured in the series against Cleveland. This injury caused him to miss the entire Calder Cup Final series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

PLAYER FORECAST

Iorio is likely to play most of the 2024-25 season in Hershey but will likely be recalled to Washington if injuries occur.

By Diane Doyle

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