Jake Karabela: 2024 Annual Review And Forecast


Next up in our 2024 annual prospect review and forecast series is Jake Karabela, forward for the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page or right here.)

VITALS

The Washington Capitals selected Karabela from the OHL’s Guelph Storm in the 5th round (149th overall pick) of the 2022 NHL Draft. Karabela, who turned 20 in March, is listed at 5’11″ and 179 pounds. He remains unsigned by the Capitals.

CAREER SUMMARY

Karabela was a star on the U16 AAA Guelph Jr. Gryphons in 2019-20, and a favorite coming out of the SCTA in the 2020 OHL draft, recording 27 goals and 23 assists in just 32 regular season games and another six goals in the postseason.

After a year away from hockey due to the Covid pandemic, Karabela’s first season in the OHL was fairly decent, notching 12 goals and 33 assists while playing in 68 games.

Karabela’s goal scoring was up slightly in his second season with the Storm, recording 18 goals in 68 regular season games and three goals in six postseason games but his assists and overall total points were down for the 2022-23 season.

During the 2003-24 regular season, Karabela notched 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points in 65 games, which was a dramatic improvement over his totals from the previous year. His 55 points were an OHL career high for him, while his 25 goals and 30 assists were just slightly shy of career-highs. For his team, he ranked third in points, second in goals, fourth in assists, and second in power-play goals with 14.

Karabela scored one goal and recorded one assist in the playoffs as Guelph was eliminated in four games. He was injured in the playoff game on March 30, sustaining an upper-body injury, and missed the team’s third playoff game. He served as one of the team’s alternate captains throughout the season.

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

October

Karabela scored a goal in an 8-0 blowout of the Erie Otters on October 6. His goal was the team’s third goal, which came at 15:40 of the second period. On October 21, he scored a goal in a 6-2 win against the Kingston Frontenacs. He also scored in the game of October 26, a 4-1 victory against the North Bay Battalion. His goal was the team’s third goal and came at 13:46 into the third period.

His totals for October were 3 goals and 3 assists.

November

Karabala was very productive on the goal-scoring front during the middle portion of November. He scored a goal on November 10 against the Flint Firebirds, which at that time, evened up the score at 1-1 in a game that Guelph eventually won, 3-2.  On November 15, he scored the team’s second goal in an eventual 5-2 loss against the London Knights.

On November 17, he recorded an assist on the team’s first goal against the Niagara Ice Dogs in a 3-2 win. On November 18, he scored two goals and recorded one assist as the team lost in a shootout to the Barrie Colts

On November 25, Karabella scored one goal and had three assists against Kitchener in a wild 8-6 win. His goal was the team’s eighth goal of the night. His first assist came as the primary assist on the team’s first goal. On November 26, he recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win against the Sarnia Sting. He scored the team’s first goal on a power play at 5:22 in the first period. Before the power play, the team was down 2-0. He had an assist on the team’s fourth goal at 18:57 in the third period which was an empty netter and was an insurance goal.

Karabela scored six goals and recorded 12 assists in 12 games during November.

December

Karabela had a quiet start to December, recording just one point in the team’s first four games. But then he scored his first goal of the month on December 9 which was the team’s only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Erie Otters. After that, he either had a goal or an assist in his next four games. He scored 1 goal and recorded two assists in a 7-5 win against the Peterborough Petes on December 15. His goal was the first of the game. He had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 shootout win against the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds on Dec 16 and was the first star of the game.

He scored goals in his last two games of the year. He scored the team’s first goal on December 30 in a 3-2 win against the Flint Firebirds. On December 31, he scored a goal during a 6-5 overtime loss on December 31, scoring at 18:25 in the second period, which had put Guelph ahead 3-2 at the time.

During December, Karabela scored 5 goals and recorded 6 assists in 11 games.

January

On January 7, Karabela scored a goal and recorded an assist in a 3-2 overtime win against the Sarnia Sting. His goal was the team’s first goal while his assist came on the team’s second goal. He was voted the second star of the game.

Karabela scored his team’s first goal on a power play in a 5-2 loss against the Saginaw Spirits on January 13.

Karabela scored no more goals during January but assisted on goals in six different games throughout the month. One of his most notable assists was for the game-winning overtime goal against the Sarnia Sting on January 26.

During January, Karabela scored 2 goals and recorded 6 assists in 9 games.

February

Karabella missed the first three games in February (February 1, 2, and 4) due to a lower-body injury but returned to the lineup on February 9 against the Brantford Bulldogs (and fellow Washington Capitals’ prospect Patrick Thomas). The team lost all three of the games where Karabela was absent, extending their losing streak to four games.

Despite the return of Karabela, they lost their fifth in a row, falling to the Brantford Bulldogs (and fellow Capitals prospect, Patrick Thomas) 6-4. Karabela assisted on his team’s second goal, which came at 4:02 of the third period and lessened their deficit to 5-2.

In a 4-1 win over the Peterborough Petes on February 15, Karabela had an assist on the team’s first goal which was scored on the power play at 3:54 into the first period.

On February 23, Karabela scored one goal and recorded two assists in an 8-7 overtime loss to the Windsor Spitfires. On a frustrating note, Guelph had a 5-1 lead early in the second period and led 5-2 at the end of two periods.

Karabela assisted on his team’s first goal on a power play at 6:32 in the first period. The goal tied the game 1-1. Karabela’s goal in that game came on the power play at 11:02 and put his team up 2-1.

For February, Karabela scored one goal and recorded four assists in eight games.

March

The month of March started off slowly for Karabela as he compiled no goals and just one assist during the first five games of the month.

He broke the goal-scoring drought on March 14, against the Windsor Spitfires when he scored one goal and recorded one assist in a 5-1 victory. His first goal came at 12:23 in the first period and tied the game at 1-1.

He assisted on the team’s third goal at 6:41 during the second period. His second goal came at 14:29 during the second period, putting the team ahead 4-1. This was his 20th goal of the season. He was voted first star of the game for his performance.

When Guelph played the Saginaw Spirit on March 15, Karabela scored the team’s second goal at 14:52 during the second period. At the time, it put Guelph ahead 2-1 in a game they ultimately lost 5-4 in overtime.

On March 17, Guelph played the Kitchener Rangers where Karabela scored at 7:21 to put Guelph up 2-0 in a game they ultimately won 5-4.

Two days later, on March 19, they played the Kitchener Rangers again. This was another productive day for Karabela. He recorded the secondary assist on a goal at 3:11 in the second period which increased their lead to 3-0, a goal that ultimately proved to be the game-winner. Karabela scored the team’s fifth and last goal at 16:09 during the second period. The final score was 5-2.

In a wild game on March 23, against Owen Sound, which was Karabela’s 300th OHL game, Karabela made it a memorable game. Karabela scored two goals in a game that ended up being a 7-6 win in Overtime for Guelph.

Karabela scored the team’s second goal at 2:43 on a power play which tied the game at 2-2. Karabela scored the game-winning goal in Overtime at 4:28. This was his second goal of the game and his 25th of the season. Cam Allen had the secondary assist.

In March, Karabela scored 7 goals and recorded 3 assists in 10 games. He had started slowly for scoring in March but got hot in the middle of the month. During the regular season, he had 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points in 65 games. He served as one of the team’s alternate captains throughout the season.

On the team, he ranked third in points, second in goals, fourth in assists, and second in power-play goals with 14.

Karabela scored one goal and recorded one assist against the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds who swept Guelph in four games. He was injured during the second game of the series on March 30 and then missed the game on April 1.

PLAYER FORECAST

If he signs a professional contract with the Capitals, he could try to make the team out of training camp or be loaned to the Hershey Bears, as he is now 20 years old. However, he is still young enough to return to Guelph for one more year as Canadians who are drafted by an NHL team can stay in juniors until turning 21.

By Diane Doyle





Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR