Last season, the Washington Capitals narrowly eked out a playoff berth, which ended in a sweep by the President’s Trophy-winning New York Rangers. Evidently not keen on that result, GM Chris Patrick decided to be very aggressive in the offseason.
The result so far has been a 13-4-1 record, good for second in the Metropolitan division and third overall in the league. Additionally, after finishing last season with a -37 goal differential, which was the worst for a playoff team since 1990-91, they’re currently sitting at a +28, third best in the NHL.
So how have they managed all this? Through trades, free agency and, not to mention, some bets on internal growth.
Trades
The Capitals shocked the hockey world on June 19 by trading for Kings’ center Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois, who signed an eight-year, $68M deal in 2023, was coming off an underachieving season with just 40 points in 82 games.
In doing so, Washington was not only able to offload goaltender Darcy Kuemper’s contract (three more years at $5.25M) but add some much-needed center depth. Despite just the one goal he’s scored (with a career-low shooting percentage of 3.6), Dubois has the second most assists among Capitals forwards and certainly has contributed to their resurgent offense.
In addition to Dubois, Washington also added more depth with trades for all three positions: at forward with Andrew Mangiapane (four goals, eight points in 18 games), defense with Jacob Chychrun (eight points in 13 games, 19:05 TOI) and goaltender with Logan Thompson (2.63 GAA, .913 SV% in nine games).
Free agency
With the salary cap rising from $83.5M to $88M, many teams were expected to hand out large, long-term deals. The Capitals were no different, giving arguably the top right-handed defenseman on the market, Matt Roy, a six-year, $34.5M contract.
Playing in Washington’s top four, Roy has been a steady presence among defenders, despite an injury that kept him out for most of October. His 1:34 TOI shorthand is seventh on the team, helping a penalty kill that ranks third in the league at 87.7%.
By signing Roy, the Capital’s defensive core was instantly shored up and given much needed depth.
Banking on internal growth
In addition to adding external players, Washington was also relying on some growth by players already on the roster. This included forward Connor McMichael, whom they handed a two-year, $4.2M extension prior to him hitting restricted free agency. McMichael was coming off a season in which he scored a career high 18 goals.
This season, McMichael has excelled with 19 points in 18 games. Additionally, his 12 goals are tied for the sixth most in the NHL.
Naturally, the Capitals expected Alex Ovechkin, who came into the season 41 goals behind Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record, to bounce back from a streaky 2023-24 season. Although he did recently go down with an injury Washington is describing as week-to-week, prior to that, he’d been leading the league with 15 goals.
Luckily for the team, Ovechkin’s linemate, Dylan Strome, has been fantastic this season. The former third overall pick has 28 points in 18 games, tied for fifth most in the league. After finding some chemistry last season, the Capitals to keep the pair together this season.
The trades, contracts and optimism have been immensely successful for the Capitals. If they continue this path, they’ll certainly be a tough team to take out come playoff time, and Patrick will have a great case for NHL General Manager of the Year.
