The Washington Capitals are changing course with their roster plans, following a tough go of it in free agency signings.
The Washington Capitals continue to explore ways to strengthen their roster, heading into next season. Washington is very interested in exploring the trade market, per NHL.com. This comes after the team didn't score many points in free agency.
“We’ll explore the trade market, see what’s out there,” Washington's general manager Chris Patrick said. “We’ve sent a lot of picks out the last few weeks, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re prudent with how we do it, but I think there potentially could be some interesting names out there. I’ve seen some of the media reports thinking this could be a very busy offseason trade-wise. I’m not exactly sure of the basis for that.
“I think a lot of teams are in a decent spot cap-wise, but we’ll see what happens.”
It's unclear what exactly exploring the trade market means for this team. Washington does have a good amount of young talent on the roster, and plenty of spots to fill in its upcoming training camp.
Washington had a great season in the 2024-25 campaign. The Capitals made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and finished first in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan Division. The team lost in the postseason in a five game series to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Capitals are trying to find another Stanley Cup for Alex Ovechkin
The Capitals have one of the best NHL players in the league today, in Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin has played his entire lengthy career in the nation's capital. He has a Stanley Cup championship to show for it.
Ovechkin is getting close to 40 years of age, and the window is closing for him to win another title. Washington's management says it is keeping that in mind when trying to find the right players.
“I think we did a lot of our free agency work [during] the season, re-signing guys like Chychrun, (forward Nic) Dowd, Logan and [goalie Charlie Lindgren],” Patrick said. “Bringing ‘Beau’ back I think is huge for our group. He’s a versatile guy who can move around the lineup. He showed he’s got chemistry with all four of our lines and we have some cap space now.
“We have some young kids that are going to get a good opportunity to compete for a spot in camp and we’ll see where it goes.”
Washington's sole Stanley Cup title came in the 2017-18 campaign.
