The Washington Capitals clinched the 2024-25 Metropolitan Division on Tuesday – and they didn’t even play.
With a 3-0 Buffalo Sabres win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Capitals clinched the Metro for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
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The Capitals, with a record of 49-19-9 with 107 points, were the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season, have five games remaining in the regular season. As of Tuesday night, they are three points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets for the best record in the NHL, and nine points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
If they hold out, they will win the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time since 2016-17, when they went 55-19-8 with 118 points. They have won the Presidents’ Trophy three times: 2009-10, 2015-16 and 2016-17.
The Caps were swept in the first round of the playoffs last year by the New York Rangers.
All this comes off the heels of captain Alex Ovechkin scoring his 895th career goal on Sunday, passing Wayne Gretzky as the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. It took Ovechkin one fewer game – 1,486 – to tie Gretzky’s record before breaking it today, just one game later.
While Ovechkin will not finish anywhere near Gretzky’s career point total of 2,857, he will likely hold on to one of the NHL’s most coveted records for many, many years to come.
Tom Wilson named Capitals’ nominee for 2025 King Clancy Trophy
The Washington Capitals announced Tom Wilson as their 2025 King Clancy Memorial Trophy nominee on Tuesday.
The award is given to the player “who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Wilson has now been the Capitals’ nominee four times, previously getting the nod in 2024, 2023, and 2019.
“When I’m done playing as a Washington Capital, I hope people say, ‘He was out there in the community. He stood up for us. He had our back,’” Wilson said in Tuesday’s announcement. “That’s something that I would be very proud of one day if that was the narrative after my career was done.”
Wilson, who became a full-time alternate captain this fall, has taken on a growing role within the Capitals’ locker room in recent years and is widely expected to assume the captaincy when Alex Ovechkin hangs up his skates.
Now in his 12th season in Washington, Wilson’s leadership qualities extend to giving back off the ice. Wilson created the Forty Three’s Friends program in 2018, providing tickets and meet-and-greets to families from Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic and United Heroes League. He hosted a United Heroes League clinic for nearly 100 children in January, surprising children from military families with an afternoon of fun on the ice.
Alongside Nicklas Backstrom, Martin Fehervary, and Elliot in the Morning’s Elliot Segal, Wilson is a participant in the the So Kids Can initiative, pledging $50 for regular-season Capitals wins and $100 for playoff wins to youth-focused nonprofits.
Wilson is also a regular volunteer at Wolf Trap Animal Rescue, often convincing teammates to help out alongside him.
“Wolf Trap’s an awesome organization,” he told RMNB. “They put in a lot of time and hours to help dogs, so it’s just something that my wife and I are passionate about. We got our dog from there and that’s a happy spot in our life every day. So just being able to give back, see other people have that opportunity, it’s pretty cool. The dogs get a new life and the people that get the dogs, it brightens their life as well. So it’s a full-circle thing that’s fun to be a part of.”
The Capitals named him their inaugural Caps Care Community Award winner last spring for his efforts in the community, giving him a $10,000 donation to award to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, the charity of his choice.
