Why Capitals Don't Plan To Sign Free Agent Just For Sake Of Signing Free Agent

The Washington Capitals know that there are vacancies on their roster that need to be addressed, but free agency doesn't appear to be the route they'll go in.

Per general manager Chris Patrick, Washington doesn't necessarily want to go the free agent route when it comes to filling those voids.

“You never want to say nothing’s possible, but we got to the point fairly early in free agency where we’d be looking at names, and it was, ‘Is this guy better than X young player in our organization?’ That’s what we’re kind of weighing."

The Capitals did try to make a big move and were in on Nikolaj Ehlers to bolster the scoring up front, but ultimately lost out on the bid to the Carolina Hurricanes. They also reportedly looked into Jack Roslovic and could revisit the possibility.

However, Patrick seems intent on plugging in prospects and up-and-comers to make the NHL roster and take over those roles that have been left empty, while Anthony Beauvillier is also returning on a two-year deal while Hendrix Lapierre re-signed for one year.

He doesn't want to take the opportunity away from the team's younger players, and therefore, is heading in a different direction, looking to Lapierre, as well as Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ethen Frank, Henrik Rybinski, Bogdan Trineyev and Andrew Cristall, to make the cut.

“We’re at a point where if we’re bringing in a guy just to bring in a guy because he’s played in the NHL before, he’s going to end up blocking one of our younger guys that might end up having a bigger, more positive impact on the team.”

Sonny Milano Expected To Be Ready For Capitals Training Camp, Giving Team Options

The Washington Capitals are expecting to have Sonny Milano back on the ice for the start of training camp.

General manager Chris Patrick said he spoke with Milano earlier this offseason and that the forward is feeling good and is ready to begin his usual offseason regimen.

"He's preparing to be a player for us at training camp," Patrick said. "He was doing some offseason traveling, and he's going to get back and get skating as little earlier than he normally does. He's excited, he's ready to go."

Milano, who struggled in training camp, appeared in just three games last season and was a minus-3 before suffering an upper-body injury in November that held him out for months. As he neared a return, he suffered another setback on the ice, which ultimately held him out for the rest of the regular season. The injury is believed to be concussion-related.

The 29-year-old had 15 goals and eight assists in 49 games back in 2023-24, and over 116 games with the Capitals in the last three years, has 26 goals and 30 assists for 56 points.

Having Milano healthy and available for the start of the regular season gives Washington more flexibility and options up front as the team looks to bolster its secondary scoring and find some stability on the bottom-6.

However, he will face heavy competition; Anthony Beauvillier re-signed for two years, and the Capitals also brought in Justin Sourdif this summer and expect him to play full-time in the NHL. Not only that, but Ivan Miroshnichenko, Andrew Cristall and a number of prospects are looking to make the full-time NHL jump.