Articles in Washington Capitals

via the Washington Capitals,

The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward Tom Wilson to a seven-year, $45.5 million contract extension, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. Wilson's extension will begin with the 2024-25 season and will carry an average annual value of $6.5 million. Wilson is under contract with Washington through the 2030-31 season.

"Tom possesses all the intangibles needed to win in this League and we are extremely pleased to sign him to a long-term contract, giving him the opportunity to finish his career in a Capitals' uniform," said MacLellan. "Throughout his career, Tom has improved every facet of his game through his drive and competitiveness. We feel his work ethic and leadership qualities will be a tremendous asset to our organization for years to come."

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals have named Spencer Carbery the team's head coach, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

"We are extremely pleased to name Spencer as our new head coach," said MacLellan. "Spencer is one of the best young coaches in the game who's had success at every level at which he has coached. We feel his leadership, communication skills, ability to develop players and familiarity with our organization will be a tremendous asset as he makes this next step in his coaching career."

Daily Faceoff’s insider Frank Seravalli gave us another edition of Ice Breakers as the playoffs wind down and the offseason approaches, including another name popping up as trade bait from the Washington Capitals.

Frank Seravalli: I’m told that Anthony Mantha’s name has popped up in a few different conversations. He has one year remaining on his deal at $5.7 million for the upcoming season.

You think back to that trade, and it’s one that probably neither team is really happy with. The Washington Capitals gave up a first, a second, Jakub Vrana, and Richard Panik to get their hands on Anthony Mantha at the deadline a few years ago, and it just hasn’t panned out. Yes, there’s been some injury issues that have popped up along the way in Washington. But more to the point, even when’s been in the lineup, you see last season, 67 games registering just 11 goals, and it kind of feels like a long time ago now, we’re approaching five years ago, that Anthony Mantha hit 25 goals in a season.

At that price tag of $5.7 million and that type of production of 27 points in 67 games, perhaps you could get someone to take a flyer on him, but if so, they’re not going to get anything in return. And more to the point, I wouldn’t be shocked if, depending on how aggressive they are and really trying to move him, that someone might actually have to pay.

I don’t think they’re backed into the corner on the cap just yet, they’ve got a lot of pieces to fill out their roster. But nonetheless, Evgeny Kuznetsov’s name is out there, we know that they’re open to moving him, but you can add Anthony Mantha to our next Trade Targets Board. We get that out in the next week or two.

via the Washington Capitals,

The Washington Capitals and head coach Peter Laviolette have agreed to mutually part ways, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. Laviolette, whose contract expires on June 30, will not return as the Capitals head coach next season.

Laviolette was the 19th head coach in franchise history and led the club to a 115-78-27 record from 2020-23.

"We are grateful for Peter's leadership and dedication to our organization for the last three seasons," said MacLellan. "Peter is a first-class individual who has represented our club with integrity and guided our team through many difficult circumstances in his tenure as our head coach. We wish him all the best moving forward."

The Capitals will conduct their final media availability session of the season on Saturday, April 15 at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Players will address the media throughout the morning after 9:15 a.m. In addition, the Capitals will host a media availability with MacLellan at 12 p.m. All media availabilities will take place outside the Capitals locker room. The Capitals Rink at MedStar Capitals Iceplex will be closed to the public during all player and management interviews.

from Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic,

One moment, John Carlson was preparing to box out an opposing forward in the slot. The next, the Washington Capitals’ defenseman was face down on the ice with blood gushing down the right side of his face.

The 14-year veteran can’t recall how many close calls he’d had previously; it’s a risk every NHL defenseman takes. But this time was different. The pain was unbearable. And the blood. All the blood.

“I just got struck by lightning,” Carlson said. “That’s the only way to describe it.”...

Less than a minute into third period of the Caps’ 4-1 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 23, Carlson was struck by a 90-mph slap shot off the stick of Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, Carlson’s former teammate in Washington.

There was no time for Carlson to duck or dodge the puck.

The impact left him with a small skull fracture above his right ear and a severed temporal artery.

“It was bleeding so much,” he said. “The only way I could describe it is, just survival.”

Carlson said he did not lose consciousness and was never diagnosed with a concussion.

“Funny story,” Carlson said, cracking a smile. “He says this didn’t happen, but I know for sure that it did. As I’m skating off the ice, (Erik Gustafsson) comes skating towards me. He sees me and he goes, ‘Holy f—, that’s really bad.’

“It was a funny moment in a bunch of chaos.”

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ARLINGTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals have acquired a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Colorado Avalanche for forward Lars Eller, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. The Capitals will retain 31 percent of Eller's salary as part of the trade.

The Capitals own 22 total picks in the next three drafts. Washington currently has five picks in the 2023 NHL Draft, eight picks in the 2024 NHL Draft and nine picks in the 2025 NHL Draft. Washington owns their first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh-round picks in 2023; their first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-round picks in 2024, as well as Boston's third-round pick and Minnesota's third-round pick in 2024; and their first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-round picks in 2025, as well as Colorado's second-round pick and Boston's second-round pick in 2025.

Eller, 33, has recorded 16 points (7g, 9a) in 60 games with the Capitals this season. Eller, who won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018, has registered 364 points (160g, 204a) in 930 career games with Washington, Montreal and St. Louis.

from David Alter of Sports Illustrated,

Kyle Dubas continues to be busy.

One day after pulling off a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that saw defenseman Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty become Toronto Maple Leafs, the club's general manager pulled off another move on Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs have reportedly traded defenseman Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals in exchange for defenseman Erik Gustafsson and Boston's first-round draft pick.

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from Damien Cox at the Toronto Star,

As long as veteran stars Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos and John Tavares have played in the NHL, the Stanley Cup playoffs have included both Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.

Or look at it this way: Gary Bettman will in the very near future surpass Clarence Campbell and become the longest serving chief executive in NHL history. For more than half the time he’s been in office he’s been able to count on having Crosby and Ovechkin involved when the second season began....

Having superstars of that calibre has meant those teams haven’t even been able to consider rebuilding, and won’t be able to do so until they retire or leave to play for another team, the latter of which seems hard to imagine in both cases.

The NHL has been dining out on the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry for a very, very long time. It’s been compared favourably to the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird period in the NBA.

Crosby and Ovechkin, in some ways, saved their respective franchises along the way, and did an awful lot to repair the damage caused by the NHL’s shutdown that obliterated the 2004-05 regular season and the ’05 Stanley Cup playoffs. The league enacted a slew of new rules coming out of that owners lockout and the two newcomers were able to flourish immediately. In the 2005-06 season, Crosby notched 102 points, and Ovechkin scored 52 goals.

That helped ignite a debate that raged for years. Which player was better? It hardly mattered in Washington, a franchise that had been an NHL afterthought for a quarter-century before general manager George McPhee authorized a tanking project that resulted in getting Ovechkin first overall in 2004.

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A bit over 5 minutes long,

via TSN,

Alex Ovechkin will be taking time away from the Washington Capitals to attend to a family matter and the health of a loved one, general manager Brian MacLellan announced Tuesday.

Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said later on Tuesday that Ovechkin is not expected back with the team this week, meaning he will miss the team's Stadium Series game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

NEW YORK (Feb. 13, 2023) – The National Hockey League (NHL) will embrace the college game day and tailgating atmosphere as part of its transformation of Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh for the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series sold-out outdoor game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals this Saturday, Feb. 18 (8 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2).

from Samantha Pell of The Washington Post,

Eight months removed from hip resurfacing surgery, Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has no aches or pains, no more trouble sleeping or walking and has no problem bending forward to tie his own skates. The 35-year-old says he is completely pain-free and is enjoying a taste of normalcy as he remains a crucial piece in Washington’s late-season push toward the playoffs.

Backstrom — who suffered chronic hip pain for years — has started to look like his old self since making his return to the Capitals lineup in early January. Just being on the ice is a feat for the veteran center, who faced significant doubt — even from inside the Capitals’ organization — that he would be back in the NHL so soon.

“It’s amazing,” Backstrom said. “It’s been a long journey for me getting back, but at the same time I am here and I am the kind of guy that loves to live in the present and the type of guy that loves to play hockey. Body feels better and better every day. Getting more comfortable out there. It is just [about] starting to trust yourself.”

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NEW YORK (Jan. 26, 2023) – The National Hockey League and adidas today unveiled the jerseys the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will wear when they face off in the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™ outdoor game at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, Feb. 18 (8 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2).

Both jerseys will be available at adidas.com, adidas.ca, NHLShop.com, NHLShop.ca, Fanatics’ network of online stores and at Capitals’ and Hurricanes’ team stores starting at noon ET today. Additional retailers will offer both jerseys starting Saturday, Jan. 28.

Additional details for the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series will be announced in the coming weeks. For the latest event details, visit NHL.com/stadiumseries and follow @NHL and @PR_NHL. Fans can join the conversation by using the official hashtag #StadiumSeries.

see the sweater below.

from Samantha Pell of The Washington Post,

Washington Capitals career. One day later, Mantha called the decision a “wake-up call.”

“I think I had a good stretch, a bad stretch,” Mantha said Monday. “It’s part of hockey, I don’t think I was playing terrible. Obviously the minutes were going down, so decision to play me [9:48] in my last game there so, you kind of knew it was coming.”...

“[Laviolette is] obviously not happy with my game,” Mantha said. “That’s pretty much it.”

Through 42 games this season, Mantha has nine goals and 14 assists, matching his totals from the 2021-22 campaign, when he played 37 games in an injury-shortened season....

He struggled to find consistency through the first half of the season and there were many nights he was unnoticeable on the ice. The Capitals tried to put him on the second unit of the power play, but he only recorded one goal and one assist while playing on the man advantage. Mantha was also placed on different forward lines as Laviolette searched for the right trio.

“I felt good, I mean body-wise, no injuries, I think it’s the first year in a couple of years that I played the first half of the season without getting injured,” Mantha said. “So I was pumped for that … [the scratch was] a wake-up call.”

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from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

One can still appreciate and maybe even marvel at Alex Ovechkin’s feats on the ice as the 37-year-old inexorably chases down Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894 goals that for the longest time seemed as untouchable as Hank Aaron’s 755 major league career home runs.

But the thrill is gone.

Because, at least for me, while it is intellectually possible to distinguish between Ovechkin the hockey player and Ovechkin the political commentator, it is a leap too far to do so on an emotional basis.

It is impossible to celebrate Ovechkin the man, who for years not only publicly aligned himself with the genocidal Russian president Vladimir Putin and his policies, but attempted to lead a movement in his support as late as 2017.

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via the NHL PR department,

NO. 8 IS NOW THE NO. 2-RANKED GOAL SCORER IN NHL HISTORY

For just over 31 years, two legendary names stood tall as the top two goal scorers in NHL history: Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. That changed Friday when Alex Ovechkin scored his 802nd career regular-season goal to overtake Howe (801) and move within 92 goals of tying Gretzky (894) for the most in League history.

In an empty net.

More coming.

Alex Ovechkin ties Gordie Howe for career goals.