Capitals’ speedy return to contender status worthy of league-wide envy
If the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup two months from now, they may just go down as having one of the best on-the-fly re-tools in NHL history.
admin
While NHL general managers always try to get the best of each other, there’s also, no doubt, a huge amount of camaraderie among the people who hold such taxing, pressure-filled positions.
Yet it’s still worth wondering if — when GMs gather for meetings in some warm, southern locale — they sometimes clink a glass with Washington Capitals general manager Chris Patrick and say, “Thanks for nothing, pal.”
In the last 10 months, the Capitals have set the bar impossibly high for a re-tool on the fly. If they win the Stanley Cup two months from now, Washington may just go down as having — in a few respects — one of the best single-season runs in league history.
The Capitals, who have secured top spot in the Eastern Conference, close out the regular-season portion of their schedule on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. For years, the Penguins and Caps were huge rivals, with Sidney Crosby’s troops always getting the upper hand. That changed in 2018, when Alex Ovechkin’s crew beat Pittsburgh en route to the franchise’s first championship.
For a few seasons following that title, it felt like the clubs were on similar tracks, slowly whittling away while never truly entertaining the idea of a proper rebuild.
However, the Capitals — with an incredible surge this season — have separated themselves from not only the Penguins, but any number of teams that don’t have the stomach to tear it down, yet desire a return to contender status all the same.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371569888112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371569888112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371569888112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-155789" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6371569888112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6371569888112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/its-been-great-penguins-crosby-on-relationship-with-ovechkin/" }); });
The Penguins have failed miserably at getting healthy without taking the medicine of losing — will the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Calgary Flames or any other team existing in the so-called mushy middle do any better?
It’d be tough to equal what Washington has done, that’s for certain.
How have the Capitals pulled this off? To begin, there’s certainly a foundational element of extreme continuity in the franchise.
Patrick is just the fourth Capitals GM since 1982, following in the footsteps of David Poile (1982 to 1997), George McPhee (1997 to 2014) and the person who moved upstairs after 10 years as GM to give Patrick the job last summer, Brian MacLellan. The latter has been with Washington for 25 years in various positions, while Patrick has been there 15.
That’s a lot of the right hand knowing exactly what the left is doing, and the result is a roster dotted with varied and soaring stories of personnel success.
The Capitals’ top two centres are reclamation projects worthy of HGTV. Dylan Strome inked a one-year, show-me contract in 2022, then immediately went out and produced a career-best 65 points. Now he’s on a five-year deal and just delivered a point-per-game campaign on a $5 million cap hit.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, quite frankly, was thought to be radioactive when Washington traded for him last year following a miserable first season in Los Angeles, which doubled as the first season on an eight-year contract carrying an onerous $8.5 million cap hit. He was as untradable as they come. Or so we assumed.
Because Washington could shed the salary of goalie Darcy Kuemper — an open-market miss from 2022 — in the transaction, it dealt for Dubois and told him to just go out and play. He rewarded the team with a career-best 65 points.
Strome, 28, is a third-overall pick on his third team; Dubois, 26, is a fourth-overall selection on his fourth squad.
-
-
Watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet
The NHL’s best are ready to battle for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup. Watch every game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ beginning on April 19.
Washington also brought in two players who were one season removed from unrestricted free agency. The first, Logan Thompson, was acquired for a song from the Vegas Golden Knights and posted the fourth-best goals save above expected per 60 minutes in the NHL. The second, Jakob Chychrun, was picked up from Ottawa for a third-rounder and serviceable defenceman Nick Jensen. Chychrun has 20 goals this year, more than every blue-liner in the NHL not named Cale Makar (30) or Zach Werenski (22).
Thompson, 28, inked a six-year extension in January. Chychrun, 27, signed an eight-year pact in March.
Get ‘em, help ‘em, sign ‘em.
And for every superb swap Washington has made, there’s a matching internal success story to pair with it. Winger Connor McMichael, 24, became a 25-goal scorer this year; 24-year-old Aliaksei Protas — a third-rounder in the 2019 draft where McMichael went 25th overall — is a six-foot-six 30-goal scorer. And don’t forget about veteran Tom Wilson, a 16th-overall pick who attained unicorn status in the league and is finishing up his best season with 33 goals.
By the way, the draft hits just keep coming. Ryan Leonard has played eight games with the club since leaving Boston College, and even if the eighth-overall selection from 2023 doesn’t make a big impact this spring, he’s got top-six terror written all over him. Protas’s younger brother, Ilya, is a 2024 third-rounder who finished second in OHL scoring with 124 points as a major junior rookie. The younger Protas has put up 24 more points in *checks hockeydb* ah yes, eight — EIGHT! — playoff contests.
And who doesn’t love a Hutson these days? Lane Hutson is likely going to win the Calder Trophy after his rookie season in Montreal; Quinn Hutson just made his debut with the Edmonton Oilers after signing as a free agent and Cole Hutson — a Caps second-rounder last June — led the 2025 World Junior Championship in scoring as a gold medal-winning defenceman on Team USA. He’ll be making plays like Lane at the NHL level before you know it.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371535555112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371535555112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371535555112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-129906" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6371535555112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6371535555112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/breaking-down-the-most-intriguing-results-from-the-nhlpa-player-poll/" }); });
All this to say, the fun won’t be stopping any time soon in Washington, even with Ovechkin entering the final year of his contract next season.
Oh yeah, that guy.
The way Ovechkin, at age 39, chased down and surpassed the all-time goals record — posting the second-best goals-per-game mark in the NHL during a year where he broke his leg, for goodness’ sake — was further evidence of some fairy dust being sprinkled on this Washington season.
Of course, while the hockey gods always seem to have their say, you make your own magic in this league and to think the Caps landed a No. 1 goalie (Thompson), top-four defenceman (Chychrun) and second-line centre (Dubois) in the span of one off-season is just remarkable.
Could the Dubois move, specifically, inspire a team to get uncomfortable this off-season? Would someone go after Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson as a higher-risk, higher-reward version of what Washington pulled off?
Hey, the Capitals didn’t get where they are by thinking inside the box.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371184094112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371184094112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371184094112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-287028" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6371184094112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6371184094112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/how-capitals-ovechkin-evolved-while-maintaining-production/" }); });
Where Washington goes from here remains to be seen. Both Thompson and Protas are injured on the eve of the team’s first-round series with Montreal, which is not how you want to begin the 16-team derby. Still, anybody who wants to say the Caps — who could wind up making a 20-point jump from last season, when they were first-round roadkill — are smoke and mirrors does so at their own peril. Recent underwhelming results notwithstanding, this is a beefy squad that ranks No. 2 in goals per game (3.51) and ninth in goal against (2.77). They’re going to have something to say about how the East plays out.
Even if the Capitals don’t become the league standard-bearers by winning the Cup, they’ve certainly set an incredible precedent for teams in transition.
Best of luck to the other GMs out there trying to match it.
