ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Washington Capitals plan to explore trade options after they “looked to try do something big and it didn’t go our way” on the unrestricted free agent market, general manager Chris Patrick said Saturday.
The Capitals could also stand pat for now, though, and leave room for young players to compete for jobs in training camp while leaving the door open for trades during the season.
“We’ll explore the trade market, see what’s out there,” 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.”
Patrick wouldn’t say whether the “something big” Washington tried to do was signing forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who signed a six-year, $51 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. But Patrick said the Capitals made a competitive offer for the player they pursued.
“It didn’t come down to the money or the offer or the term or any of that,” Patrick said. “It was a player picking what he thought was the best situation, I think, both on and off the ice. The process dragged out, obviously, but totally respect a guy taking his time to make the right decision for him.”
A few hours after Ehlers signed with Carolina, Washington re-signed forward Anthony Beauvillier, who was an unrestricted free agent, to a two-year, $5.5 million contract ($2.75 million AAV). The 28-year-old had 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists) in 81 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Capitals last season, including five points (two goals, three assists) in 18 games with Washington after he was acquired in a trade on March 7 for a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Washington hoped to add a forward who can play on one of their top two lines after scoring only seven goals in a five-game loss to Carolina in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals were one of the biggest surprises in the NHL last season, going 51-22-9 to finish first the Eastern Conference after squeaking into the playoffs as the second wild card in 2023-24.
It has been a quiet offseason for Washington, though, after adding seven players through trades and free agency last offseason to strengthen the lineup around 39-year-old captain Alex Ovechkin. Those included forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Taylor Raddysh and Brandon Duhaime, defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy, and goalie Logan Thompson.
The Capitals' only additions so far this offseason were forward Justin Sourdif, acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers on June 26 for a second-round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in 2027, and defenseman Declan Chisholm, acquired with a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on June 28 for defenseman Chase Priskie and a fourth-round pick in 2025.
Sourdif is expected to fill one of the spots on Washington’s bottom two forward lines created by the unrestricted free agent departures of Lars Eller (Ottawa Senators), Mangiapane (Edmonton Oilers) and Raddysh (New York Rangers). Chisholm replaces depth defenseman Alexander Alexeyev (Pittsburgh Penguins).
“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.”
Patrick listed Andrew Cristall, 20, Ivan Miroshnichenko, 21, Hendrix Lapierre, 23, and Ethen Frank, 27, as forwards who will compete for roster spots in training camp.
“That’s what training camp is for,” Patrick said. “We’ll see who’s ready to go.”
Sonny Milano, who played in only three games last season before sustaining a season-ending upper-body injury against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 6, could also fill one of the open forward spots.
“I actually talked to Sonny a few weeks ago and he feels good,” Patrick said. “He’s preparing to be a player for us in training camp. He was doing some offseason traveling and then he’s going to get back into skating a little earlier than he normally does and he was excited. He’s ready to go.”
Patrick said the Capitals could also wait until during the season to make a trade, pointing to the example of the Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who added forward Brad Marchand and defenseman Seth Jones leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline last season to help their repeat bid.
“They were huge contributors in the playoffs,” Patrick said. “They made adjustments as the season went on. They took advantage of opportunities that were there. So I think that’s the same mentality that we have to have.”
