Inside look at Washington Capitals

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Washington Capitals.

Alex Ovechkin's decision to return for his 22nd NHL season undoubtedly was the biggest headline for the Washington Capitals. But it was also, in a way, the cherry on top of what already had been a highly successful offseason.

Attempting to push themselves back into Stanley Cup contention, Washington was, perhaps, the most aggressive team in the League by adding forwards Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner and defenseman Vincent Desharnais before Ovechkin made it official July 2 that he would come back and continue to increase his NHL-record total of 929 goals.

The Capitals (43-30-9) tried to maintain perspective after failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, finishing three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and the final playoff spot in the East. After all, their 95 points were the same total as the Vegas Golden Knights, who finished first in the Pacific Division and reached the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Still, it was a step back after Washington finished first in the Eastern Conference with 111 points (51-22-9) and reached the second round of the playoffs the previous season.

"We didn't necessarily have to make drastic moves to make our team better than what we were last year," general manager Chris Patrick said. "But on the other hand, I do feel like the players were looking for something here, you know, 'Are we going to try to make that next step now? We were a good team last year. Are we going to look to make that next step now to be a top team in the League?'

"So I think we all thought it was important internally that we do some stuff that the players are going to see and say, 'Hey, management's all-in here. They believe in us.'"

The Capitals wanted to add at least one scoring wing to potentially play on their top two lines and landed two three-time 30-goal scorers in Kyrou, 28, and Tuch, 30. Kyrou arrived first, in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on June 23 for forwards Connor McMichael and Milton Gastrin, as well as the No. 16 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The next day, Tuch was acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and forward David Kampf after signing an eight-year, $84 million contract ($10.5 million average annual value).

Washington further strengthened its forward depth by signing the versatile Jenner, 33, to a four-year, $23 million contract ($5.75 million AAV) and bolstered its defense by signing Desharnais, 30, to a four-year, $16.8 million contract ($4.2 million AAV) on July 1.

"A really good offseason for us would have been getting one guy that we feel is a top-six forward, and maybe one more forward and a 'D' that can play on your third pair," Patrick said. "So to sort of come out with two top-six forwards and another guy that could arguably be a third-line forward with a lot of utility and then a 'D' that can kind of be a second-pair or third-pair guy, I think we really hit on a lot of things that that we'd hoped for on the high end.

"So, I think it was kind of the best-case scenario."

Liking what he saw, Ovechkin, who led the Capitals with 32 goals and 64 points last season, signed a one-year contract that includes $1 million in salary, a $4.75 million games-played bonus (10 games) and a $3.25 million signing bonus ($4.25 million AAV), and declared, "When you look at our roster, it's a Stanley Cup contender."

Of course, the Capitals still need to prove that, but coach Spencer Carbery expects his players to be highly motivated.

"I think with the additions, there's a lot of excitement and optimism around our team and now it's on us to go out there and deliver," Carbery said. "Whether the expectations are playoffs or contender, I'll leave that for people to evaluate."

The first step will be finding the right fits for the new players among the returning core of Ovechkin, who turns 41 on Sept. 17, fellow forwards Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Aliaksei Protas and Ryan Leonard, defensemen Jakob Chychrun, Martin Fehervary, Matt Royand Rasmus Sandin (likely out until January following ACL surgery), and goalies Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren.​

The season-opening lineup also likely will include rookie Ilya Protas, 20, as the third line center and rookie defenseman Cole Hutson, 20, after each impressed during brief stints at the end of last season.

Carbery has spent much of the offseason contemplating possibilities for the line combinations and defense pairs after talking to the new players about what's worked best for them in the past. The Capitals went through a similar situation two seasons ago when they seamlessly integrated seven offseason additions into their lineup. (Chychrun, Roy, Dubois and Thompson remain from those seven.)

"I absolutely think we're leaning on those experiences," Carbery said. "I also really push our leaders to do the same thing that they did two years ago of making Jakob Chychrun feel completely like he can just be himself and play his game and isn't tentative or nervous or tiptoeing around whether it's in our locker room, in practices, in games.

"I feel like our leadership group does an amazing job of this, starting with 'O,' making guys feel like they can just be themselves and play their game immediately upon arriving into the Washington Capitals locker room."