3 Capitals Breakout Candidates for 2026-27 

The Washington Capitals enter the 2026-27 campaign expecting to return to the postseason party behind a talented group including Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, and Jakob Chychrun. As you navigate the roster, you’ll eventually land upon our three Capitals’ breakout candidates for the upcoming campaign: Cole Hutson, Ryan Leonard, and Justin Sourdif. If these three skaters can raise the level of their game this season, Washington becomes a far more dangerous team to play against this fall. 

Cole Hutson

Hutson was injected right into the Capitals’ postseason push in 2025-26, skating over 17 minutes per night as Washington battled into the dying days of the campaign. The 5-foot-11 defender scored three goals and recorded 10 points in 14 contests, including a goal celebration in his first NHL game against the Ottawa Senators on March 18.

The brief experience left Capitals fans dreaming of the many ways Hutson’s skills could impact Washington’s defense, which already featured the league’s top-scoring defender (Chychrun) last season. 

The Capitals rookie enters his first pro season as one of the early-season favorites to win the 2027 Calder Trophy. Hutson will have some stiff competition on his hands against Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna, and Ivar Stenberg. All four players possess franchise-changing potential, but Hutson is the only defender among that talented group of skaters.

Hutson is expected to start on the third-pairing unit in Washington behind a pair of highly paid left-handed defenders: Chychrun and Martin Fehervary. Both of those players are in the early years of their long-term contract extensions. Chychrun is earning $9 million per season in the second season of an eight-year, $72 million deal; meanwhile, Fehervary is beginning a seven-year, $42 million extension, earning $6 million against the cap, which he signed with Washington in July 2025. 

This means Hutson should have an opportunity to grow and develop over the 84-game slate. If the younger defender is truly worthy of those Calder nominations, he will certainly find himself playing inside the Capitals’ top four group behind Chychrun as the calendar flips to 2027. A 20-goal, 60-point season should be enough to put the Hutson name as a Calder Trophy finalist for the second time in three seasons. 

Ryan Leonard

Leonard will be playing the season on the final year of his NHL rookie deal, earning $950K for the upcoming campaign. However, the 21-year-old forward can sleep comfortably as the ink dries on his eight-year, $84 million contract extension signed with Washington on Sept. 15.

General manager Chris Patrick decided to lock down the promising forward before the newest extension of the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) kicked in the following day. Moving forward, the maximum term of a contract for players is now capped at seven seasons. 

It was a deal that makes sense for a 6-foot-1 forward who scored 20 goals and totaled 45 points in 75 games. The eighth overall selection from the 2023 NHL Draft averaged 14 minutes a night in head coach Spencer Carbery’s lineup, and he should be in line for similar duties unless he is able to steal minutes away from a player like Tuch, Kyrou, and/or Boone Jenner this season.