Free Agent Focus: Washington Capitals

F Alex Ovechkin – If Ovechkin, the all-time greatest goal-scorer, intends to return to the Capitals for a 22nd season, Washington won’t know about it before the start of free agency. Yesterday, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Ovechkin plans to make his retirement decision, or stay with Washington, after July 1st. To be clear, those are the only two options. Ovechkin may effectively retire from the NHL and play a year or two in the KHL, but there’s no chance he plays for any team other than the Capitals if he stays in the NHL. The 40-year-old Russian has slowed down, there’s no question, but he remained more than effective this past season, scoring 32 goals and 64 points in 82 games with 134 hits.

F Brandon Duhaime – The Capitals got two different versions of Duhaime over this two-year contract. In 2024-25, Duhaime scored nine goals and 21 points in 82 games, averaging 13:21 of ice time per game. This past season, he took a major step back offensively, finishing with four goals and nine points in 82 games, averaging 11:04 of ice time. If he had any hopes of remaining with the Capitals, those were likely nixed given the team’s moves over the past few days. Still, Duhaime remains a highly physical and defensively sound bottom-six forward, so he should garner some interest on the open market.

D Trevor van Riemsdyk – Like Duhaime, van Riemsdyk will likely be looking for a new team next week. He didn’t have a horrible season, scoring three goals and 14 points in 68 games with 97 blocked shots, but the Capitals’ existing defensive depth is more than capable of covering for the loss of van Riemsdyk. As a bottom-pairing option, he likely won’t have the most robust market on the free agent market, but some teams will have interest in adding a right-handed veteran as a depth option.

Other UFAs: F Brett Leason, F Henrik Rybinski, F Wyatt Bongiovanni, D Corey Schueneman

Projected Cap Space

Washington’s salary cap situation has significantly changed over the past few days. After acquiring Kyrou, the Capitals also acquired Alex Tuch with a sign-and-trade with the Buffalo Sabres. In these two trades alone, Washington added nearly $19MM to their salary cap table for next season. Still, despite those moves, the Capitals have approximately $12.7MM remaining to improve the roster. If he stays, it’s difficult to determine what Ovechkin will command, but it’s likely to come with a lower base salary with high incentives. Washington already has 12 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies signed through next season, so they don’t have many holes to address. Regardless, it’s clear they’re pushing their chips in for the end of the Ovechkin era, and are looking to get back into the gauntlet of the Eastern Conference.