Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch moves show Capitals still believe title window is open

Tuch was supposed to be the top free agent on the open market on July 1, but this obviously takes him off the market.

It also sends a big message about where the Capitals see themselves.

Capitals are pulling off a successful on-the-fly rebuild

Even though the Capitals have missed the playoffs in two of the past four seasons, including the 2025-26 season, they have seemingly straddled the impossible line between trying to compete and rebuild at the same time.

The on-the-fly rebuilds tend to leave teams stuck in some sort of messy no-man's land because they don't really know how to pull it off. But the Capitals have spent the past few years smartly selling veteran players for assets, and then quickly turning around and flipping those newly acquired assets to restock the NHL roster with younger, better players.

They did it a couple of years ago when they traded veteran defenseman Dmitry Orlov for a first-round pick, and then flipped a first-round pick for Rasmus Sandin. 

They traded John Carlson for a first-round pick at the 2026 deadline, which helped put them in a position to trade a first-round pick (along with forward Connor McMichael) as part of Tuesday's trade for Kyrou.

Along with that, they have not missed the opportunity to add players like Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy that can make an immediate impact when the opportunity presents itself.

They didn't just decide to pack up with a full teardown rebuild that left them at the bottom of the league for years with no guaranteed way out.  

The result has been a team that has overturned a lot of its core, while also creating an environment where young players can work their way up through the system and not have to take on roles that are too big for them early in their careers. It's been good for development, and it's been good for staying competitive.

Now Tuch gets added into that mix.

Tuch is by far the riskier of the recent moves, given his age and the financial commitment he is going to require. An eight-year, $84 million contract for a 30-year-old winger that isn't a superstar is the type of contract that tends to backfire by years four or five of the contract. 

But that still leaves an opportunity for the Capitals to get a big impact in the first half of the contract. And they likely will. Tuch has scored at least 33 goals in three of the past four seasons, and like Kyrou, is an outstanding player at generating offense off the rush. The Capitals were only 15th in the NHL in goals scored a year ago, and they have taken big steps toward fixing that. 

Do not let the fact that they missed the playoffs a year ago cloud your judgment of what this team can be this season.

The Capitals were not your typical non-playoff team.

They won 43 games and finished with 95 points, the type of performance that typically results in a postseason appearance. It was a weird year in the Eastern Conference, and there was some bad luck at play here. They still have a top-tier goalie, an excellent defense, some good young talent starting to make an impact and have added two proven top-six wingers while also still having over $11 million in salary cap space.

They should not only be back in the playoffs, but they should be a serious contender in the Eastern Conference.