Capitals Sign Louie Belpedio, Calle Rosen, Graeme Clarke To Two-Way Deals
The Capitals have added depth for their AHL affiliate with a trio of two-way signings, announcing deals for defensemen Louis Belpedio, Calle Rosen, and forward Graeme Clarke yesterday.
All three contracts carry NHL cap hits and salaries of $775K, the team said. Clarke and Rosen signed one-year deals, while Belpedio landed a two-year commitment. He also earns the priciest AHL salary of the trio at $575K, while Rosen will earn $525K and Clarke will earn $350K.
Belpedio, a third-round pick of the Wild in 2014, joins his fourth NHL organization. After spending time with Minnesota and Montreal, primarily in the minors, he landed with the Flyers in the 2022 offseason and has been in Philly on two-way deals ever since. He’s been an alternate captain for AHL Lehigh Valley for the last three years, and the 29-year-old righty recorded a 5-23–28 scoring line in 66 games last year with 88 PIMs and a +15 rating.
The Illinois native last saw NHL action in 2023-24, skating in a career-high 12 games with the Flyers. He notched two goals and two assists, his first points at the top level since he had two assists in his NHL debut for Minnesota in April 2018.
Rosen, 31, has 93 games of NHL experience compared to Belpedio’s 16. He’ll be the earlier call-up option if the Caps need a more offensive-minded defenseman on the roster. The 6’1″ lefty is three years removed from sniffing a full-time role with the Blues, recording 18 points and a +19 rating for them in 49 games in 2022-23 while averaging 15:36 per game.
The Swede played just six NHL games the following season, though, and didn’t see any NHL ice last year while on a two-way deal with the Avalanche. He’ll presumably take his talents to Hershey with no roster spots up for grabs on Washington’s blue line. The one-time AHL All-Star had 10 goals, 24 assists, 34 points, 24 PIMs, and a +22 rating in 62 games for the Colorado Eagles last season.
While the other two signings were outright UFAs, the 24-year-old Clarke joins the Caps organization after being non-tendered by the Wild. Minnesota picked the 2019 third-rounder up the prior offseason in a trade with the Devils as high-ceiling minor-league depth, but the 6’0″ winger ended up taking a step back offensively and didn’t land an NHL recall. He put together a 16-21–37 scoring line with a -13 rating in 64 games for AHL Iowa last season and has three games of NHL experience, all with New Jersey in 2023-24.
Nikolaj Ehlers Expected To Sign Today
July 2: Ehlers’ stay on the open market isn’t expected to last more than a few more hours. He’s down to a few teams and will make his decision at some point Wednesday, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic says.
July 1: Entering today, the top free agent on the board was now-former Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers. He’s due for a big payday after teams looking to land an impact winger in the form of Mitch Marner, who’s off to Vegas in a sign-and-trade, or Brock Boeser, who’s staying in Vancouver on a seven-year deal, failed.
Many pegged Carolina as the favorite to land Ehlers entering today. They’ll certainly have more competition now with other teams looking to circle back and regroup after their day-one activities, but they still have immense spending flexibility with $19MM in cap space and no other moves to make, even after today’s pickup of K’Andre Miller.
As Ehlers likely takes another day – maybe even longer – to mull offers, the Hurricanes did confirm they’ve been in contact with Ehlers’ camp and are “waiting to see where that goes,” general manager Eric Tulsky told reporters Tuesday evening (including the team’s Walt Ruff). ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported earlier in the day that the Capitals and Lightning were also in contact with Ehlers’ camp, but nothing will be imminent until tomorrow at the soonest.
Ehlers would really need to prefer going to Tampa or Washington to make that a reality. Neither has the cap space to pay him his market value, surely over $8MM per season at this stage on a seven-year deal, and would need to make corresponding moves to make him fit in. Carolina has both a pressing need for him, a system that plays to his analytically inclined game, and the cap space to address his financial needs out of the gate.
Beyond that, his list of realistic destinations might be limited. There will be other teams like the Maple Leafs who may want to create room and add him as an impact top-line piece in the absence of Marner.
Still, Toronto – or any other Canadian team, for that matter – is likely not on Ehlers’ radar, considering his newfound ability to be picky about where he ends up thanks to how the market broke in his favor. He prefers a warmer and less intense market than Winnipeg, Frank Seravalli said on today’s coverage of free agency from B/R Open Ice.
Capitals Sign Martin Fehervary To Seven-Year Extension
Today marks the beginning of a new league year which means players in the final season of their contracts are now eligible to sign a contract extension. It appears one of those players is Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the blueliner is expected to sign a seven-year, $42MM extension. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the deal will break down as follows:
2025-26: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2026-27: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2027-28: $4.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2028-29: $4MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2029-30: $3.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
2030-31: $2.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
2031-32: $2.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
The 25-year-old was a second-round pick by Washington back in 2018, going 46th overall. While he got a taste of NHL action the following year, it took him three seasons to establish himself as a regular for the Caps.
Fehervary has largely played the same role over his four full NHL seasons. He has averaged between 19 and 20 minutes a night of playing time while chipping in with some secondary scoring. He is actually coming off a career-high in points offensively as last season, he notched five goals and a career-best 20 assists while his best goal total (eight) game in his rookie year back in 2021-22.
Of course, it’s not the offensive production that has Fehervary set to sign this contract. He has been the defensive anchor for the Capitals in recent years and led the team in shorthanded ice time last season at just over three minutes per game. Fehervary is also typically among the team leaders in blocked shots and hits; he notched a career-best 150 in the former category in 2024-25.
Fehervary had one RFA-eligible year left and will be spending next season on a contract that carries a $2.675MM cap charge. He’ll get to more than double that starting in 2026-27 while Washington picks up an additional six seasons of team control and secures Fehervary through the prime of his career.
The deal also ensures that Washington will have one of the pricier back ends for the foreseeable future. While Fehervary’s contract won’t start until 2026-27, the Capitals are set to spend more than $35MM on their defense corps for the upcoming season, per PuckPedia. This contract will put their 2026-27 spending on the position over $27.5MM, with veteran John Carlson also in need of a new deal at some point. In that season, Fehervary is currently set to carry the second-highest cap charge among Capitals blueliners, checking in behind Jakob Chychrun ($9MM).
Photo courtesy of Peter Casey-Imagn Images.
Capitals Interested In Nikolaj Ehlers
After today’s flurry of moves, Nikolaj Ehlers has arguably become the top pending free-agent forward available. Commanding plenty of interest already, Murat Ates of The Athletic lists the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals as known suitors. He also mentioned the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it’s incredibly unfeasible given their salary cap circumstances.
It’s unlikely to be an exhaustive list, but, notably, the three prominent teams listed come from the Metropolitan Division. It’s been known for several weeks that the Hurricanes were looking to make a significant addition this summer after falling short in another postseason appearance. With limited cap space themselves, the Capitals and Rangers may be engaging in some gamesmanship, and merely making life more difficult for their intra-division rival.
Washington Capitals Acquire, Extend Declan Chisholm
Jun. 30th: It didn’t take long for the Capitals to extend their newest blueliner. According to PuckPedia, Washington has signed Chisholm to a two-year, $3.2MM contract, with a flat $1.6MM salary each year. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 campaign.
Jun. 28th: The Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals have gotten together on a defenseman trade. According to a team announcement, the Wild have traded Declan Chisholm and the 180th overall pick to the Capitals in exchange for Chase Priskie and the 123rd overall pick.
Thus ends a one-and-a-half-year run in Minnesota for Chisholm. The longtime depth defenseman was claimed off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets partway through he 2023-24 season and turned it into a consistent role with the Wild for some time. In large part due to injuries across Minnesota’s defensive core, Chisholm managed a career-high of 66 games played this past season.
Even further, Chisholm achieved career-highs across the board. He finished the season with two goals and 12 points, averaging nearly 17 minutes of ice time, with a -5 rating and 69 blocked shots. Additionally, his 50.4% CorsiFor% at even strength and 91.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength made him a quality depth piece for the Wild to have on hand.
Unfortunately, he’s unlikely to find a similar role in Washington. The Capitals already have seven defensemen signed through next season, without mentioning they’ll need a new contract for depth defenseman Alexander Alexeyev. If Chisholm isn’t content with moving back to the AHL, he’s an easy non-tender candidate heading into next week.
Meanwhile, Priskie has spent the last two years as a prominent blueliner for the AHL’s Hershey Bears and is expected to hold a similar role with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He’s scored 20 goals and 69 points in 130 AHL contests over the past two years, with an additional four goals and 19 points in 28 postseason contests.
Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report that the Wild were trading Chisholm.
Capitals Notes: Alexeyev, Free Agents, Fehervary, Sourdif
Following the end of the draft today, Capitals GM Chris Patrick met with the media (video link) and provided updates on several players. While not going out and confirming that the team won’t be tendering Alexander Alexeyev a qualifying offer on Monday, he stated that the team is “going to be as helpful as we can to him to get him the best opportunity to play in the NHL next year.” Alexeyev was limited to just eight games during the regular season with Washington and with their addition of Declan Chisholm earlier today, it’s harder to see a pathway to playing time if he remains with the Capitals. Knowing that a qualifying offer would also carry arbitration rights, the likeliest outcome is that he’s cut loose.
More from Patrick’s presser:
- Patrick indicated that he’s spoken to almost all of Washington’s pending unrestricted free agents, a list that includes forwards Anthony Beauvillier, Andrew Mangiapane, Lars Eller, and Taylor Raddysh. He added that he’s still talking to some of them so it’s not a guarantee that all of them will ultimately hit the open market on Tuesday. The Caps currently have a little over $9MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia.
- When asked about defenseman Martin Fehervary, Patrick stated that the blueliner is doing great in his recovery from meniscus surgery and is pretty much at the point where he can begin his normal offseason training routine. That would suggest that the 25-year-old will be ready to participate in training camp. Fehervary played in all but one game during the regular season but wasn’t able to suit up in the playoffs due to the surgery.
- Newcomer Justin Sourdif signed earlier today, inking a two-year deal. The trade earlier this week to acquire him raised some eyebrows given that the cost was a second-round pick plus a sixth for a player who only had four NHL appearances under his belt in three years. Patrick noted that there was another suitor for Sourdif’s services that had a second-rounder on the table, one that was slightly better than Washington’s, requiring them to offer up the extra draft choice to make sure they got him.
Capitals Sign Justin Sourdif To Two-Year Deal
The Capitals have signed winger Justin Sourdif to a two-year deal worth $1.65MM, the team announced Saturday. It’ll carry a cap hit of $825K. The team didn’t specify whether it’s a one-way or two-way contract, but PuckPedia confirms it’s the former. He’ll earn an $800K salary in 2025-26 and an $850K salary in 2026-27.
Washington acquired Sourdif, who was set to become a restricted free agent next Tuesday, from the Panthers on Thursday in exchange for a pair of draft picks, including a 2026 second-round selection. The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by Florida in 2020 and was wrapping up his entry-level contract.
Sourdif’s $825K cap hit is lower than the NHL salary he would have earned by accepting his qualifying offer, which would have been $874,125. That QO would have been a two-way contract, though, and only for one year. By taking this contract, he lands an exponentially higher salary guarantee along with an extra year of insurance.
With contract business now in the rearview, Sourdif turns his attention toward cracking Washington’s opening night roster in the fall. He’s got a good chance of doing so. If the Capitals wanted to assign him to AHL Hershey, he’d need to clear waivers. That’s not a risk they’d presumably be willing to take given the acquisition cost they paid.
Sourdif has spent the vast majority of his three professional seasons with AHL Charlotte, where the 5’11” sniper has a 35-61–96 scoring line in 149 career games. That includes 16 goals and 34 points in 48 games this past season, his best points-per-game total in the pros by far. He’s also landed four NHL appearances with Florida over the last two seasons, including one in 2024-25 against the Predators in February. That game saw him record his first NHL goal.
He joins a group of depth forwards vying for bottom-six roster spots in Washington that includes Ethen Frank, Hendrix Lapierre, and Ivan Miroshnichenko. If there needs to be an odd man out, it’ll presumably be Miroshnichenko. While a first-round pick in 2022 who’s still on a good development track, he’s the only waiver-exempt one of the group.
Capitals Acquire Justin Sourdif
The Capitals have added some forward depth, announcing that they’ve acquired Justin Sourdif from the Panthers. In return, Florida receives Washington’s second-round pick in 2026 and Washington’s sixth-round selection in 2027.
The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by the Panthers back in 2020, going 87th overall. He spent the following two seasons in the WHL, splitting time between Vancouver and Edmonton, including his final season that saw him notch 72 points in just 52 games.
However, despite the offensive prowess in junior, NHL playing time has been hard to come by so far for Sourdif. He has just four appearances at the top level under his belt with only one of those coming this season in a game in late February when he scored his first career NHL goal. The rest of his time has been spent at the AHL level with Charlotte.
After putting up 24 points in 48 games with the Checkers in his first professional season in 2022-23, Sourdif was able to improve on that the following year with 38 points in 58 appearances. This year, his point total dipped slightly to 34 but he only got into 43 games after missing the first month of the season due to an injury sustained during training camp. He played an important role in Charlotte’s run to the Calder Cup Finals, collecting 10 points and 32 penalty minutes in 18 postseason appearances.
Sourdif will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season and clearly, the Capitals feel that he’s ready for full-time duty at the NHL level despite the limited opportunity that he has received so far and were willing to give up a return of some significance to make sure they got him while Florida adds a pair of future selections to their pick cupboards which aren’t exactly well-stocked at the moment.
The first order of business for the Capitals with Sourdif will be signing him to a new contract as his entry-level deal is set to expire at the end of the month. He’ll be a restricted free agent without arbitration eligibility and will be owed a two-way qualifying offer worth $874K in the NHL and $80K in the minors. Given that they clearly view Sourdif as an NHL piece moving forward, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a one-way contract given to him that checks in a little below that amount, giving Washington a little extra cap flexibility heading into free agency.
Capitals Re-Sign Henrik Rybinski To Two-Way Deal
The Capitals have retained pending RFA forward Henrik Rybinski on a two-way deal for 2025-26, the team announced Thursday. He’ll make the league minimum $775K salary if he’s in the NHL and a $130K salary in the minors.
It’s a nice birthday present for Rybinski, who turns 24 today. He’s yet to make his NHL debut but has spent the last three seasons developing in AHL Hershey after signing his entry-level contract in March 2022. That deal was due to expire this summer, making him a restricted free agent, but he’ll get some offseason business early out of the way with an extension.
Rybinski signs a deal that carries a lower NHL salary and cap hit than his $813,750 qualifying offer would have provided, but does land a higher AHL salary in the process. That’s the more important number for him since he’s not anticipated to spend much of any time on the NHL roster in 2025-26. He is coming off a nice year in Hershey, though, posting a career-high 10-25–35 scoring line with a +11 rating in 60 games.
The two-time Calder Cup champion with the Bears will now get another season to show the Caps what he can do. He was initially a fifth-round pick by the Panthers back in 2019, but they opted not to sign him to an entry-level deal, and his signing rights expired two years later. Washington ended up picking him up in free agency after he scored 65 points in 47 games for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds in 2021-22.
Since Rybinski will turn 25 by next July 1 and has accrued three seasons of professional experience, he’ll almost certainly be a Group VI unrestricted free agent next summer, so this was Washington’s last summer with control over Rybinski’s rights. The only way they can avoid making him UFA-eligible next summer is by playing him in 80 NHL games next season, a highly unlikely scenario.
AHL Notes: Pitlick, Gibson, Utica
The Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, announced Wednesday they’ve signed forwards Rem Pitlick and Rhett Pitlick to one-year and two-year contracts, respectively. Both are still free agents in the NHL’s eyes, but will have a secure playing role in the pros in Edmonton’s system next season.
Rem, 28, is the older of the two brothers and has the NHL experience to show for it. He’s produced quite well in limited minutes when given the chance but has never found a stable home, suiting up for the Predators, Canadiens, Wild, and Blackhawks in parts of five seasons from 2018-19 to 2023-24. He’s managed a 21-33–54 scoring line in 132 career games, but despite that solid production, he didn’t land an NHL contract for 2024-25. He didn’t sign anywhere until February, when he inked an AHL contract with the Sharks’ affiliate. He finished the year with two goals and 13 points in 18 games, a diminished output from the point-per-game rate he’s hovered around in the minors over the past few years.
He’s joined by his younger brother, Rhett. The 24-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Canadiens in 2019, but they relinquished his signing rights last offseason. Instead of turning pro following three years at the University of Minnesota, he transferred to Minnesota State for his senior season. He led the Mavericks with 27 assists, 40 points, and a +32 rating in 39 games en route to a CCHA regular-season and tournament championship. He was also named to the conference’s First All-Star Team and was dubbed CCHA Forward of the Year. He finished the season on a tryout with Bakersfield, notching six assists in six games with a plus-eight rating. Both are strong candidates to get NHL contracts from the Oilers at some point next season if they perform well and move up their list of potential call-ups.
Other notable news out of the AHL:
- It’s unclear if the Capitals plan on issuing a qualifying offer to pending RFA goalie Mitchell Gibson, but the depth netminder will be staying in the organization next season regardless. He’s agreed to a one-year contract with the Hershey Bears, per a club announcement. Gibson, 26, was a fourth-round pick by the Caps in 2018 and turned pro in 2023 following four seasons at Harvard. He’s spent the vast majority of his pro career down a level with ECHL South Carolina but has made three appearances for the Bears in the past two years, recording a 1.95 GAA and .920 SV% in the process. He also did quite well in limited ECHL action this past season with a .933 SV% and 1.75 GAA in 14 games for the Stingrays. That may be enough to land him a full-time AHL job as a backup with Hershey in 2025-26 without taking up a contract slot on Washington’s books, particularly if the club doesn’t plan on re-signing UFA Hunter Shepard.
- The Devils announced that the coaching staff for their affiliate, the Utica Comets, is set in stone for next season. Ryan Parent will stay on as head coach after taking over for Kevin Dineen on an interim basis early last year. They had a 31-33-6-2 record after the coaching change following a 0-8-1 start under Dineen. The club also promoted player development coach Mark Voakes to an assistant role under Parent and hired former NHL defenseman Matt Carkner as his other assistant. Utica’s goaltending coach, Brian Eklund, remains in his post.