Capitals Sign Milton Gästrin To Entry-Level Deal
July 7: The Capitals have officially loaned to MoDo for the 2025-26 season, the team announced Monday. It’s unclear if he’ll participate in training camp in the fall.
July 3: We have our first signing from last week’s 2025 NHL draft. The Capitals announced they’ve signed forward Milton Gästrin to his three-year, entry-level contract. It pays him a $877.5K base salary, $97.5K signing bonus, and $85K minors salary each season for a cap hit of $975K, per PuckPedia.
Gästrin will be loaned back to his home country and play for MoDo Hockey of Sweden’s second-tier league in 2025-26, the team said. The playmaking forward was the No. 37 overall selection last Saturday, taken with a pick Washington acquired from the Bruins in the 2023 deadline trade that sent Dmitry Orlov to Boston.
Fresh off his 18th birthday yesterday, Gästrin was the No. 3 European skater in the draft as ranked by NHL Central Scouting and was a consensus late first/early second-round pick in public rankings. The 6’1″, 194-lb center won medals with Sweden at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup (bronze) and the under-18 World Juniors (silver) last season, racking up 11 goals and 32 points in 19 games in international competition for the U-18 squad.
In league play, Gästrin spent most of the season with MoDo’s U-20 squad in Sweden’s top junior league, the J20 Nationell. He served as an alternate captain and finished second on the team in scoring with 42 points in 40 games, tying for the team lead in goals with 18. He also made his professional debut, making eight pointless appearances for MoDo in the SHL. He’ll transition to a full-time professional role this fall, facing easier competition in the HockeyAllsvenskan after MoDo was relegated at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Because Gästrin will be loaned to MoDo and won’t see NHL action this season, his entry-level deal will slide to 2026-27 and won’t count against the 50-contract limit for Washington this year. He will still earn his $97.5K signing bonus for 2025-26, though, decreasing the cap hit of the contract when it goes into effect. He’s young enough that the contract is slide-eligible twice, so the deal won’t go into effect until 2027-28 if he also plays fewer than 10 NHL games in 2026-27.
Capitals Sign Hendrix Lapierre To One-Year Deal
The Washington Capitals and forward Hendrix Lapierre have agreed to the one-year, $850K contract, per PuckPedia. The 23-year-old will be eligible for restricted free agency next offseason, and his minimum qualifying offer then would be $892,500.
Lapierre appeared in 27 games last season for the Capitals, producing zero goals, eight assists, and a minus-three rating while averaging 9:48 of ice time per game. He fared much better in 32 games for the AHL’s Hershey Bears, scoring seven goals and 32 points.
Drafted by Washington with the 22nd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, Lapierre has posted nine goals and 22 points through 84 NHL games. Known for his stick handling and play-making abilities, Lapierre was viewed as a top prospect heading into the draft, but injury concerns allowed him to slip out of the top 20.
While he hasn’t found his footing in the NHL, he has tallied 79 points in 113 AHL games and gained valuable experience as part of two Calder Cup-winning teams for Hershey (2022-23 and 2023-24). What’s more, he earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP in 2023-24 after recording seven goals and 22 points in 20 games.
Lapierre will likely compete for a bottom-six spot in training camp, or at the very least, provide the Capitals with a reliable depth option in the AHL. If he hopes to make the team, he’ll likely need to improve his faceoff percentage, which sits at a paltry 37.4% for his career.
Capitals Notes: Milano, Free Agency, McMichael, Goaltending
After missing all but three games due to an upper-body injury sustained in November, it appears that Capitals winger Sonny Milano will be good to go for training camp. Speaking with reporters today at the end of development camp (video link), GM Chris Patrick indicated that the veteran is now ready to start going through his normal offseason regimen and that he is expected to participate in training camp. This comes six weeks after Patrick wasn’t sure if Milano would be available to start next season. Milano had 15 goals in 49 games back in 2023-24 and could be a useful depth scorer heading into 2025-26. He has one year left on his contract with a $1.9MM cap charge.
More notes from Patrick’s presser:
- While declining to say who he went after, Patrick noted that he tried to do something big to add to their roster but that it didn’t come to fruition. It doesn’t appear to be related to a lower offer than the player was looking for either, as Patrick said that “It didn’t come down to the money or the offer or the term or any of that. It was a player picking what he thought was the best situation both on and off the ice.” There was speculation that the Capitals were one of the finalists for winger Nikolaj Ehlers who ultimately accepted a six-year, $51MM contract with Carolina while Washington brought back Anthony Beauvillier on a two-year, $5.5MM pact soon after. In the meantime, he wouldn’t rule out signing another free agent but noted that there are some prospects who could make a push for a roster spot as well.
- After spending most of last season on the wing, Patrick suggested that Connor McMichael could get another opportunity to line up at center next season. The 24-year-old is a natural center but with Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois on the top two lines, the decision was made to put McMichael on the wing over playing him on the third line. It’s unclear if Patrick’s suggestion means that they’ll try that this season or if one of the other two will start on the wing to see how McMichael fares down the middle in the top six. Speculatively, it feels like something they’ll experiment with in training camp. Entering the final year of his contract, McMichael’s value would be higher next summer if he’s able to stay at center for the full season.
- While AHL Hershey starter Hunter Shepard departed in free agency (signing with Ottawa), Patrick indicated that they won’t be bringing in a replacement for him to take over as the starter. Instead, Clay Stevenson will get that role moving forward. Stevenson posted a 2.94 GAA and a .888 SV% in 33 outings with the Bears in 2024-25. At the moment, he would partner with Garin Bjorklund, Mitch Gibson, or prospect Antoine Keller, who is under contract with Hershey but has yet to sign with Washington.
Capitals Sign Lynden Lakovic To Entry-Level Contract
The Capitals have wasted little time getting their top pick under contract. The team announced that they’ve signed winger Lynden Lakovic to a three-year, entry-level deal. The agreement will pay Lakovic $975K in the NHL and $85K in the AHL per season. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the contract contains $250K in Class A bonuses in years two and three, pushing the AAV of the deal to $1.14MM.
The 18-year-old was the 27th pick in last month’s draft, slipping that far after being rated in the top 20 by many scouting agencies.
In his first full season at the WHL level in 2023-24, Lakovic didn’t light up the scoresheet but still managed a solid 18 goals and 21 assists in 68 games with Moose Jaw before adding eight points in 20 playoff contests in the Warriors’ run to the Memorial Cup.
Armed with a bigger role last season after several top players moved on, Lakovic led Moose Jaw in scoring despite missing 21 games due to injury. However, the Warriors struggled mightily, finishing at the bottom of the league standings with just 15 wins. Still, Lakovic, who took over as team captain late in the season, had 27 goals and 31 assists in 47 games along with just four penalty minutes despite his 6’4 stature.
In Washington’s team release, it noted that the expectation is that Lakovic will return to Moose Jaw for the upcoming season. Assuming that happens, his contract will ultimately slide and still have three years left on it heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
Capitals Re-Sign Anthony Beauvillier
The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward Anthony Beauvillier to a two-year, $5.5MM contract extension, per a team release. The contract will carry a $2.75MM AAV.
Last offseason, Beauvillier signed a one-year, prove-it deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins and made the most of that opportunity. Despite skating just 13 minutes per night in a bottom-six role in Pittsburgh, Beauvillier produced 13 goals through 63 games. He was then flipped to the Capitals in a deadline deal that sent a second-round pick back to Pittsburgh.
In 18 regular-season games with the Caps, the 28-year-old scored two goals and five points. However, he elevated his game in the playoffs, recording two goals and six points in 10 games. This continues Beauvillier’s trend of stepping up in the postseason, where he averages 0.57 points per game, notably higher than his career regular-season mark of 0.43.
A former first-round selection of the New York Islanders (28th overall in the 2015 draft), Beauvillier has scored 131 goals and 271 points through 631 games. While he has cracked the 20-goal plateau just once in his career (21 with the Islanders in 2017-18), he has six seasons with at least 15 goals, including last year. Of note, 16 of his 17 goals last season (including playoffs) came at even strength, with the lone exception being a shorthanded goal. He’ll likely slot into a third-line role with the Capitals and can slot up in the lineup if called upon.
With Beauvillier’s signing, the Capitals now have just $4.975MM of available cap space, per PuckPedia.
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.