Capitals Rumors

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, next up is the Capitals.

Washington Capitals

Current Cap Hit: $98,665,965 (above the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Hendrix Lapierre (one year, $863K)

Potential Bonuses
Lapierre: $445K

Lapierre spent the bulk of last season with Washington with some short stints with AHL Hershey mixed in.  Most of that time was in a bottom-six role, one he’s likely to have this season as well which means his bonuses are unlikely to be met, aside from possibly any games-played ones.  A bridge agreement should be the outcome for Lapierre who, if he stays in the bottom six for most of this season, could possibly double his current price tag next summer.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

D Alexander Alexeyev ($825K, RFA)
F Nicklas Backstrom ($9.2MM, UFA)
D Ethan Bear ($2.0625MM, UFA)
D Jakob Chychrun ($4.6MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($1.3MM, UFA)
G Charlie Lindgren ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Andrew Mangiapane ($5.8MM, UFA)
D Dylan McIlrath ($775K, UFA)
F T.J. Oshie ($5.75MM, UFA)
F Taylor Raddysh ($1MM, UFA)
G Logan Thompson ($766.7K, UFA)
F Jakub Vrana ($775K, UFA)

Let’s get Backstrom and Oshie out of the way together as they’re in the same situation.  Backstrom remains on LTIR where he was for most of last season while it’s unlikely that Oshie will be able to suit up this season either.  GM Chris Patrick’s early-offseason spending was a strong indicator that the team doesn’t believe Oshie will be cleared to play.

Mangiapane was one of the additions through that early spending.  After scoring 35 goals in 2021-22 (yielding this contract), he has just 31 in the two years since then although he has reached at least 40 points each time.  At this point, a small pay cut could be coming but if he can even get back to 30 goals with his new team, Mangiapane could push past $6MM next summer.

Dowd has gone from being a regular fourth liner a few years ago to a regular third liner, pushing past 20 points in three straight years now.  A center who can kill penalties, he’s in line to potentially add another million per season or so to that number, albeit on a short-term deal as he’ll be 35 next summer.   Raddysh was non-tendered this summer, resulting in him looking for a short-term rebound deal.  Only a year removed from a 20-goal campaign, he could double this next summer if he can get back to the 15-goal mark or so.  Vrana had to earn a deal the hard way through a PTO but landed one earlier this week.  After bouncing around a bit in recent years, it’s hard to see him commanding much more than the minimum unless he has a big season offensively.

Chychrun was brought in via an early July trade to help bolster the back end.  He doesn’t produce enough to be a high-end threat offensively but he has reached the double-digit goal mark in three of the last five years and reached the 40-point plateau last season as well.  If he stays in that range while continuing to play heavy minutes, his next deal could surpass $7MM on a long-term agreement.

Bear was a midseason signing last year that hasn’t panned out yet.  After exiting the Player Assistance Program over the offseason, he wound up not making the team and cleared waivers earlier this month.  He’ll carry a pro-rated $912.5K cap charge while with AHL Hershey and if he’s there all season, he’ll be looking at something closer to the minimum next summer.  Alexeyev has had a limited role so far in his NHL action, primarily playing part-time on the third pairing.  His qualifying offer checks in just below $920K with arbitration rights next summer but Washington won’t be able to afford that roster spot costing much more than that.  McIlrath, meanwhile, has primarily been in the minors in recent years and accordingly, his next deal should come in at or near the minimum salary again.

Lindgren was a late bloomer but since joining Washington two years ago, he has established himself as at least a capable NHL netminder.  Last season, he wrestled away the number one job from Darcy Kuemper which will only help his cause in negotiations.  Still, with a limited track record (just 110 career NHL appearances heading into the season), an early extension isn’t likely – both sides probably want to wait and see what happens – but if he has a similar year to this one, he should earn at least $3MM on a multi-year agreement next summer.  If it’s another year as a true starter, the recent five-year, $25MM contract given to Joey Daccord could come up in talks.

Thompson also has somewhat of a limited track record in terms of experience but is also a few years younger with better career numbers after three strong seasons in Vegas.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be shocking if his camp is already eyeing something close to Daccord’s new deal if and when extension talks get underway.  The cheapest goalie in the NHL, Thompson’s next deal will certainly change that soon enough.

Signed Through 2025-26

D John Carlson ($8MM, UFA)
F Brandon Duhaime ($1.85MM, UFA)
D Martin Fehervary ($2.675MM, RFA)
F Connor McMichael ($2.1MM, RFA)
F Sonny Milano ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Alex Ovechkin ($9.5MM, UFA)
D Trevor van Riemsdyk ($3MM, UFA)

Ovechkin is one of the top scorers in NHL history and even with a very high AAV for most of his career, he has lived up to it.  That might be ending soon strictly from a bang-for-buck perspective.  The 39-year-old had the lowest full-season production of his career and players generally don’t have a resurgent year at that age.  That said, with all he has done for them and the chase for the all-time record, the Capitals won’t be too concerned if they’re not getting top value here.

McMichael received a bridge deal which was a pretty obvious outcome considering he spent most of 2022-23 in the minors.  But if he can stay in the top six regularly, he could double that next time out with arbitration eligibility and if it looks like he’s a core piece for the future by then, a long-term deal could push past $5MM.  Milano managed 15 goals in 49 games last season which isn’t bad production for that price tag but the book on him in recent years is that he can be effective only in a limited role.  That has hindered his market before and probably will next time out unless something changes over the next couple of years.  Duhaime is a crash-and-bang winger who only managed five goals last season, making this price tag seemingly a bit high for that role but perhaps a change of scenery will allow him to contribute a bit more offensively which would set him up to pass $2MM next time out.

While Carlson didn’t light up the scoresheet as much as he has in the past, he did reach the double-digit goal mark for the sixth time in the last seven years last season and logged a career high in ice time at nearly 26 minutes a night.  That type of playing time is unsustainable for a 34-year-old but he doesn’t need to play that much to justify this deal.  He remains an all-situations type of player which should give this contract a good chance to hold up value-wise over the final two seasons.  It’s not inconceivable that he lands a small raise next time out although the likelier outcome is more of a medium-term agreement that would allow the AAV to be a bit lower.

As for van Riemsdyk, he has found a home in Washington, going from being a player toward the end of the depth chart to spending a lot of time on the second pairing.  This price tag for someone in that role is good value.  He’ll be entering his age-35 year on his next contract so he might be hard-pressed to get much more than this in 2026.  Fehervary, meanwhile, is on his bridge deal and has similarly played a lot on the second pairing.  Given that he’s still 25, he could push past the $4MM mark if things go well, perhaps $5MM on a long-term pact.  His current deal is front-loaded, carrying just a $1.075MM qualifying offer two years from now.

Signed Through 2026-27

None

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