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 who 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 for the 2025-26 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, last up are the Capitals.
Washington Capitals
Current Cap Hit: $91,375,000 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Ryan Leonard (two years, $950K)
Potential Bonuses
Leonard: $1.5MM
As expected, Leonard joined the Capitals once his college season came to an end and while he was largely a regular moving forward, they limited his minutes. That probably won’t be the case this season as a middle-six role seems likely. That should give him a chance to maybe hit one or two of his ‘A’ bonuses worth $250K apiece.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
D John Carlson ($8MM, UFA)
F Brandon Duhaime ($1.85MM, UFA)
F Hendrix Lapierre ($850K, 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)
After a rough first half in 2023-24, Ovechkin was better down the stretch that year and carried it over into last season where he went back over a point per game and broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. Even at this stage of his career (he’s 39), he still provided above-average value on his contract, something he has largely done even as the most expensive winger in NHL history in terms of total earnings. There has been plenty of speculation as to whether Ovechkin will want to play beyond the upcoming season and if he did, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Capitals ponder offering a deal with some incentives if they wanted to try to load up for one last kick at the end. Alternatively, returning to finish his career back home in Russia is a very realistic possibility as well.
McMichael had to settle for a bridge deal last season with cap space pretty tight for a Capitals team that spent all of the year in LTIR. The good news is that he had a career year and remains a key part of their long-term plans. With arbitration rights next summer, he’s well on his way to tripling his current price tag if he winds up around the 55-point mark again. Milano missed most of last season due to injury and ran hot and cold in the first year of the deal. As a bottom-sixer counted on to produce as a secondary scorer, that’s a hard niche to maintain. Barring a 15-goal, 30-point season or somewhere thereabouts, Milano could find himself making closer to half of this on his next contract.
Duhaime’s first season with the Capitals was a successful one as he locked down a bigger role and set a new personal best in points. He’s still someone who is more of an energy player than a scorer though which won’t help his value. That said, as an effective bottom-six checker, he should be able to push past the $2MM mark on his next agreement. Lapierre didn’t do much in limited action last season and if it weren’t for the fact he’s now waiver-eligible, he’d probably be on the outside looking in at a roster spot. But waiver eligibility should give him a long leash and now it’s up to him to establish himself as an every-game regular. If he can do that, doubling this contract could be realistic.
Carlson continues to be an above-average offensive performer who can still be counted on to play big minutes. It’s telling, however, that GM Chris Patrick indicated back in the spring that there were no plans to hold offseason extension talks. He’ll be 36 when his next deal starts and while a decline is bound to happen at some point, he still could get a multi-year pact in the $6MM or so range. With what they have tied up in their back end already, perhaps that’s not something they’re willing to do just yet. As for van Riemsdyk, he has fit in well on their third pairing for the last several seasons. Being a right-shot defender, the side that’s always highly coveted, a small increase even heading into his age-35 year seems reasonable.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Anthony Beauvillier ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Declan Chisholm ($1.6MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($3MM, UFA)
D Dylan McIlrath ($800K, UFA)
F Justin Sourdif ($825K, RFA)
Dowd has been a slow developer but he has worked his way from a depth player to a trusted checker who has reached double-digit goals in five straight years. That was enough to more than double his current AAV in exchange for a reasonable two-year term at 35. It would be surprising to see him beat that in 2027 unless the point production heads more toward the 40s than the mid-20s. Beauvillier rebounded a bit after a tough 2023-24 campaign and his playoff showing certainly helped his marketability as well. Barring him getting back to the 40-point threshold, it’s difficult to see his market being too much stronger two years from now. Sourdif is an interesting case with just four NHL games under his belt. The Capitals paid a fairly high price for him (a second-round pick plus a sixth) so they clearly feel he’s capable of being a full-time contributor. If he is, he’ll have arbitration rights in 2027 which would set him up nicely for his next contract.
Chisholm came over from Minnesota at the draft and quickly signed with Washington looking to avoid an arbitration hearing. Last season was basically his first as being a regular so he didn’t have a great case to make for a big raise. But he looks like a late bloomer and if he continues as a regular with the Capitals, he could move past the $2MM mark next time. McIlrath has primarily been an AHL player in recent years, leading to this price just above the minimum. He’s likely to be in a reserve role this season once again which should keep the cost low moving forward.
Signed Through 2027-28
G Charlie Lindgren ($3MM, UFA)
F Dylan Strome ($5MM, UFA)
It took a few years for Strome to establish himself but he has turned into quite the center in recent years for the Capitals, posting a point-per-game showing last season. That type of production for the price of a second liner is quite the bargain. If he can stay around this level of points over the next three seasons, his price tag could move more into the $8MM to $9MM range on his next contract.
Lindgren didn’t have the best of seasons in 2024-25 but his body of work with Washington has been that of an above-average backup. This price comes in a little below the top of the backup market so if he can bounce back a bit relative to last season, Washington should do fine here.
Signed Through 2028-29
F Aliaksei Protas ($3.375MM, UFA)
D Rasmus Sandin ($4.6MM, UFA)
Considering that Protas hadn’t been much of a scorer at the time he signed this contract, the five-year term carried some risk. But after he had a breakout season that saw him score 30 goals (after combining for a total of 13 on his entry-level deal), this looks like quite the bargain already, even if he winds up taking a step back offensively. This is one contract that shouldn’t be an issue for them.
There was always going to be some projection in Sandin’s deal and he did set new career bests offensively last season in the first year of the agreement. Playing behind a couple of veterans who rack up the points and power play time, Sandin’s point ceiling might not be too much higher in the short term but if he continues at the level he did last season, this will work out to be a fair market contract.
Signed Through 2029-30 Or Longer
D Jakob Chychrun ($9MM through 2032-33)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois ($8.5MM through 2030-31)
D Martin Fehervary ($2.75MM in 2025-26, $6MM from 2026-27 through 2032-33)
G Logan Thompson ($5.85MM through 2030-31)
D Matt Roy ($5.75MM through 2029-30)
F Tom Wilson ($6.5MM through 2030-31)
Dubois had a nice bounce-back year after his lone year in Los Angeles didn’t go as well as expected. He has quietly hit the 60-point mark in three of the last four seasons now although his goal production has dipped over the last couple of seasons compared to the previous two. He’s producing like a second center and being paid more like a first. With Strome being on a team-friendly deal, it’s largely a wash when you put them together but Dubois has a ways to go before providing positive value on this contract. Wilson had himself quite the season last year, setting new personal bests across the board including a 33-goal season. If he stays at that level for a few more years, Washington will get enough surplus value out of the contract to cover the back half where his rugged style of play is likely to catch up with him.
Chychrun was Patrick’s big move to help out the back end last summer, acquiring him on the opening day of free agency with the hope that they’d be able to work out a long-term deal. The change of scenery was good for him as he had a career year offensively with 20 goals and 47 points. That, coupled with the announcement of sharper cap increases for three years, was enough for Washington to up its offer to the point of getting this done. It’s higher than any contract handed out to a blueliner in free agency this summer but there’s a good chance that teams would have had higher offers than this had he got that far. That isn’t to say it’s a team-friendly deal by any stretch but rather that they still probably got a small break on the AAV.
Fehervary has been the key shutdown defender for the Capitals in recent years, making his current price tag quite the bargain. That will change with his new contract as it’s on the higher side for blueliners who don’t light up the scoresheet but as the Upper Limit continues to move up, this should hold up okay. Roy fit in well after coming over in free agency from Los Angeles last summer and was the same type of blueliner he has been for several years now. Like Fehervary, it’s on the higher side for a defense-first defender but it shouldn’t be an issue for them.
Thompson had been looking for an opportunity to be a starter and he got it last year when Vegas moved him to Washington. He responded with an impressive 31-6-6 record along with a career-low GAA and a SV% still above league average. That earned him this contract, one that’s below recent comparables for more longer-term starters with longer track records. If Thompson plays at this level moving forward, his deal will become club-friendly rather quickly.
Still To Sign
None
Buyouts
None
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Carryover Bonus Overage Penalty
None
Best Value: (non-entry-level) Protas
Worst Value: Dubois
Looking Ahead
After being very tight to the cap in recent years, Washington is in a much more favorable situation this year. They’re well-positioned to have ample flexibility to open the season and as long as they don’t deal with a rash of injuries, they project to be a potential contender with above-average cap space heading into the trade deadline. That could have them in line to make a bigger splash than they did at the last deadline when they were basically limited to adding Beauvillier on a cheap contract.
Ovechkin coming off the books next summer along with the $8.5MM increase to the Upper Limit also has the Capitals in good shape to either keep their captain and add around him or add multiple players of significance if Ovechkin calls it a career. After some tough years of battling with being deep into LTIR, things are looking up cap-wise for Washington.
Photos courtesy of James Carey Lauder and Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.