2017–18 Washington Capitals season

2017–18 Washington Capitals
Eastern Conference champions
Metropolitan Division champions
Division	1st Metropolitan
Conference	3rd Eastern
2017–18 record	49–26–7
Home record	28–11–2
Road record	21–15–5
Goals for	259
Goals against	239
Team information
General manager	Brian MacLellan
Coach	Barry Trotz
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom Brooks Orpik
Arena	Capital One Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (49)
Assists	Evgeny Kuznetsov (56)
Points	Alexander Ovechkin (87)
Penalty minutes	Tom Wilson (187)
Plus/minus	Matt Niskanen (+24)
Wins	Braden Holtby (34)
Goals against average	Philipp Grubauer (2.35)

The 2017–18 Washington Capitals season is the 44th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. The team won the Metropolitan Division for the third year in a row. After defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Capitals qualified for the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1998 in which they lost in four games to the Detroit Red Wings.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Washington Capitals	82	49	26	7	46	259	239	+20	105
2	x – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	47	29	6	45	272	250	+22	100
3	x – Philadelphia Flyers	82	42	26	14	40	251	243	+8	98
4	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	45	30	7	39	242	230	+12	97
5	x – New Jersey Devils	82	44	29	9	39	248	244	+4	97
6	Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	35	11	33	228	256	−28	83
7	New York Islanders	82	35	37	10	32	264	296	−32	80
8	New York Rangers	82	34	39	9	31	231	268	−37	77

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Capitals' preseason schedule was released on June 7, 2017.

2017 preseason game log: 2–5–0 (Home: 0–3–0; Road: 2–2–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record 1 September 18 @ New Jersey Devils 1–4 0–1–0 2 September 20 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–2 1–1–0 3 September 22 St. Louis Blues 0–4 1–2–0 4 September 23 Carolina Hurricanes 1–4 1–3–0 5 September 27 New Jersey Devils 1–4 1–4–0 6 September 29 @ Carolina Hurricanes 1–3 1–5–0 7 October 1 @ St. Louis Blues 4–3 2–5–0

Regular season

The team released its regular season schedule on June 22, 2017.

2017–18 game log
October: 5–6–1, 11 points (Home: 1–3–0; Road: 4–3–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 5 @ Ottawa 5–4 SO Holtby Canadian Tire Centre 17,009 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 7 Montreal 6–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 9 @ Tampa Bay 3–4 OT Grubauer Amalie Arena 19,092 2–0–1 5 Recap 4 October 11 Pittsburgh 2–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 2–1–1 5 Recap 5 October 13 @ New Jersey 5–2 Holtby Prudential Center 13,458 3–1–1 7 Recap 6 October 14 @ Philadelphia 2–8 Grubauer Wells Fargo Center 19,817 3–2–1 7 Recap 7 October 17 Toronto 0–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 3–3–1 7 Recap 8 October 20 @ Detroit 4–3 OT Holtby Little Caesars Arena 19,515 4–3–1 9 Recap 9 October 21 Florida 1–4 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 4–4–1 9 Recap 10 October 26 @ Vancouver 2–6 Holtby Rogers Arena 18,293 4–5–1 9 Recap 11 October 28 @ Edmonton 5–2 Holtby Rogers Place 18,347 5–5–1 11 Recap 12 October 29 @ Calgary 1–2 Grubauer Scotiabank Saddledome 18,327 5–6–1 11 Recap
November: 9–5–0, 18 points (Home: 7–2–0; Road: 2–3–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 13 November 2 NY Islanders 4–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 6–6–1 13 Recap 14 November 4 @ Boston 3–2 Holtby TD Garden 17,565 7–6–1 15 Recap 15 November 6 Arizona 3–2 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 8–6–1 17 Recap 16 November 7 @ Buffalo 1–3 Grubauer KeyBank Center 17,146 8–7–1 17 Recap 17 November 10 Pittsburgh 4–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 9–7–1 19 Recap 18 November 12 Edmonton 2–1 SO Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 10–7–1 21 Recap 19 November 14 @ Nashville 3–6 Holtby Bridgestone Arena 17,113 10–8–1 21 Recap 20 November 16 @ Colorado 2–6 Grubauer Pepsi Center 15,070 10–9–1 21 Recap 21 November 18 Minnesota 3–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 11–9–1 23 Recap 22 November 20 Calgary 1–4 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 11–10–1 23 Recap 23 November 22 Ottawa 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 12–10–1 25 Recap 24 November 24 Tampa Bay 3–1 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 13–10–1 27 Recap 25 November 25 @ Toronto 4–2 Holtby Air Canada Centre 19,404 14–10–1 29 Recap 26 November 30 Los Angeles 2–5 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 14–11–1 29 Recap
December: 10–2–2, 22 points (Home: 8–0–0; Road: 2–2–2) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 27 December 2 Columbus 4–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 15–11–1 31 Recap 28 December 4 San Jose 4–1 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 16–11–1 33 Recap 29 December 6 Chicago 6–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 17–11–1 35 Recap 30 December 8 NY Rangers 4–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 18–11–1 37 Recap 31 December 11 @ NY Islanders 1–3 Holtby Barclays Center 11,053 18–12–1 37 Recap 32 December 12 Colorado 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 19–12–1 39 Recap 33 December 14 @ Boston 5–3 Holtby TD Garden 17,565 20–12–1 41 Recap 34 December 16 Anaheim 3–2 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 21–12–1 43 Recap 35 December 19 @ Dallas 4–3 OT Holtby American Airlines Center 18,112 22–12–1 45 Recap 36 December 22 @ Arizona 2–3 OT Grubauer Gila River Arena 10,904 22–12–2 46 Recap 37 December 23 @ Vegas 0–3 Holtby T-Mobile Arena 18,025 22–13–2 46 Recap 38 December 27 @ NY Rangers 0–1 SO Grubauer Madison Square Garden 18,006 22–13–3 47 Recap 39 December 28 Boston 4–3 SO Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 23–13–3 49 Recap 40 December 30 New Jersey 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 24–13–3 51 Recap
January: 6–2–2, 14 points (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 3–0–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 41 January 2 @ Carolina 5–4 OT Holtby PNC Arena 11,989 25–13–3 53 Recap 42 January 7 St. Louis 4–3 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 26–13–3 55 Recap 43 January 9 Vancouver 3–1 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 27–13–3 57 Recap 44 January 11 Carolina 1–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 27–14–3 57 Recap 45 January 12 @ Carolina 4–3 Grubauer PNC Arena 16,239 28–14–3 59 Recap 46 January 18 @ New Jersey 3–4 OT Holtby Prudential Center 14,163 28–14–4 60 Recap 47 January 19 Montreal 2–3 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 28–15–4 60 Recap 48 January 21 Philadelphia 1–2 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 28–15–5 61 Recap 49 January 25 @ Florida 4–2 Holtby BB&T Center 14,033 29–15–5 63 Recap 50 January 31 Philadelphia 5–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 30–15–5 65 Recap
February: 6–6–2, 14 points (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 3–4–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 51 February 2 @ Pittsburgh 4–7 Holtby PPG Paints Arena 18,652 30–16–5 65 Recap 52 February 4 Vegas 3–4 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 30–17–5 65 Recap 53 February 6 @ Columbus 3–2 Holtby Nationwide Arena 16,419 31–17–5 67 Recap 54 February 9 Columbus 4–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 32–17–5 69 Recap 55 February 11 Detroit 4–5 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 32–17–6 70 Recap 56 February 13 @ Winnipeg 3–4 OT Holtby Bell MTS Place 15,321 32–17–7 71 Recap 57 February 15 @ Minnesota 5–2 Grubauer Xcel Energy Center 19,027 33–17–7 73 Recap 58 February 17 @ Chicago 1–7 Holtby United Center 22,066 33–18–7 73 Recap 59 February 19 @ Buffalo 3–2 Grubauer KeyBank Center 18,228 34–18–7 75 Recap 60 February 20 Tampa Bay 2–4 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 34–19–7 75 Recap 61 February 22 @ Florida 2–3 Holtby BB&T Center 15,312 34–20–7 75 Recap 62 February 24 Buffalo 5–1 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 35–20–7 77 Recap 63 February 26 @ Columbus 1–5 Holtby Nationwide Arena 17,386 35–21–7 77 Recap 64 February 27 Ottawa 3–2 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 36–21–7 79 Recap
March: 10–4–0, 20 points (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 5–3–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 65 March 3 Toronto 5–2 Holtby Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 29,516 (outdoors) 37–21–7 81 Recap 66 March 6 @ Anaheim 0–4 Holtby Honda Center 15,910 37–22–7 81 Recap 67 March 8 @ Los Angeles 1–3 Grubauer Staples Center 18,230 37–23–7 81 Recap 68 March 10 @ San Jose 2–0 Grubauer SAP Center 17,562 38–23–7 83 Recap 69 March 12 Winnipeg 3–2 OT Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 39–23–7 85 Recap 70 March 15 @ NY Islanders 7–3 Grubauer Barclays Center 10,740 40–23–7 87 Recap 71 March 16 NY Islanders 6–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 41–23–7 89 Recap 72 March 18 @ Philadelphia 3–6 Grubauer Wells Fargo Center 19,687 41–24–7 89 Recap 73 March 20 Dallas 4–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 42–24–7 91 Recap 74 March 22 @ Detroit 1–0 Grubauer Little Caesars Arena 19,515 43–24–7 93 Recap 75 March 24 @ Montreal 6–4 Grubauer Bell Centre 21,302 44–24–7 95 Recap 76 March 26 @ NY Rangers 4–2 Grubauer Madison Square Garden 18,006 45–24–7 97 Recap 77 March 28 NY Rangers 3–2 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 46–24–7 99 Recap 78 March 30 Carolina 1–4 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 46–25–7 99 Recap
April: 3–1–0, 6 points (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 2–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 79 April 1 @ Pittsburgh 3–1 Grubauer PPG Paints Arena 18,639 47–25–7 101 Recap 80 April 2 @ St. Louis 4–2 Holtby Scottrade Center 18,841 48–25–7 103 Recap 81 April 5 Nashville 3–4 Grubauer Capital One Arena 18,506 48–26–7 103 Recap 82 April 7 New Jersey 5–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 49–26–7 105 Recap
Win (2 Points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs

Player statistics

Final Stats

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Alexander Ovechkin	82	49	38	87	3	32
Evgeny Kuznetsov	79	27	56	83	3	48
John Carlson	82	15	53	68	0	32
Nicklas Backstrom	81	21	50	71	5	46
T. J. Oshie	74	18	29	47	2	31
Lars Eller	81	18	20	38	–6	38
Tom Wilson	78	14	21	35	10	187
Dmitry Orlov	82	10	21	31	10	22
Jakub Vrana	73	13	14	27	2	12
Matt Niskanen	68	7	22	29	24	36
Brett Connolly	70	15	12	27	−6	30
Jay Beagle	79	7	15	22	3	16
Andre Burakovsky	56	12	13	25	3	27
Chandler Stephenson	67	6	12	18	13	8
Devante Smith-Pelly	75	7	9	16	−6	38
Alex Chiasson	61	9	9	18	1	26
Christian Djoos	63	3	11	14	13	10
Madison Bowey	51	0	12	12	–3	24
Brooks Orpik	81	0	10	10	−9	68
Taylor Chorney‡	23	1	3	4	8	6
Nathan Walker†	7	1	0	1	1	4
Aaron Ness	8	0	1	1	2	8
Travis Boyd	8	0	1	1	2	2
Jakub Jerabek†	11	1	3	4	−1	0
Michal Kempny†	22	2	1	3	1	14
Tyler Graovac	5	0	0	0	–3	2
Liam O'Brien	3	0	0	0	0	5
Anthony Peluso	2	0	0	0	0	4
Shane Gersich	3	0	1	1	–1	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Alex Ovechkin	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brett Connolly	1	0	1	1	-1	0
Jakub Vrana	1	0	1	1	-1	0
Chandler Stephenson	1	0	0	0	0	0
Nicklas Backstrom	1	0	2	2	0	0
Lars Eller	1	0	0	0	-1	0
Devante Smith-Pelly	1	1	0	1	-1	0
Alex Chiasson	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tom Wilson	1	0	0	0	0	2
Andre Burakovsky	1	0	0	0	0	2
T.J. Oshie	1	0	0	0	0	2
Evgeny Kuznetsov	1	2	0	2	0	2
Matt Niskanen	1	0	0	0	-1	0
Michal Kempny	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dmitry Orlov	1	0	0	0	-1	0
Jakub Jerabek	1	0	0	0	-1	0
Brooks Orpik	1	0	0	0	0	0
John Carlson	1	0	3	3	1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	50	50	2,829:35	31	15	4	143	3.03	1,520	.906	0	0	0	2
Philipp Grubauer	31	24	1,628:41	12	9	3	62	2.29	836	.926	3	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Philipp Grubauer	1	1	65:33	0	1	4	4.00	27	.852	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Capitals. Statistics reflect time with the Capitals only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Capitals only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Roster

Updated July 20, 2024

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
27		Alexander Alexeyev	D	L	24	2018	St. Petersburg, Russia
19		Nicklas Backstrom (A)	C	L	36	2006	Gävle, Sweden
25		Ethan Bear	D	R	27	2023	Regina, Saskatchewan
74		John Carlson (A)	D	R	34	2008	Natick, Massachusetts
6		Jakob Chychrun	D	L	26	2024	Boca Raton, Florida
26		Nic Dowd	C	R	34	2018	Huntsville, Alabama
22		Brandon Duhaime	LW	L	27	2024	Coral Springs, Florida
80		Pierre-Luc Dubois	C	L	26	2024	Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec
42		Martin Fehervary	D	L	24	2018	Bratislava, Slovakia
79		Charlie Lindgren	G	R	30	2022	Lakeville, Minnesota
88		Andrew Mangiapane	LW	L	28	2024	Bolton, Ontario
24		Connor McMichael	C	L	23	2019	Scarborough, Ontario
15		Sonny Milano	LW	L	28	2022	Massapequa, New York
77		T. J. Oshie (A)	RW	R	37	2015	Mount Vernon, Washington
8		Alexander Ovechkin (C)	LW	R	38	2004	Moscow, Soviet Union
21		Aliaksei Protas	C	L	23	2019	Vitebsk, Belarus
16		Taylor Raddysh	RW	R	26	2024	Caledon, Ontario
3		Matt Roy	D	R	29	2024	Canton, Michigan
38		Rasmus Sandin	D	L	24	2023	Uppsala, Sweden
23		Michael Sgarbossa	C	L	32	2018	Campbellville, Ontario
17		Dylan Strome	C	L	27	2022	Mississauga, Ontario
48		Logan Thompson	G	R	27	2024	Calgary, Alberta
57		Trevor van Riemsdyk	D	R	33	2020	Middletown, New Jersey
43		Tom Wilson (A)	RW	R	30	2012	Toronto, Ontario

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 3, 2017 (2017-07-03)	To New Jersey Devils Marcus Johansson	To Washington Capitals FLA's 2nd-round pick in 2018 TOR's 3rd-round pick in 2018
February 9, 2018 (2018-02-09)	To New York Rangers John Albert Hubert Labrie	To Washington Capitals Adam Chapie Joe Whitney
February 19, 2018 (2018-02-19)	To Chicago Blackhawks Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2018	To Washington Capitals Michal Kempny
February 21, 2018 (2018-02-21)	To Montreal Canadiens 5th-round draft pick in 2019	To Washington Capitals Jakub Jerabek

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	John Albert	Kärpät	1-year, $650,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Anthony Peluso	Winnipeg Jets	1-year, $650,000
July 3, 2017 (2017-07-03)	Devante Smith-Pelly	New Jersey Devils	1-year, $650,000
July 11, 2017 (2017-07-11)	Wayne Simpson	Providence Bruins	1-year, $650,000
October 4, 2017 (2017-10-04)	Alex Chiasson	Calgary Flames	1-year, $660,000
May 2, 2018 (2018-05-02)	Juuso Ikonen	Brynäs IF	2-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract
May 9, 2018 (2018-05-09)	Mathias Bau	Hershey Bears	1-year, $700,000 entry-level contract
May 9, 2018 (2018-05-09)	Maximilian Kammerer	Düsseldorfer EG	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 20, 2017 (2017-06-20)	Chris Bourque	Hershey Bears	1-year
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Karl Alzner	Montreal Canadiens	5-year, $23.125 million
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Joe Cannata	Colorado Avalanche	1-year, $650,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Paul Carey	New York Rangers	1-year, $650,000
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Kevin Shattenkirk	New York Rangers	4-year, $26.6 million
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Justin Williams	Carolina Hurricanes	2-year, $9 million
July 10, 2017 (2017-07-10)	Garrett Mitchell	Hershey Bears	1-year
July 14, 2017 (2017-07-14)	Stanislav Galiev	Ak Bars Kazan	2-year
July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)	Tom Gilbert	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	1-year
August 15, 2017 (2017-08-15)	Cody Corbett	Idaho Steelheads	1-year
September 13, 2017 (2017-09-13)	Christian Thomas	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	1-year

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date	Ref
Nathan Walker	Edmonton Oilers	December 20, 2017 (2017-12-20)

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date	Ref
Nathan Walker	Edmonton Oilers	December 1, 2017 (2017-12-01)
Taylor Chorney	Columbus Blue Jackets	February 21, 2018 (2018-02-21)

Players released

Date	Player	Via	Ref

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 22, 2017 (2017-06-22)	Christian Djoos	2-year, $1.3 million
June 23, 2017 (2017-06-23)	T. J. Oshie	8-year, $46 million
June 26, 2017 (2017-06-26)	Brett Connolly	2-year, $3 million
June 28, 2017 (2017-06-28)	Pheonix Copley	2-year, $1.3 million
June 29, 2017 (2017-06-29)	Chandler Stephenson	2-year, $1.3 million
July 2, 2017 (2017-07-02)	Evgeny Kuznetsov	8-year, $62.4 million
July 4, 2017 (2017-07-04)	Andre Burakovsky	2-year, $6 million
July 5, 2017 (2017-07-05)	Travis Boyd	1-year, $650,000
July 6, 2017 (2017-07-06)	Philipp Grubauer	1-year, $1.5 million
July 14, 2017 (2017-07-14)	Liam O'Brien	1-year, $650,000
February 10, 2018 (2018-02-10)	Lars Eller	5-year, $17.5 million contract extension
March 22, 2018 (2018-03-22)	Tobias Geisser	3-year, $2.6 million entry-level contract
March 23, 2018 (2018-03-23)	Shane Gersich	2-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract
April 4, 2018 (2018-04-04)	Brian Pinho	2-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract
May 2, 2018 (2018-05-02)	Axel Jonsson Fjallby	3-year, $2.58 million entry-level contract
May 4, 2018 (2018-05-04)	Ilya Samsonov	3-year, $4.425 million entry-level contract
May 16, 2018 (2018-05-16)	Aaron Ness	1-year, $650,000 contract extension
May 18, 2018 (2018-05-18)	Tyler Lewington	2-year, $1.35 million contract extension

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 23 and 24, 2017 at the United Center in Chicago.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
4	120	Tobias Geisser	D	Switzerland	EVZ Academy (NLB)
5	151	Sebastian Walfridsson	D	Sweden	Modo Hockey (J20 SuperElit)
6	182	Benton Maass	D	United States	Elk River High School (USHS)
7	213	Kristian Roykas Marthinsen	LW	Norway	Almtuna IS (J20 SuperElit)

References