2016–17 Washington Capitals season

2016–17 Washington Capitals
2016–17 Washington Capitals
Presidents' Trophy winners
Metropolitan Division champions
Division	1st Metropolitan
Conference	1st Eastern
2016–17 record	55–19–8
Home record	32–7–2
Road record	23–12–6
Goals for	263
Goals against	182
Team information
General manager	Brian MacLellan
Coach	Barry Trotz
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom; Brooks Orpik
Arena	Verizon Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hershey Bears (AHL); South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	T.J. Oshie; Alexander Ovechkin (33)
Assists	Nicklas Backstrom (63)
Points	Nicklas Backstrom (86)
Penalty minutes	Tom Wilson (133)
Plus/minus	Brooks Orpik (+32)
Wins	Braden Holtby (42)
Goals against average	Philipp Grubauer (2.04)
	← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Washington Capitals season was the 43rd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.^[1] They finished the season as President's Trophy winners for the second consecutive year, and third time in team history.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division
Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Washington Capitals	82	55	19	8	53	263	182	+81	118
2	x – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	50	21	11	46	282	234	+48	111
3	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	50	24	8	47	249	195	+54	108
4	x – New York Rangers	82	48	28	6	45	256	220	+36	102
5	New York Islanders	82	41	29	12	39	241	242	−1	94
6	Philadelphia Flyers	82	39	33	10	32	219	236	−17	88
7	Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	31	15	33	215	236	−21	87
8	New Jersey Devils	82	28	40	14	25	183	244	−61	70

Source: National Hockey League^[2]
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Conference standings

Template:2016–17 NHL Eastern Conference standings

Schedule and results

Regular season

2016–17 Schedule

October: 5–2–1 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 3–1–1), 11 Points

November: 8–4–1 (Home: 6–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–1), 17 Points

December: 8–3–3 (Home: 4–2–1 ; Road: 4–1–2), 19 Points

January: 12–2–1 (Home: 7–0–0 ; Road: 5–2–1), 25 Points

February: 9–2–1 (Home: 6–0–0 ; Road: 3–2–1), 19 Points

March: 9–5–1 (Home: 6–1–1 ; Road: 3–4–0), 19 Points

April: 4–1–0 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 3–0–0), 8 Points

Legend: = Win = Loss = OT/SO Loss

Playoffs

2017 Stanley Cup playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC2) Toronto Maple Leafs: Washington won 4–2

Eastern Conference Second Round vs. (M2) Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh won 4–3

Win Loss

Player statistics

Updated as of April 23, 2017

Skaters

Regular season^[3]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Nicklas Backstrom	82	23	63	86	17	38
Alexander Ovechkin	82	33	36	69	6	50
Evgeny Kuznetsov	82	19	40	59	18	46
T. J. Oshie	68	33	23	56	28	36
Marcus Johansson	82	24	34	58	25	10
Justin Williams	80	24	24	48	14	50
Matt Niskanen	78	5	34	39	20	32
John Carlson	72	9	28	37	7	10
Andre Burakovsky	64	12	23	35	13	14
Dmitry Orlov	82	6	27	33	30	51
Jay Beagle	81	13	17	30	20	22
Lars Eller	81	12	13	25	15	36
Brett Connolly	66	15	8	23	20	40
Daniel Winnik	72	12	13	25	15	49
Tom Wilson	82	7	12	19	9	133
Nate Schmidt	60	3	14	17	22	16
Karl Alzner	82	3	10	13	23	28
Brooks Orpik	79	0	14	14	32	48
Taylor Chorney	18	1	4	5	8	11
Jakub Vrana	21	3	3	6	2	2
Zach Sanford^‡	26	2	1	3	0	6
Paul Carey	6	0	0	0	-2	0
Riley Barber	3	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Ness	2	0	0	0	-1	0
Liam O'Brien	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chandler Stephenson	4	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Shattenkirk^†	19	2	12	14	4	10

Playoffs^[3]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
T. J. Oshie	6	3	4	7	1	2
Justin Williams	6	3	3	6	1	6
Nicklas Backstrom	6	2	4	6	1	6
Marcus Johansson	6	2	3	5	0	2
Alexander Ovechkin	6	5	3	8	1	2
Tom Wilson	6	3	0	3	1	12
Evgeny Kuznetsov	6	1	2	3	–1	2
Kevin Shattenkirk	6	0	3	3	–4	2
John Carlson	6	1	1	2	3	0
Andre Burakovsky	6	3	3	6	0	0
Lars Eller	6	0	2	2	0	6
Dmitry Orlov	6	0	2	2	0	2
Brooks Orpik	6	0	2	2	–4	2
Nate Schmidt	4	0	2	2	5	2
Matt Niskanen	6	0	1	1	1	2
Karl Alzner	2	0	0	0	–1	0
Jay Beagle	6	0	0	0	–2	4
Brett Connolly	6	0	0	0	–2	0
Daniel Winnik	6	0	0	0	–1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season^[3]
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	63	63	3680:10	42	13	6	127	2.07	1690	.925	9	0	0	0
Philipp Grubauer	24	19	1264:34	13	6	2	43	2.05	585	.927	3	0	0	0

Playoffs
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	6	5	407:10	4	2	16	2.36	213	.925	0	0	0	2

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

Roster

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2016–17 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 24, 2016 (2016-06-24)	To St. Louis Blues 1st-round pick in 2016	To Washington Capitals 1st-round pick in 2016 WSH's 3rd-round pick in 2016	^[4]
June 24, 2016 (2016-06-24)	To Montreal Canadiens 2nd-round pick in 2017 2nd-round pick in 2018	To Washington Capitals Lars Eller	^[5]
February 15, 2017 (2017-02-15)	To Los Angeles Kings Future considerations	To Washington Capitals Tom Gilbert	^[6]
February 27, 2017 (2017-02-27)	To St. Louis Blues Zach Sanford Brad Malone 1st-round pick in 2017 conditional 2nd-round pick in 2019	To Washington Capitals Kevin Shattenkirk Pheonix Copley	^[7]

Notes

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Joe Cannata	Utica Comets	1 year, $575,000	^[8]
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Darren Dietz	Montreal Canadiens	1 year, $575,000	^[8]
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Christian Thomas	Springfield Falcons	1 year, $575,000	^[8]
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Brett Connolly	Boston Bruins	1 year, $850,000	^[9]
July 2, 2016 (2016-07-02)	Brad Malone	Carolina Hurricanes	1 year, $575,000	^[10]
March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02)	Mason Mitchell	University of Alaska-Anchorage	2 years, entry-level contract	^[11]
March 7, 2017 (2017-03-07)	Kris Bindulis	Lake Superior State University	3 years, entry-level contract	^[12]
March 7, 2017 (2017-03-07)	Hampus Gustafsson	Merrimack College	2 years, entry-level contract	^[12]

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Michael Latta	Los Angeles Kings	1 year, $600,000	^[13]
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Jason Chimera	New York Islanders	2 years, $4.5 million	^[14]
July 21, 2016 (2016-07-21)	Erik Burgdoerfer	Buffalo Sabres	1 year, two-way contract	^[15]

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date	Ref

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date	Ref

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 24, 2016 (2016-06-24)	Paul Carey	1-year, $575,000	^[16]
June 24, 2016 (2016-06-24)	Aaron Ness	2-years, $1.225 million	^[16]
June 30, 2016 (2016-06-30)	Zach Sill	2-years, $1.225 million	^[17]
June 30, 2016 (2016-06-30)	Tom Wilson	2-years, $4 million	^[18]
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Connor Hobbs	3-years, entry-level contract	^[19]
July 11, 2016 (2016-07-11)	Zach Sanford	3-years, entry-level contract	^[20]
July 20, 2016 (2016-07-20)	Marcus Johansson	3-years, $13.75 million	^[21]
September 21, 2016 (2016-09-21)	Dmitry Orlov	1-year, $2.57 million	^[22]
March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02)	Lucas Johansen	3-years, entry-level contract	^[23]
March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02)	Colby Williams	2-years, entry-level contract	^[23]
March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30)	Garrett Pilon	3-years, entry-level contract	^[24]
April 10, 2017 (2017-04-10)	Beck Malenstyn	3-years, entry-level contract	^[25]
April 10, 2017 (2017-04-10)	Nathan Walker	2-years, $1.3 million contract extension	^[25]

Draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, held June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	28^[a]	Lucas Johansen	D	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
3	87^[b]	Garrett Pilon	C	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
4	117	Damien Riat	LW	Switzerland	Geneve-Servette HC (NLA)
5	145^[c]	Beck Malenstyn	LW	Canada	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
5	147	Axel Jonsson-Fjallby	LW	Sweden	Djurgarden-jr. (Swe-Jr)
6	177	Chase Priskie	D	United States	Quinnipiac Bobcats NCAA
7	207	Dmitriy Zaitsev	D	Russia	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (NAHL)

Draft notes^[26]

The Washington Capitals’ first-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on June 24, 2016 that sent a first-round pick and Washington’s third-round pick both in 2016 (28th and 87th overall) to Washington in exchange for this pick.^[27]
^[a] The St. Louis Blues’ first-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 24, 2016 that sent a first-round pick in 2016 (26th overall) to St. Louis in exchange for Washington’s third-round pick in 2016 (87th overall) and this pick.^[27]
The Washington Capitals' second-round pick went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 28, 2016 that sent Daniel Winnik and Anaheim's fifth-round pick in 2016 to Washington in exchange for Brooks Laich, Connor Carrick and this pick.^[28]
^[b] The Washington Capitals' third-round pick was re-acquired as the result of a trade on June 24, 2016 that sent a first-round pick in 2016 (26th overall) to St. Louis in exchange for a first-round pick in 2016 (28th overall) and this pick.^[27]

St. Louis previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on July 2, 2015 that sent T. J. Oshie to Washington in exchange for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and this pick.^[29]

^[c] The Anaheim Ducks' fifth-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on February 28, 2016 that sent Brooks Laich, Connor Carrick and a second-round pick in 2016 to Toronto in exchange for Daniel Winnik and this pick.^[28]

Toronto previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent Korbinian Holzer to Anaheim in exchange for Eric Brewer and this pick.^[30]

References

^ National Hockey League (2012). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2013. Triumph Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-60078-785-0.
^ "2016-2017 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2016-2017 Regular Season Stats - Points - Washington Capitals - Statistics". Washington Capitals. Retrieved March 1, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Select Lucas Johansen in the First Round of the 2016 NHL Draft". Washington Capitals. June 24, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Acquire Eller from Montreal". Washington Capitals. June 24, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Acquire Tom Gilbert from Los Angeles". Washington Capitals. February 15, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Caps Land Shattenkirk". Washington Capitals. February 27, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Capitals Sign Cannata, Dietz and Thomas". NHL.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Brett Connolly". NHL.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Brad Malone". NHL.com. July 2, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Mason Mitchell". NHL.com. March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ^a ^b "Capitals Sign Kris Bindulis and Hampus Gustafsson". NHL.com. March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Michael Latta Heading to LA". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
^ "Chimera Agrees to Two-Year Deal". NHL.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "SABRES SIGN BURGDOERFER". Amerks.com. Rochester Americans. July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Capitals Re-sign Paul Carey and Aaron Ness". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Zach Sill". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Tom Wilson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
^ "Capitals Sign Connor Hobbs". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
^ "Caps Sign Sanford". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Marcus Johansson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
^ "Capitals Re-Sign Dmitry Orlov". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Capitals Sign Lucas Johansen and Colby Williams". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
^ "Capitals Sign Garrett Pilon". capitalstoday.monumentalsportsnetwork.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Capitals Sign Beck Malenstyn". capitalstoday.monumentalsportsnetwork.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
^ "2016 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 30, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Blues Take NCAA Player In First Round". June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Leafs deal Winnik, pick to Caps for Laich, Carrick, pick". February 28, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
^ "T.J. Oshie traded to Capitals; Blues get Brouwer". July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
^ "Maple Leafs trade defenceman Holzer to Ducks". March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.

[1] National Hockey League (2012). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2013. Triumph Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-60078-785-0.

[2] "2016-2017 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.

[regstats-3] "2016-2017 Regular Season Stats - Points - Washington Capitals - Statistics". Washington Capitals. Retrieved March 1, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[4] "Capitals Select Lucas Johansen in the First Round of the 2016 NHL Draft". Washington Capitals. June 24, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[5] "Capitals Acquire Eller from Montreal". Washington Capitals. June 24, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[6] "Capitals Acquire Tom Gilbert from Los Angeles". Washington Capitals. February 15, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[7] "Caps Land Shattenkirk". Washington Capitals. February 27, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[CannataDietzThomas-8] "Capitals Sign Cannata, Dietz and Thomas". NHL.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[9] "Capitals Sign Brett Connolly". NHL.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[10] "Capitals Sign Brad Malone". NHL.com. July 2, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[11] "Capitals Sign Mason Mitchell". NHL.com. March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[BindulisGustafsson-12] "Capitals Sign Kris Bindulis and Hampus Gustafsson". NHL.com. March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[13] "Michael Latta Heading to LA". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2016.

[14] "Chimera Agrees to Two-Year Deal". NHL.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[15] "SABRES SIGN BURGDOERFER". Amerks.com. Rochester Americans. July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.

[CareyNess-16] "Capitals Re-sign Paul Carey and Aaron Ness". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved June 30, 2016.

[17] "Capitals Re-sign Zach Sill". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016.

[18] "Capitals Re-sign Tom Wilson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016.

[19] "Capitals Sign Connor Hobbs". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016.

[20] "Caps Sign Sanford". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 18, 2016.

[21] "Capitals Re-sign Marcus Johansson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 20, 2016.

[22] "Capitals Re-Sign Dmitry Orlov". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved September 22, 2016.

[JohansenWilliams-23] "Capitals Sign Lucas Johansen and Colby Williams". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.

[24] "Capitals Sign Garrett Pilon". capitalstoday.monumentalsportsnetwork.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.

[Capitals_Sign_Beck_Malenstyn-25] "Capitals Sign Beck Malenstyn". capitalstoday.monumentalsportsnetwork.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.

[26] "2016 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 30, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[BlueCapital-27] "Blues Take NCAA Player In First Round". June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.

[CapWinnik-28] "Leafs deal Winnik, pick to Caps for Laich, Carrick, pick". February 28, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.

[29] "T.J. Oshie traded to Capitals; Blues get Brouwer". July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.

[30] "Maple Leafs trade defenceman Holzer to Ducks". March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.

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