Alex Ovechkin finished his 19th career season in the NHL by going without a point in a playoff series for the first time. After a strong second half of the year saw him score 23 goals in 36 games, Ovechkin ended his season asking for much of the blame for the series loss to New York to be put on him. Ovechkin, who will turn 39 before next season kicks off, has never had a season where he has not led the Capitals in goal-scoring. The Russian superstar’s consistency and durability are a thing of legend but Father Time is undefeated. Washington got a glimpse of how aging could impact Ovechkin dur ..read more

Todd Reirden was essentially the head coach in waiting for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now he’ll be looking for a new job over the offseason as Penguins’ GM Kyle Dubas fired the former Washington Capitals head coach from the team’s staff effective “immediately.” The Penguins missed the postseason for the second consecutive season and were effectively eliminated when the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 82. Pittsburgh announced that Dubas made the decision after consulting with head coach Mike Sullivan. The Penguins have parted ways with Associate Coach Todd Reirden, it was announced ..read more

The Washington Capitals will head into the offseason with around $14 million available to spend, and perhaps nearly $20 million, depending on what TJ Oshie decides with his health. This summer, the Capitals will have two notable restricted free agents — Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn — and two notable unrestricted free agents — Max Pacioretty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Per Cap Friendly, the Capitals already have a roster of 19 (10F/7D/2G) signed to deals next season and has picks in every round of the 2024 NHL Draft, except the seventh. They will pick 17th in the first round and have three d ..read more

Spencer Carbery, as a rookie head coach, helped lead the Washington Capitals to an improbable playoff berth on the final day of their season. The Capitals had the worst goal differential, minus-37, of any team to qualify in the salary cap era. And the team faced constant adversity along the way: The Capitals went 1-3-1 to start the season and were outscored 19-7 (minus-12 goal differential) as they installed Carbery’s new system Nicklas Backstrom stepped away from the team on November 1 and essentially retired Alex Ovechkin, 38, scored only eight goals in his first 43 games until a camel ride ..read more

HERSHEY, PA — The Hershey Bears went into Game 1 of the Atlantic Division semifinals without one of the linchpins from their 2023 Calder Cup championship lineup. Fourth-line center Riley Sutter, a defensive specialist who has some pop offensively, was too injured to play. So Bears head coach Todd Nelson turned to the next man up: Henrik Rybinski. In his AHL playoff debut, the 22-year-old forward scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in Hershey’s 2-1 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. “It was unbelievable,” Rybinski said of his goal. “It felt really good.” With two minutes ..read more

Your participation in the Happiness Survey was appreciated by everyone here in the Customer Success Department of RMNB. Our team completed rigorous analysis of the data (we did the averages), and we are now prepared to present the findings. Before we proceed, consider that this third and final happiness survey of the season was distributed just before the playoffs began – and therefore right as the Capitals season was at its highest point. We had nearly 1,700 responses when this report was created. As a reminder, the survey is based on feelings. Here’s how we worded it: On a scale from 1 to 5 ..read more

Martin Fehervary is joining up with Team Slovakia for the 2024 World Championship. The slick defender is the first Washington Capitals player confirmed to represent his country at this year’s tournament. Washington’s early exit from the 2024 NHL playoffs allows Caps players to join up with their national teams well before the first games begin. This year’s tournament will take place in Prague and Ostrava, both in Czechia, and will kick off on May 10. Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan told reporters on Tuesday that Fehervary would compete in the tournament, with former NHL winger and cur ..read more

The Washington Capitals made an incredible march to the playoffs in the regular season, just squeaking by the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth and final spot in the East. While that race was exhilarating and took until the final game of their regular season to sort out, the Capitals’ experience in the playoffs was a different beast. They were swept by the New York Rangers, the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, in four games. While winning the Stanley Cup is ultimately the goal, the Capitals did themselves a favor, in a roundabout way, by just having th ..read more

Alex Ovechkin believes Tom Wilson has the leadership skills to take over as Washington Capitals captain when he decides to retire from the NHL. Ovechkin made the comments while speaking to the media on Breakdown Day Tuesday morning. “I think since day one when he came to the league, he shows his leadership on the ice and off the ice,” Ovechkin said of Wilson. “He’s always in team-wise on the ice and off the ice. His support, this organization, he’s a leader and probably a future captain, as well.” Wilson began serving as the Capitals’ second alternate captain this season, sharing the duty with ..read more

Hunter Shepard tallied his 15th career AHL playoff win Wednesday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Game One of the Atlantic Division Semifinals. Shepard made 30 saves in the Hershey Bears’ 2-1 victory. Shepard, the reigning AHL playoff MVP, was less than five minutes away from recording his fourth career AHL playoff shutout before getting beat by Lehigh Valley’s Tanner Laczynski late in the third. He also survived a final-minute, empty net push from the Phantoms. The 28-year-old netminder made several big stops in the game, including one in tight on Cooper Marody. The save, in the dying se ..read more