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The Washington Capitals completely transformed their roster last offseason, and it paid huge dividends in 2024-25. General manager Chris Patrick and president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan realized that changes needed to be made after the roster barely advanced to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs before being swept by the New York Rangers in Round 1.
At the time, Alex Ovechkin was 38-years-old and had just come off a down season, with just 65 points in 79 regular season games and not a single point over four postseason tilts. Patrick and MacLellan were a couple of the busiest executives in the NHL, trading away Darcy Kuemper and bringing in Logan Thompson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy.
It was an impressive summer in the nation's capital, and it led to the Capitals being one of the best teams in the National in 2024-25. Led by Ovechkin's resurgence — he scored 44 goals in 65 games and became the greatest goal scorer of all time in the process — Washington finished 51-22-9, winning the Eastern Conference and missing out on the President's Trophy by just five points.
Unfortunately, as it usually does for the Caps, it ended in disappointment. The team bowed out in the second round of the playoffs to the Carolina Hurricanes in just five games. Although it was a hugely encouraging campaign, Washington still has only been past Round 2 once in the Ovechkin era, and that was when the franchise won it all back in 2018.
Heading into 2025-26, it goes without saying that Patrick and MacLellan aren't going to be nearly as busy as last year, with a strong blue line and a star starting goaltender in Thompson. But there are a couple of players who could potentially get moved this offseason. Here are three of them.
Sonny Milano needs a change of scenery
After scoring a career-high 15 goals in 49 games last season — and adding eight assists — Sonny Milano really struggled to stay in the lineup in 2024-25. He battled a poor training camp along with an upper-body injury, that has sidelined the Massapequa, New York native since November 6. He only played in three NHL games this year.
There just isn't a ton of room for Milano to crack into the Capitals' top-nine next season, especially considering Ryan Leonard's solid debut and the need to get Ethan Frank — one of the Hershey Bears' best players — into the lineup. Although Milano's trade value is certainly not high right now, he has one season remaining on a contract that will pay him $1.9 million in 2025-26.
The Capitals have a couple of unrestricted free agent forwards they need to make decisions on, including Mangiapane, Lars Eller, Anthony Beauvillier and Taylor Raddysh. The money Milano is making could probably be better utilized elsewhere, and if the front office can find a way to offload that contract this summer, it might make sense.
Alexander Alexeyev is a sign-and-trade candidate
On the back end, the Capitals went from having one of the league's weaker blue lines to one of the better ones in a span of a year. John Carlson continues to lead the charge, and he'll be back for at least one more season, alongside Roy, Chychrun, Rasmus Sandin, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Martin Fehervary.
All six of those players have at least one year remaining on their respective contracts, and Dylan McIlrath and Ethan Bear — if he is re-signed — are both waiting in the wings. For that reason, Washington could look to move on from 2018 first-rounder Alexander Alexeyev.
Drafted 31st overall, Alexeyev is a pending restricted free agent after making $825,000 against the cap the last couple of seasons. The 25-year-old has managed to play in just 77 NHL games over the past four seasons, and he managed only 11, split between the Capitals and Bears, in 2024-25.
Alexeyev played 10 playoff games for the team and didn't look out of place. But he'll be due for a raise on his next contract, and he probably deserves to play on a blue line where he'll get more ice time. That could happen eventually in Washington, but it won't be next season. For that reason, the Russian could be on the trade block this summer. Although there's a possibility the front office re-signs him, he could also be getting a change of scenery between now and training camp.
Trading Charlie Lindgren a hard pill to swallow, but could pay off
The final player on this list is probably the unlikeliest to get traded, but Charlie Lindgren needs to be mentioned. He's been great in the nation's capital over the last couple of years, and was just signed to a three-year, $9 million extension. That doesn't change the fact that Thompson has firmly established himself as the starting goaltender of the present and future for this club.
Thompson was lights out for most of the season after coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights, and he's under team control until 2031. Although he's making a reasonable $5.85 million AAV, it's still hard to justify paying a backup goaltender $3 million. Thompson has struggled with injuries, so that would give the front office pause before making any kind of deal.
It's almost certain the Capitals won't shop the effective goaltender, but there are a couple of teams who absolutely could try to pry him out of Washington and make him their starter. The 31-year-old went 20-14-3 with a 2.68 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in 2024-25, which is decent but unspectacular.
Again, it would take a very good offer for Lindgren to get traded, but it's not impossible one of the other 31 NHL franchises tries to acquire the Lakeville, Minnesota native. If the deal is right, Patrick and MacLellan have shown that they aren't afraid to pull the trigger, which they did multiple times last summer.
With only one season left on the contracts of Carlson and Ovechkin, it seems inevitable that Washington will be rebuilding soon. But unlike what's happened with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, this front office has continued to make the Capitals competitive in the twilight years of their stars.
This summer could be an interesting one in the nation's capital, but it won't be nearly as busy as last offseason — or as potentially explosive as the next one. It'll be intriguing to see if the squad can make one more run for Lord Stanley next spring.
