2025–26 Washington Capitals season

2025–26 Washington Capitals
DivisionMetropolitan
ConferenceEastern
2025–26 record19–11–4
Home record11–5–2
Road record8–6–2
Goals for110
Goals against88
Team information
General managerChris Patrick
CoachSpencer Carbery
CaptainAlexander Ovechkin
Alternate captainsJohn Carlson
Tom Wilson
ArenaCapital One Arena
Minor league affiliatesHershey Bears (AHL)
South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsTom Wilson (17)
AssistsJohn Carlson (18)
PointsTom Wilson (32)
Penalty minutesTom Wilson (54)
Plus/minusJakob Chychrun (+23)
WinsLogan Thompson (13)
Goals against averageLogan Thompson (2.09)

The 2025–26 Washington Capitals season is the 52nd season (51st season of play) for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts
1 Carolina Hurricanes 34 22 9 3 14 115 95 +20 47
2 Washington Capitals 34 19 11 4 18 110 88 +22 42
3 New Jersey Devils 35 20 14 1 13 101 105 −4 41
4 New York Islanders 35 19 13 3 13 103 100 +3 41
5 Philadelphia Flyers 33 17 10 6 10 99 94 +5 40
6 New York Rangers 36 17 15 4 11 91 96 −5 38
7 Pittsburgh Penguins 33 14 10 9 13 103 106 −3 37
8 Columbus Blue Jackets 34 14 14 6 7 102 120 −18 34
Updated to game(s) played on December 19, 2025. Source: National Hockey League[1]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)

Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card
Pos Div Team GP W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts
1 ME New York Islanders 35 19 13 3 13 103 100 +3 41
2 ME Philadelphia Flyers 33 17 10 6 10 99 94 +5 40
3 AT Boston Bruins 35 20 15 0 14 114 109 +5 40
4 AT Tampa Bay Lightning 34 18 13 3 15 107 90 +17 39
5 ME New York Rangers 36 17 15 4 11 91 96 −5 38
6 ME Pittsburgh Penguins 33 14 10 9 13 103 106 −3 37
7 AT Ottawa Senators 33 16 13 4 11 105 104 +1 36
8 AT Toronto Maple Leafs 33 15 13 5 11 105 108 −3 35
9 AT Buffalo Sabres 33 15 14 4 11 103 112 −9 34
10 ME Columbus Blue Jackets 34 14 14 6 7 102 120 −18 34
Updated to game(s) played on December 19, 2025. Source: National Hockey League[2]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was released on July 3, 2025.[3]

2025 preseason game log: 5–1–0 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 3–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record
1 September 21 Washington 5–2 Boston Bjorklund TD Garden 17,850 1–0–0
2A September 25 Philadelphia 1–5 Washington Stevenson Giant Center 10,420 2–0–0
3 September 28 Washington 3–2 New Jersey SO Lindgren Prudential Center 8,341 3–0–0
4 September 30 Washington 4–3 Columbus Thompson Nationwide Arena 11,128 4–0–0
5 October 2 Boston 3–1 Washington Lindgren Capital One Arena 11,304 4–1–0
6 October 4 Columbus 1–2 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 12,131 5–1–0
Legend

  Win   Loss   OT/SO Loss
A – Game played in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on July 16, 2025.[4]

2025–26 game log
October: 6–5–0 (Home: 3–4–0; Road: 3–1–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
1 October 8 Boston 3–1 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 18,347 0–1–0 0 [5]
2 October 11 Washington 4–2 NY Islanders Thompson UBS Arena 17,255 1–1–0 2 [6]
3 October 12 Washington 1–0 NY Rangers Lindgren Madison Square Garden 17,479 2–1–0 4 [7]
4 October 14 Tampa Bay 2–3 Washington OT Thompson Capital One Arena 16,948 3–1–0 6 [8]
5 October 17 Minnesota 1–5 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 17,482 4–1–0 8 [9]
6 October 19 Vancouver 4–3 Washington Lindgren Capital One Arena 17,018 4–2–0 8 [10]
7 October 21 Seattle 1–4 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 16,578 5–2–0 10 [11]
8 October 24 Washington 5–1 Columbus Thompson Nationwide Arena 17,714 6–2–0 12 [12]
9 October 25 Ottawa 7–1 Washington Lindgren Capital One Arena 18,347 6–3–0 12 [13]
10 October 28 Washington 0–1 Dallas Thompson American Airlines Center 18,532 6–4–0 12 [14]
11 October 31 NY Islanders 3–1 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 16,471 6–5–0 12 [15]
November: 9–4–2 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 3–3–1)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
12 November 1 Washington 3–4 Buffalo SO Lindgren KeyBank Center 19,070 6–5–1 13 [16]
13 November 5 St. Louis 1–6 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 17,437 7–5–1 15 [17]
14 November 6 Washington 3–5 Pittsburgh Lindgren PPG Paints Arena 18,384 7–6–1 15 [18]
15 November 8 Washington 2–3 Tampa Bay Thompson Benchmark International Arena 19,092 7–7–1 15 [19]
16 November 11 Washington 4–1 Carolina Thompson Lenovo Center 18,299 8–7–1 17 [20]
17 November 13 Washington 3–6 Florida Thompson Amerant Bank Arena 19,650 8–8–1 17 [21]
18 November 15 New Jersey 3–2 Washington SO Thompson Capital One Arena 18,347 8–8–2 18 [22]
19 November 17 Los Angeles 1–2 Washington Lindgren Capital One Arena 17,649 9–8–2 20 [23]
20 November 19 Edmonton 4–7 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 17,929 10–8–2 22 [24]
21 November 20 Washington 8–4 Montreal Lindgren Bell Centre 20,962 11–8–2 24 [25]
22 November 22 Tampa Bay 5–3 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 18,347 11–9–2 24 [26]
23 November 24 Columbus 5–1 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 17,337 12–9–2 26 [27]
24 November 26 Winnipeg 3–4 Washington Lindgren Capital One Arena 18,347 13–9–2 28 [28]
25 November 28 Toronto 2–4 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 18,347 14–9–2 30 [29]
26 November 30 Washington 4–1 NY Islanders Thompson UBS Arena 15,648 15–9–2 32 [30]
December: 4–2–2 (Home: 2–0–1; Road: 2–2–1)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
27 December 2 Washington 3–1 Los Angeles Thompson Crypto.com Arena 16,509 16–9–2 34 [31]
28 December 3 Washington 7–1 San Jose Lindgren SAP Center 15,466 17–9–2 36 [32]
29 December 5 Washington 3–4 Anaheim SO Thompson Honda Center 16,122 17–9–3 37 [33]
30 December 7 Columbus 0–2 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 17,312 18–9–3 39 [34]
31 December 11 Carolina 3–2 Washington SO Thompson Capital One Arena 18,185 18–9–4 40 [35]
32 December 13 Washington 1–5 Winnipeg Thompson Canada Life Centre 14,096 18–10–4 40 [36]
33 December 16 Washington 0–5 Minnesota Lindgren Grand Casino Arena 18,044 18–11–4 40 [37]
34 December 18 Toronto 0–4 Washington Thompson Capital One Arena 18,347 19–11–4 42 [38]
35 December 20 Detroit – Washington Capital One Arena
36 December 21 Washington – Detroit Little Caesars Arena
37 December 23 NY Rangers – Washington Capital One Arena
38 December 27 Washington – New Jersey Prudential Center
39 December 29 Washington – Florida Amerant Bank Arena
40 December 31 NY Rangers – Washington Capital One Arena
January: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
41 January 1 Washington – Ottawa Canadian Tire Centre
42 January 3 Chicago – Washington Capital One Arena
43 January 5 Anaheim – Washington Capital One Arena
44 January 7 Dallas – Washington Capital One Arena
45 January 9 Washington – Chicago United Center
46 January 11 Washington – Nashville Bridgestone Arena
47 January 13 Montreal – Washington Capital One Arena
48 January 15 San Jose – Washington Capital One Arena
49 January 17 Florida – Washington Capital One Arena
50 January 19 Washington – Colorado Ball Arena
51 January 21 Washington – Vancouver Rogers Arena
52 January 23 Washington – Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome
53 January 24 Washington – Edmonton Rogers Place
54 January 27 Washington – Seattle Climate Pledge Arena
55 January 29 Washington – Detroit Little Caesars Arena
56 January 31 Carolina – Washington Capital One Arena
February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
57 February 2 NY Islanders – Washington Capital One Arena
58 February 3 Washington – Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena
59 February 5 Nashville – Washington Capital One Arena
60 February 25 Philadelphia – Washington Capital One Arena
61 February 27 Vegas – Washington Capital One Arena
62 February 28 Washington – Montreal Bell Centre
March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
63 March 3 Utah – Washington Capital One Arena
64 March 7 Washington – Boston TD Garden
65 March 9 Calgary – Washington Capital One Arena
66 March 11 Washington – Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena
67 March 12 Washington – Buffalo KeyBank Center
68 March 14 Boston – Washington Capital One Arena
69 March 18 Ottawa – Washington Capital One Arena
70 March 20 New Jersey – Washington Capital One Arena
71 March 22 Colorado – Washington Capital One Arena
72 March 24 Washington – St. Louis Enterprise Center
73 March 26 Washington – Utah Delta Center
74 March 28 Washington – Vegas T-Mobile Arena
75 March 31 Philadelphia – Washington Capital One Arena
April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
76 April 2 Washington – New Jersey Prudential Center
77 April 4 Buffalo – Washington Capital One Arena
78 April 5 Washington – NY Rangers Madison Square Garden
79 April 8 Washington – Toronto Scotiabank Arena
80 April 11 Washington – Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena
81 April 12 Pittsburgh – Washington Capital One Arena
82 April 14 Washington – Columbus Nationwide Arena

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player stats

Skaters

Regular Season [39]
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Tom Wilson 26 15 14 29 15 54
Alex Ovechkin 26 12 13 25 9 4
Jakob Chychrun 26 10 13 23 19 25
John Carlson 25 6 16 22 9 6
Dylan Strome 24 5 16 21 14 12
Aliaksei Protas 26 7 9 16 19 4
Connor McMichael 26 4 10 14 5 8
Ryan Leonard 26 5 8 13 4 10
Anthony Beauvillier 26 5 4 9 8 26
Ethen Frank 15 3 6 9 2 8
Martin Fehervary 26 2 6 8 10 13
Rasmus Sandin 21 2 5 7 10 4
Justin Sourdif 26 3 3 6 5 10
Matt Roy 26 1 5 6 17 4
Sonny Milano 15 3 2 5 1 2
Nic Dowd 19 1 4 5 2 14
Hendrix Lapierre 25 0 5 5 1 4
Brandon Duhaime 26 3 1 4 –1 20
Trevor van Riemsdyk 19 1 1 2 –2 10
Declan Chisholm 10 0 1 1 1 2
Dylan McIlrath 3 0 0 0 1 0
Pierre-Luc Dubois 6 0 0 0 0 2

Goaltenders

Regular season [40]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A P PIM
Logan Thompson 18 18 1,037:34 11 6 1 36 2.08 430 .916 0 0 1 1 0
Charlie Lindgren 9 8 519:18 4 3 1 27 3.12 237 .886 1 0 0 0 2

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Capitals. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
‡No longer with the Capitals.

Transactions

Trades

Date Details Ref
June 28, 2025 (2025-06-28) To Ottawa Senators
CAR 3rd-round pick in 2025 (#93 overall) 		To Washington Capitals
FLA 3rd-round pick in 2025 (#96 overall)
7th-round pick in 2027 		[41]
June 28, 2025 (2025-06-28) To Minnesota Wild
Chase Priskie
4th-round pick in 2025 		To Washington Capitals
Declan Chisholm
6th-round pick in 2025 		[42]
November 3, 2025 (2025-11-03) To St. Louis Blues
Calle Rosen 		To Washington Capitals
Corey Schueneman 		[43]

Players acquired

Date Player New team Term Via Ref
July 2, 2025 (2025-07-02) Louie Belpedio Philadelphia Flyers 2-year Free agency [44]
Graeme Clarke Minnesota Wild 1-year Free agency [44]
Calle Rosen Colorado Avalanche 1-year Free agency [44]
July 7, 2025 (2025-07-07) Sheldon Rempal Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL) 1-year Free agency [45]
October 27, 2025 (2025-10-27) Brett Leason Anaheim Ducks 1-year Free agency [46]

Players lost

Date Player New team Term Via Ref
June 9, 2025 (2025-06-09) T.J. Oshie Retirement [47]
July 1, 2025 (2025-07-01) Ethan Bear New York Islanders 1-year Free agency [48]
Lars Eller Ottawa Senators 1-year Free agency [49]
Taylor Raddysh New York Rangers 2-year Free agency [50]
Andrew Mangiapane Edmonton Oilers 2-year Free agency [51]
July 2, 2025 (2025-07-02) Hunter Shepard Ottawa Senators 1-year Free agency [52]
Alexander Alexeyev Pittsburgh Penguins 1-year Free agency [53]

Signings

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2025 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 27 and 28, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 27 Lynden Lakovic RW  Canada Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
2 37 Milton Gastrin C  Sweden Modo Hockey (SHL)
3 96 Maxim Schafer LW  Germany Eisbären Berlin (DEL)
5 155 Jackson Crowder C  United States Chicago Steel (USHL)
6 180 Aron Dahlqvist D  Sweden Brynäs J20 (J20 Nationell)

Notes:

References

  1. ^ "NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
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