2017–18 Washington Capitals season

2017–18 Washington Capitals
2017–18 Washington Capitals
Division	TBD Metropolitan
Conference	TBD Eastern
2017–18 record	25–13–3
Home record	16–5–0
Road record	9–8–3
Goals for	128
Goals against	117
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 (26)
Assists	John Carlson; Evgeny Kuznetsov (27)
Points	Alexander Ovechkin (43)
Penalty minutes	Tom Wilson (93)
Plus/minus	Matt Niskanen (+15)
Wins	Braden Holtby (23)
Goals against average	Braden Holtby (2.68)
	← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 Washington Capitals season is the 44th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.^[1]

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division
Pos	Team v t e	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^[2]
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Conference standings

Template:2017–18 NHL Eastern Conference standings

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Capitals' preseason schedule was released on June 7, 2017.^[3]

2017 preseason game log: 2–5–0 (Home: 0–3–0; Road: 2–2–0)

Regular season

The team released its regular season schedule on June 22, 2017.^[4]

2017–18 game log

October: 5–6–1, 11 points (Home: 1–3–0; Road: 4–3–1)

November: 9–5–0, 18 points (Home: 7–2–0; Road: 2–3–0)

December: 10–2–2, 22 points (Home: 8–0–0; Road: 2–2–2)

January: 1–0–0, 2 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 1–0–0)

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				Capital One Arena
43	January 9	Vancouver				Capital One Arena
44	January 11	Carolina				Capital One Arena
45	January 12	@ Carolina				PNC Arena
46	January 18	@ New Jersey				Prudential Center
47	January 19	Montreal				Capital One Arena
48	January 21	Philadelphia				Capital One Arena
49	January 25	@ Florida				BB&T Center
50	January 31	Philadelphia				Capital One Arena

February: 0–0–0, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)

March: 0–0–0, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)

April: 0–0–0, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0)

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

Player statistics

As of November 18, 2017^[5]

Skaters

Regular season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Evgeny Kuznetsov	21	5	18	23	−3	16
Alexander Ovechkin	21	13	7	20	−2	8
T. J. Oshie	21	10	7	17	−1	6
John Carlson	21	2	15	17	−8	14
Nicklas Backstrom	20	3	12	15	0	4
Lars Eller	20	3	8	11	−1	20
Jakub Vrana	20	4	3	7	0	2
Devante Smith-Pelly	21	2	4	6	1	6
Chandler Stephenson	12	2	4	6	7	0
Tom Wilson	17	2	4	6	−2	55
Jay Beagle	21	2	3	5	−1	6
Madison Bowey	15	0	5	5	1	10
Dmitry Orlov	21	2	2	4	−2	6
Brett Connolly	14	2	2	4	−7	4
Andre Burakovsky	9	1	3	4	−2	17
Alex Chiasson	20	2	1	3	−4	6
Christian Djoos	16	2	1	3	4	6
Taylor Chorney	16	1	2	3	8	4
Brooks Orpik	21	0	3	3	−6	22
Matt Niskanen	8	0	2	2	1	10
Nathan Walker	7	1	0	1	1	4
Aaron Ness	8	0	1	1	2	8

Goaltenders

Regular season^[5]
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	15	15	866	11	4	0	37	2.56	469	.921	0	0	0	0
Philipp Grubauer	8	6	404	0	5	1	26	3.86	184	.876	0	0	0	0

Roster

Updated April 29, 2024^[6]^[7]


No.	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
27	Alexander Alexeyev	D	L	24	2018	St. Petersburg, Russia
96	Nicolas Aube-Kubel	RW	R	28	2022	Slave Lake, Alberta
19	Nicklas Backstrom (A)	C	L	36	2006	Gävle, Sweden
25	Ethan Bear	D	R	26	2023	Regina, Saskatchewan
74	John Carlson (A)	D	R	34	2008	Natick, Massachusetts
26	Nic Dowd	C	R	34	2018	Huntsville, Alabama
42	Martin Fehervary	D	L	24	2018	Bratislava, Slovakia
3	Nick Jensen	D	R	33	2019	Rogers, Minnesota
35	Darcy Kuemper	G	L	34	2022	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
79	Charlie Lindgren	G	R	30	2022	Lakeville, Minnesota
47	Beck Malenstyn	RW	L	26	2016	Delta, British Columbia
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
67	Max Pacioretty	LW	L	35	2023	New Canaan, Connecticut
21	Aliaksei Protas	C	L	23	2019	Vitebsk, Belarus
38	Rasmus Sandin	D	L	24	2023	Uppsala, Sweden
23	Michael Sgarbossa	C	L	31	2018	Campbellville, Ontario
17	Dylan Strome	C	L	27	2022	Mississauga, Ontario
57	Trevor van Riemsdyk	D	R	32	2020	Middletown, New Jersey
43	Tom Wilson (A)	RW	R	30	2012	Toronto, Ontario

John Carlson is an assistant captain

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	^[8]

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	^[9]
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Anthony Peluso	Winnipeg Jets	1-year, $650,000	^[10]
July 3, 2017 (2017-07-03)	Devante Smith-Pelly	New Jersey Devils	1-year, $650,000	^[11]
July 11, 2017 (2017-07-11)	Wayne Simpson	Providence Bruins	1-year, $650,000	^[12]
October 4, 2017 (2017-10-04)	Alex Chiasson	Calgary Flames	1-year, $660,000	^[13]

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	^[14]
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Karl Alzner	Montreal Canadiens	5-year, $23.125 million	^[15]
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Joe Cannata	Colorado Avalanche	1-year, $650,000	^[16]
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Paul Carey	New York Rangers	1-year, $650,000	^[17]
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Kevin Shattenkirk	New York Rangers	4-year, $26.6 million	^[18]
July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)	Justin Williams	Carolina Hurricanes	2-year, $9 million	^[19]
July 10, 2017 (2017-07-10)	Garrett Mitchell	Hershey Bears	1-year	^[20]
July 14, 2017 (2017-07-14)	Stanislav Galiev	Ak Bars Kazan	2-year	^[21]
July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)	Tom Gilbert	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	1-year	^[22]
August 15, 2017 (2017-08-15)	Cody Corbett	Idaho Steelheads	1-year	^[23]
September 13, 2017 (2017-09-13)	Christian Thomas	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	1-year	^[24]

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date	Ref
Nathan Walker	Edmonton Oilers	December 20, 2017 (2017-12-20)	^[25]

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date	Ref
Nathan Walker	Edmonton Oilers	December 1, 2017 (2017-12-01)	^[26]

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	^[27]
June 23, 2017 (2017-06-23)	T.J. Oshie	8-year, $46 million	^[28]
June 26, 2017 (2017-06-26)	Brett Connolly	2-year, $3 million	^[29]
June 28, 2017 (2017-06-28)	Pheonix Copley	2-year, $1.3 million	^[30]
June 29, 2017 (2017-06-29)	Chandler Stephenson	2-year, $1.3 million	^[31]
July 2, 2017 (2017-07-02)	Evgeny Kuznetsov	8-year, $62.4 million	^[32]
July 4, 2017 (2017-07-04)	Andre Burakovsky	2-year, $6 million	^[33]
July 5, 2017 (2017-07-05)	Travis Boyd	1-year, $650,000	^[34]
July 6, 2017 (2017-07-06)	Philipp Grubauer	1-year, $1.5 million	^[35]
July 14, 2017 (2017-07-14)	Liam O'Brien	1-year, $650,000	^[36]

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

^ National Hockey League (2012). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2013. Triumph Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-60078-785-0.
^ "2017-2018 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.
^ "Capitals Announce 2017-18 Preseason Schedule". NHL.com. June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ "Capitals Announce 2017-18 Regular-Season Schedule". NHL.com. June 22, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Washington Capitals Stats - 2017-2018". NHL.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ "Washington Capitals Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
^ "Washington Capitals Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
^ "Caps Trade Johansson to New Jersey". NHL.com. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
^ "Capitals Sign John Albert". NHL. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Anthony Peluso". Caps PR. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Devante Smith-Pelly". NHL. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Wayne Simpson". NHL. July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Capitals Sign Alex Chiasson". NHL.com. October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
^ "CHRIS BOURQUE RETURNS TO HERSHEY FOR 2017-18". hersheybears.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a five-year contract with Karl Alzner". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
^ "Avalanche Signs Agozzino, Warsofsky, Cannata". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
^ "Rangers Agree to Terms With Paul Carey". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
^ "Rangers Agree to Terms With Kevin Shattenkirk". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
^ "Justin Williams signs two-year deal with Hurricanes". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
^ "CAPTAIN GARRETT MITCHELL RETURNS FOR 2017-18 SEASON". hersheybears.com. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
^ "Stan Galiev signs with Ak Bars, officially leaves Capitals organization for KHL". russianmachineneverbreaks.com. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^ "672 NHL games: Tom Gilbert is coming" (in German). Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "STEELHEADS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DEFENSEMAN CODY CORBETT". Idaho Steelheads. August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "PENGUINS SIGN CHRISTIAN THOMAS". Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Khurshudyan, Isabelle (December 20, 2017). "Capitals re-claim Aussie forward Nathan Walker off waivers". Washington Post. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
^ "RELEASE: Oilers Claim Nathan Walker; Place Pakarinen on Waivers". NHL.com. December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Christian Djoos". nhl.com. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign T.J. Oshie". nhl.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
^ "Capitals reach two-year deal with F Connolly". tsn.ca. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Pheonix Copley". nhl.com. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Chandler Stephenson". nhl.com. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Evgeny Kuznetsov". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Andre Burakovsky". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Travis Boyd". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Philipp Grubauer". nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Liam O'Brien". nhl.com. Retrieved July 14, 2017.

[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] "2017-2018 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.

[3] "Capitals Announce 2017-18 Preseason Schedule". NHL.com. June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[4] "Capitals Announce 2017-18 Regular-Season Schedule". NHL.com. June 22, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[regstats-5] "Washington Capitals Stats - 2017-2018". NHL.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[6] "Washington Capitals Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

[7] "Washington Capitals Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

[8] "Caps Trade Johansson to New Jersey". NHL.com. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.

[9] "Capitals Sign John Albert". NHL. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[10] "Capitals Sign Anthony Peluso". Caps PR. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[11] "Capitals Sign Devante Smith-Pelly". NHL. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[12] "Capitals Sign Wayne Simpson". NHL. July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[13] "Capitals Sign Alex Chiasson". NHL.com. October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.

[14] "CHRIS BOURQUE RETURNS TO HERSHEY FOR 2017-18". hersheybears.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.

[15] "Canadiens agree to terms on a five-year contract with Karl Alzner". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.

[16] "Avalanche Signs Agozzino, Warsofsky, Cannata". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.

[17] "Rangers Agree to Terms With Paul Carey". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.

[18] "Rangers Agree to Terms With Kevin Shattenkirk". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.

[19] "Justin Williams signs two-year deal with Hurricanes". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved July 1, 2017.

[20] "CAPTAIN GARRETT MITCHELL RETURNS FOR 2017-18 SEASON". hersheybears.com. Retrieved July 11, 2017.

[21] "Stan Galiev signs with Ak Bars, officially leaves Capitals organization for KHL". russianmachineneverbreaks.com. Retrieved July 14, 2017.

[22] "672 NHL games: Tom Gilbert is coming" (in German). Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[23] "STEELHEADS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DEFENSEMAN CODY CORBETT". Idaho Steelheads. August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[24] "PENGUINS SIGN CHRISTIAN THOMAS". Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[25] Khurshudyan, Isabelle (December 20, 2017). "Capitals re-claim Aussie forward Nathan Walker off waivers". Washington Post. Retrieved December 20, 2017.

[26] "RELEASE: Oilers Claim Nathan Walker; Place Pakarinen on Waivers". NHL.com. December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.

[27] "Capitals Re-sign Christian Djoos". nhl.com. Retrieved June 27, 2017.

[28] "Capitals Re-sign T.J. Oshie". nhl.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.

[29] "Capitals reach two-year deal with F Connolly". tsn.ca. Retrieved June 27, 2017.

[30] "Capitals Re-sign Pheonix Copley". nhl.com. Retrieved June 28, 2017.

[31] "Capitals Re-sign Chandler Stephenson". nhl.com. Retrieved June 30, 2017.

[32] "Capitals Re-sign Evgeny Kuznetsov". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[33] "Capitals Re-sign Andre Burakovsky". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[34] "Capitals Re-sign Travis Boyd". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[35] "Capitals Re-sign Philipp Grubauer". nhl.com. Retrieved July 6, 2017.

[36] "Capitals Re-sign Liam O'Brien". nhl.com. Retrieved July 14, 2017.

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