The Washington Capitals made several headlines at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, but they reportedly were looking to make another splash.
According to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, there is some belief “around the club” that the Capitals were working on a big deal that could have included Connor McMichael. The Caps have made it well known they’re in the market for an upgrade at forward, and McMichael does not yet have a contract past this season.
When trade talks surrounding the Washington Capitals picked up after they moved Nic Dowd to Vegas, some around the club wondered if they were in on something big that could’ve involved forward Connor McMichael.
McMichael had one of his strongest games of the season on Monday night against the Calgary Flames, notching his first multi-goal performance in the 2025-26 campaign. The two goals give him 10 total this year, but he remains well off the pace of his career-best 27 markers recorded last season.
Pagnotta’s musings are not the first time McMichael’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, as he was reportedly among the pieces discussed by the Capitals and Vancouver Canucks when Quinn Hughes was the hottest commodity on the market. Hughes eventually went to the Minnesota Wild, and while Caps general manager Chris Patrick confirmed the team had some interest in the star defender, ultimately, the price Vancouver requested was too rich for his tastes.
McMichael is currently playing the final season of the two-year, $4.2 million bridge contract he signed with the Capitals as a restricted free agent in 2024. He is due for a sizable raise on that deal, with AFP Analytics projecting his next contract to be for around four years at a $6.4 million cap hit.
According to PuckPedia, the Capitals are set to have $36.6 million in cap space in the offseason, which would be plenty to fit a McMichael extension and continue adding to the roster. However, McMichael, still just 25, may be one of the most enticing assets on the roster to acquire the top-six piece they have been seeking for at least two years now.
In the summer, high-scoring players like Jason Robertson, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Elias Pettersson, and Brock Boeser could have varying levels of availability. McMichael could be packaged with some of the draft capital the Capitals netted for John Carlson and Nic Dowd to pry one of those players loose from their respective teams.
“Yeah, I mean, we need to add good players,” Patrick recently said. “The free agent market is already thin for the summer. So, you’re going to have to do it another way, and that’s having capital to trade – if that’s prospects, if that’s picks. Now we have the picks to be flexible to do something like that if something comes up.”
As things stand, McMichael is tied for sixth in scoring on the team with 33 points (10g, 23a) in 61 games. The Capitals have plenty of time to figure out his future with qualifying offers not due until June 30.
