The NHL offseason is nearly here, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs down to just four remaining teams.
While the season has already ended for most of the league -— including the Washington Capitals -— the hockey calendar is about to ramp back up. From the Stanley Cup Final to the NHL Draft and free agency, several important dates are fast approaching.
Here’s a look at the key events on the offseason schedule and how some could impact the Capitals.
2026 NHL Offseason Key Dates
- May 31 – June 6: 2026 NHL Scouting Combine
- June 15 or 48 hours after Cup Final: First contract buyout window begins
- June 15 or 48 hours after Cup Final: Deadline for first club-elected salary arbitration notification
- June 21: Last possible day for 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs
- June 26 – June 27: 2026 NHL Draft
- June 29: Deadline for qualifying offers to restricted free agents
- June 30: Restricted free agents can begin offer sheet discussions
- July 1: NHL Free Agency begins
- July 5: Deadline for player-elected salary arbitration notification
- July 6: Deadline for second club-elected salary arbitration notification
- July 20 – August 1: Salary arbitration hearings held
- August 3: Deadline for salary arbitration decisions to be rendered
Impact on the Washington Capitals
While the first buyout window opens either on June 15 or 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final ebds, the Capitals are unlikely to participate in that process. The team won’t have any problems with the salary cap this summer, and they don’t have any albatross contracts that would require a buyout to spread the cap hit over future seasons.
The first event that could actually impact the Capitals is the deadline for first club-elected salary arbitration notification (the later of June 15 or 48 hours after the Cup Final), as the club has two arbitration-eligible restricted free agents on their NHL roster: Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre. Salary arbitration is a process in which a team requests a hearing before a neutral arbitrator to determine an RFA’s salary.
Arbitration, both club-elected and player-elected, can be avoided if the team and player reach an agreement on a contract extension outside the hearing. The process is not mandatory, and the Capitals already seemed to be heading in a good direction with both McMichael and Lapierre when general manager Chris Patrick met with the media in April.
The next big date for the Capitals would be the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26 and June 27, as the team owns two mid-teens first-round picks. Whether they use those picks to select two players or trade them to net the top-six forward upgrade they seek will be determined shortly before or on June 26.
After the draft, the last non-arbitration-related important dates will be June 30 and July 1. On June 30, teams can begin discussions with other teams’ unsigned restricted free agents about potentially signing them to an offer sheet. The salary levels and related draft-pick compensation for offer sheets this offseason were announced earlier this week.
On July 1, NHL Free Agency officially begins, and the Capitals will likely be one of the teams with the most salary cap space to spend. As of May 23, the Caps, per PuckPedia, are slated to have slightly over $33 million in space after re-signing defenseman Timothy Liljegren on Wednesday.
