The Washington Capitals have had a prolific offseason, and general manager Chris Patrick appears done tinkering with his roster, with the club now right up against the NHL’s salary cap.
After adding Jordan Kyrou via trade and signing Alex Tuch, Booner Jenner, Vincent Desharnais, and captain Alex Ovechkin to new contracts, the Capitals have just $975k in remaining cap space, per PuckPedia. Patrick was asked by 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies whether he has any plans for further moves, perhaps to create more cap flexibility heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
“Yeah, we’re pretty much strapped,” Patrick said on Tuesday. “The credit card’s full. The statement’s coming, and I got to pay it. So, yeah, these are the kind of moves for now. And then we’ll get to camp and see if there’s anything. If we’re doing anything, we’re probably sending a body out to create space. But for now, I think we’re probably in a pretty good spot for heading into the season.”
The Capitals will be back in the Washington, DC area in September for training camp, where the fringe of their roster will battle for what is expected to be a precious few open roster spots. The losers of those battles could end up being the cap casualties that Patrick hinted at, and there is also the possibility that the Caps deal players to avoid losing them for nothing on the waiver wire.
Former first-round pick, 22-year-old Ivan Miroshnichenko, could be one of those players as he is not exempt from waivers for the first time in his career. He is joined by other non-waiver-exempt pieces with potential trade value, such as Anthony Beauvillier, Ethen Frank, Bogdan Trineyev, and Clay Stevenson.
Without making a trade, the Capitals could also net some immediate cap flexibility by placing defenseman Rasmus Sandin on long-term injured reserve. The Swedish rearguard underwent surgery on a torn ACL this past spring, and his expected return date is anywhere between late October and late January.
The Capitals will find out when they open their regular season on Wednesday, July 15, as the NHL unveils its 2026-27 schedule.
