| Pos | Role | Name |
| C | 1 | Nicklas Backstrom  ActiveNicklas Backstrom picked up his second goal of the World Cup in Sunday's 3-2 overtime loss to Team Europe. Backstrom opened the scoring with a pretty rebound-goal early in the second period. He went on to skate 21:35, winning 52% of his draws, and three shots on net. He has two goals and five points in the tournament. Sep 25 |
| 2 | Evgeny Kuznetsov ActiveEvgeny Kuznetsov potted a great goal for Russia in his first game at the World Championship on Saturday. Kuznetsov quickly batted the puck out of midair into the roof of the net after his initial shot was stopped by Swiss goalie Reto Berra. Washington teammate Alex Ovechkin registered an assist in Russia's 5-1 win in the contest. May 14 |
| 3 | Lars Eller ActiveLars Eller is expected to see plenty of action at his first training camp with the Capitals. The team's top-two centers, Nicklas Backstrom (Sweden) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (Russia), will be competing at the World Cup, so Eller will be the top pivot when camp begins. He could get looks alongside Justin Williams, Marcus Johansson, Andre Burakovsky, Stanislav Galiev, Tom Wilson, Brett Connolly and Jakub Vrana during that time. It's unclear who he will play with when the regular season opens, but he is projected to center the third line. Sep 7 |
| 4 | Brad Malone ActiveLook for Brad Malone to see a lot of action in the AHL. Malone will provide depth for the Capitals but is likely to start the season(barring any injuries) in the minors as he is Washington's 14th or 15th forward on the depth charts. He had two goals and six points in 57 games with Carolina last season and led the team with 75 minutes in the sin bin. He has no real fantasy value in Washington. Jul 3 |
| 5 | Jay Beagle ActiveJay Beagle hopes to be Washington's third-line center again next season. "That's what I want to be. So that's up to the coaching staff and the coaches," he said. "Coming into this year that was my goal, was to make that third line stronger, and I felt like coaches gave me that opportunity, and when I had that opportunity I did my best with it. And playing with a guy like [Jason Chimera] and [Tom Wilson], it was awesome. It was a lot of fun. It was some of the funnest hockey I've played." GM Brian MacLellan wants a faster and more offensive third line in 2016-17, which could bump Beagle to the fourth combination. Jun 1 |
| LW | 1 | Alex Ovechkin ActiveNHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly was asked what the NHL's response would be if Alex Ovechkin decided to play in the Olympics against the league's wishes. "I don’t have a league reaction to that," Daly said. "If that became a prevailing view of a group of players, or a significant group of players, I might have a different view. But at this point it’s a single superstar player who will have a contract with one of clubs, and the club will handle that within its own discretion." This is all hypothetical right now of course because the NHL hasn't reached a decision on the Olympics yet. However, Ovechkin did suggest that he would play in the 2018 Winter Games even if the NHL refused to participate. Sep 28 |
| 2 | Marcus Johansson ActiveMarcus Johansson found the back of the net in Washington's 5-2 loss to Montreal. Johansson cut Montreal's lead to 2-1 with his goal at the 9:13 mark of the second period. Andre Burakovsky and Christian Djoos assisted on the goal. Johanssen is coming off seasons of 44, 47 and 46 points and he should come close to hitting a similar point total in 2016-17. Sep 27 |
| 3 | Andre Burakovsky ActiveAndre Burakovsky is hoping that the 2015-16 season was a good learning experience. "Sometimes, it's good to have those ups and downs," Burakovsky said. "It's good to have, so you learn how to get out of them real quick because everyone's going to have downs. It's just reality. It's just how it is. But the thing you want to learn and thing you want to do is get rid of them quick. I think my down was maybe 10, 15 games, and that's something you have to get rid of quick. That's something I've been working on this year, and I think it helped to have a little bit of a down." After a sluggish start, Burakovsky exploded for 29 of his 38 points in the last 45 games of the regular season. Jun 15 |
| 4 | Daniel Winnik ActiveDaniel Winnik finally scored with Capitals, and he did so twice. Winnik had gone scoreless through his first seven games with the Capitals, but on Friday night he scored twice as the Caps cruised to a 4-1 win over the Predators. Mar 18 |
| RW | 1 | T.J. Oshie ActiveT.J. Oshie played well on Washington's top line in 2015-16. He netted a personal best 26 goals and produced 51 points in 80 games in his first season with the Capitals. Oshie spent most of his playing time alongside Alex Ovechkin and that is expected to continue next year after they benefited from playing with each other. "I think he really enjoyed playing with Oshie," GM Brian MacLellan said of Ovechkin. "I mean, that takes a lot of the pressure off him, offensively, and I think he can play longer given a good team, a deep team." May 27 |
| 2 | Justin Williams ActiveJustin Williams scored a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins. The loss means that the Capitals' season is officially over, as they lost the series 4-2. Washington trailed 3-0 in the second period, but they managed to battle back and eventually forced overtime. Unfortunately for the Caps, the Penguins dominated the overtime period. Nick Bonino scored the game-winner for Pittsburgh. Williams finishes the postseason with three goals and seven points in 12 games. May 10 |
| 3 | Tom Wilson  SidelinedTom Wilson (upper body) is expected to be back on the ice this week. He didn't skate on Tuesday and will get a maintenance day on Wednesday. Wilson was injured during Monday's preseason match and should be considered day-to-day for now. Sep 28 |
| 4 | Stanislav Galiev ActiveStanislav Galiev is motivated to earn a roster spot with the Capitals. "[Coach] Trotz told me I have to step up my game," Galiev said. "He's going to give me a chance." He made the team out of camp last season because he has to clear waivers to be sent down, but he played in only 24 games. Galiev had three assists with the Capitals and he spent most of his time as a healthy scratch. He will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. Aug 13 |
| 5 | Brett Connolly ActiveThe Washington Capitals are hoping to get offensive production from Brett Connolly. The Caps inked Connolly to a one-year $850,000 contract in the off-season after he was non-tendered by Boston. Connolly was selected sixth overall in 2010 and has a lot of offensive upside but the 24-year-old has floundered at times. He had nine goals and 25 points last season and the Capitals are hoping that they get more production from him as a bottom-six forward. Look for a 25-30 point season from Connolly so his draftability looks to be low. Sep 25 |
| D | 1 | John Carlson ActiveJohn Carlson scored a goal in a 5-2 loss to Canada on Saturday. Carlson scored 38 seconds into the second period to pull the Americans to within one of Canada but that is as close as they got for the rest of the game. He finished the game with one goal, plus-1, with one shot on goal during the contest. His goal was assisted by Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. Ryan McDonagh also scored during this contest. Sep 10 |
| 2 | Matt Niskanen ActiveMatt Niskanen is looking for more offense this season. He actually wanted more last season as well but with injuries to Brooks Orpik and John Carlson, Niskanen was thrust into the role of the Capitals shut down blueliner. He still managed one extra point over the previous season but Niskanen thinks that he can do more offensively. "Instead of focusing on some of the offensive parts of the game, he learned to defend better than he ever has and was then a huge part of us having the season that we did," associate coach Todd Reirdon said. "Truly, that’s the reason he was able to make it onto that U.S. team, because of how he defended and not because of his offensive game. Now, that’s the next challenge. Matt and I have been through a number of plans over the years and different roles that he’s had, and that’s something that we definitely discussed was having him add a little bit more offense. ... But now I’m able to hold him to a whole ‘nother level defensively that he showed me this year." Sep 26 |
| 3 | Karl Alzner ActiveKarl Alzner (sports hernia) will play on Tuesday in a preseason game versus Montreal. "I think it's going to be fine," Alzner said. "It's been fine the whole time so far. In scrimmage, I'm okay. I've been feeling great when I wake up, so I don't think it's going to be an issue. The only thing is if something crazy happens out there, which can happen. I'm not too nervous about it." He had sports hernia surgery during the off-season, but he has looked ready to play during training camp. Sep 27 |
| 4 | Brooks Orpik ActiveBrooks Orpik opened up about the injuries that he dealt with over the course of the 2015-16 campaign. Orpik suffered a crack in his femur during the regular season. He then suffered a concussion and neck injury during the Capitals' first round series against Philadelphia. He had three goals and 10 points in 41 regular season games. In the playoffs he had no points and a minus-three rating in six contests. May 12 |
| 5 | Dmitry Orlov ActiveDmitry Orlov is excited after inking a one-year deal with Washington. As recently as last week, Orlov wasn't sure what would come next with regards to his contract situation with Washington. Now that's all behind him and he stands to make $2.57 million this season. "Finally it happened," he said. "Finally I’m happy to have a contract. It’s easy to understand where I’m going to be. I’m excited and I hope we have a good year because we have a great team, great teammates. …Should be a good year for us. Whenever [Russia] finish in World Cup I will be happy to be back in DC." Orlov had eight goals and 29 points in 82 contests last season. Sep 22 |
| 6 | Nate Schmidt SidelinedNate Schmidt (lower body) wasn't on the ice for Monday's scrimmage. Schmidt was hurt during Sunday's practice. His injury isn't considered serious, but he's still sore. Sep 26 |
| 7 | Taylor Chorney ActiveTaylor Chorney played in a career high 55 games with Washington last season. "I think I did pretty well," he said. "Heading into the year you don't really know, on a new team, exactly where your place is gonna be, and it's just different. But I think as the year went on I did a pretty good job of earning more and more trust from the coaching staff and from my teammates, and I think by the end of the year I was playing some pretty good hockey. It's just too bad that it got cut a little short." He posted six points in his first season as a member of the Capitals and he had one helper in seven playoff outings. Chorney got a two-year contract extension in February and will likely enter the 2016-17 campaign as a depth defender. Jun 9 |
| G | 1 | Braden Holtby ActiveBraden Holtby will be scratched for Saturday's semi-final match against Russia. Carey Price and Corey Crawford have more than held down the fort for Canada, so it's no surprise that the one goalie who hasn't played isn't seeing the ice in an elimination game. Sep 24 |
| 2 | Philipp Grubauer ActivePhilipp Grubauer will join Team Europe for the World Cup of Hockey. He will serve as an injury replacement for Frederik Andersen, who suffered an upper-body injury during an Olympic qualifier with Denmark last week. Grubauer will probably be the third goalie behind Thomas Greiss and Jaroslav Halak. Sep 6 |