2015–16 Washington Capitals season

2015–16 Washington Capitals
2015–16 Washington Capitals
Presidents' Trophy winners
Metropolitan Division champions
Division	1st Metropolitan
Conference	1st Eastern
2015–16 record	56–18–8
Home record	29–8–4
Road record	27–10–4
Goals for	252
Goals against	193
Team information
General manager	Brian MacLellan
Coach	Barry Trotz
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom; Brooks Orpik
Arena	Verizon Center
Average attendance	18,509; (27 games)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hershey Bears (AHL); South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (50)
Assists	Evgeny Kuznetsov (57)
Points	Evgeny Kuznetsov (77)
Penalty minutes	Tom Wilson (163)
Plus/minus	Evgeny Kuznetsov (+27)
Wins	Braden Holtby (48)
Goals against average	Braden Holtby (2.20)
	← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 Washington Capitals season was the 42nd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.^[2] The season began its regular games on October 10, 2015, against the New Jersey Devils.^[3] This was the first of five consecutive Metropolitan Division titles for the Capitals. The 2015-2016 Capitals team was the second one in franchise history to win the Presidents' Trophy, after the 2009-2010 Capitals team. The 2015-2016 Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of NHL playoffs. However, the Capitals were ousted in the second round of NHL playoffs, two games to four, against the eventual Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins.

Standings

Metropolitan Division
Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Washington Capitals	82	56	18	8	52	252	193	+59	120
2	x – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	48	26	8	44	245	203	+42	104
3	x – New York Rangers	82	46	27	9	43	236	217	+19	101
4	x – New York Islanders	82	45	27	10	40	232	216	+16	100
5	x – Philadelphia Flyers	82	41	27	14	38	214	218	−4	96
6	Carolina Hurricanes	82	35	31	16	33	198	226	−28	86
7	New Jersey Devils	82	38	36	8	36	184	208	−24	84
8	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	34	40	8	28	219	252	−33	76

Source: National Hockey League^[4]
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–0–2)^[3]
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 21	Carolina	0–2	Washington		Holtby	15,955	1–0–0	Recap
2	September 22	Washington	1–2	Boston	OT	Grubauer	16,460	1–0–1	Recap
3	September 24	Washington	4–3	Montreal	SO	Ellis	21,287	2–0–1	Recap
4	September 28	Washington	3–1	NY Islanders		Peters	––	3–0–1	Recap
5	September 30	Washington	3–4	Carolina	SO	Peters	6,256	3–0–2	Recap
6	October 2	Boston	1–2	Washington	SO	Holtby	16,243	4–0–2	Recap
7	October 4	NY Islanders	2–6	Washington		Holtby	16,073	5–0–2	Recap

Regular season

2015–16 Game Log^[3]

October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 10	New Jersey	3–5	Washington		Holtby	18,506	1–0–0	2	Recap
2	October 13	San Jose	5–0	Washington		Holtby	18,506	1–1–0	2	Recap
3	October 15	Chicago	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	2–1–0	4	Recap
4	October 17	Carolina	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	3–1–0	6	Recap
5	October 20	Washington	6–2	Calgary		Holtby	18,303	4–1–0	8	Recap
6	October 22	Washington	3–2	Vancouver		Holtby	18,188	5–1–0	10	Recap
7	October 23	Washington	7–4	Edmonton		Grubauer	16,839	6–1–0	12	Recap
8	October 28	Pittsburgh	3–1	Washington		Holtby	18,506	6–2–0	12	Recap
9	October 30	Columbus	1–2	Washington		Holtby	18,506	7–2–0	14	Recap
10	October 31	Washington	2–1	Florida	OT	Grubauer	11,207	8–2–0	16	Recap

November: 9–3–1 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 3–2–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
11	November 3	Washington	2–5	NY Rangers		Holtby	18,006	8–3–0	16	Recap
12	November 5	Boston	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	9–3–0	18	Recap
13	November 7	Toronto	2–3	Washington	SO	Holtby	18,506	10–3–0	20	Recap
14	November 10	Washington	0–1	Detroit		Holtby	20,027	10–4–0	20	Recap
15	November 12	Washington	5–2	Philadelphia		Holtby	19,414	11–4–0	22	Recap
16	November 13	Calgary	3–2	Washington	OT	Grubauer	18,506	11–4–1	23	Recap
17	November 18	Washington	2–1	Detroit	OT	Holtby	20,027	12–4–1	25	Recap
18	November 19	Dallas	3–2	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	12–5–1	25	Recap
19	November 21	Colorado	3–7	Washington		Holtby	18,506	13–5–1	27	Recap
20	November 23	Edmonton	0–1	Washington		Holtby	18,506	14–5–1	29	Recap
21	November 25	Winnipeg	3–5	Washington		Holtby	18,506	15–5–1	31	Recap
22	November 27	Tampa Bay	2–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	16–5–1	33	Recap
23	November 28	Washington	4–2	Toronto		Holtby	19,053	17–5–1	35	Recap

December: 11–2–1 (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 6–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
24	December 3	Washington	3–2	Montreal		Holtby	21,288	18–5–1	37	Recap
25	December 5	Washington	1–2	Winnipeg	OT	Holtby	15,294	18–5–2	38	Recap
26	December 8	Detroit	2–3	Washington	SO	Holtby	18,506	19–5–2	40	Recap
27	December 10	Washington	1–4	Florida		Grubauer	12,810	19–6–2	40	Recap
28	December 12	Washington	2–1	Tampa Bay		Holtby	19,092	20–6–2	42	Recap
29	December 14	Washington	4–1	Pittsburgh		Holtby	18,520	21–6–2	44	Recap
30	December 16	Ottawa	1–2	Washington		Holtby	18,506	22–6–2	46	Recap
31	December 18	Tampa Bay	3–5	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	23–6–2	48	Recap
32	December 20	Washington	7–3	NY Rangers		Holtby	18,006	24–6–2	50	Recap
33	December 21	Washington	2–1	Carolina		Grubauer	13,228	25–6–2	52	Recap
34	December 26	Montreal	1–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	26–6–2	54	Recap
35	December 28	Washington	2–0	Buffalo		Holtby	19,070	27–6–2	56	Recap
36	December 30	Buffalo	2–5	Washington		Holtby	18,506	28–6–2	58	Recap
37	December 31	Washington	2–4	Carolina		Grubauer	14,134	28–7–2	58	Recap

January: 7–1–2 (Home: 3–0–1; Road: 4–1–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
38	January 2	Washington	4–5	Columbus	SO	Holtby	17,170	28–7–3	59	Recap
39	January 5	Washington	3–2	Boston		Holtby	17,565	29–7–3	61	Recap
40	January 7	Washington	4–1	NY Islanders		Holtby	14,261	30–7–3	63	Recap
41	January 9	Washington	4–3	NY Rangers	OT	Holtby	18,006	31–7–3	65	Recap
42	January 10	Ottawa	1–7	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	32–7–3	67	Recap
43	January 14	Vancouver	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	33–7–3	69	Recap
44	January 16	Washington	1–4	Buffalo		Holtby	19,070	33–8–3	69	Recap
45	January 17	NY Rangers	2–5	Washington		Holtby	18,506	34–8–3	71	Recap
46	January 19	Washington	6–3	Columbus		Holtby	12,291	35–8–3	73	Recap
–	January 22	Anaheim		Washington	Game rescheduled to April 10 due to hazardous weather.
–	January 24	Pittsburgh		Washington	Game rescheduled to March 1 due to hazardous weather.
47	January 27	Philadelphia	4–3	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	35–8–4	74	Recap

February: 10–4–0 (Home: 6–2–0; Road: 4–2–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
48	February 2	Florida	5–2	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	35–9–4	74	Recap
49	February 4	NY Islanders	2–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	36–9–4	76	Recap
50	February 6	Washington	3–2	New Jersey	SO	Holtby	16,514	37–9–4	78	Recap
51	February 7	Philadelphia	2–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	38–9–4	80	Recap
52	February 9	Washington	5–3	Nashville		Holtby	17,113	39–9–4	82	Recap
53	February 11	Washington	4–3	Minnesota		Holtby	19,213	40–9–4	84	Recap
54	February 13	Washington	3–4	Dallas		Holtby	18,532	40–10–4	84	Recap
55	February 16	Los Angeles	1–3	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	41–10–4	86	Recap
56	February 18	Washington	3–2	NY Islanders	OT	Holtby	15,795	42–10–4	88	Recap
57	February 20	New Jersey	3–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	43–10–4	90	Recap
58	February 22	Arizona	2–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	44–10–4	92	Recap
59	February 24	Montreal	4–3	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	44–11–4	92	Recap
60	February 26	Minnesota	2–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	45–11–4	94	Recap
61	February 28	Washington	2–3	Chicago		Holtby	22,218	45–12–4	94	Recap

March: 9–4–2 (Home: 5–2–0; Road: 4–2–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
62	March 1	Pittsburgh	2–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	46–12–4	96	Recap
63	March 2	Toronto	2–3	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	47–12–4	98	Recap
64	March 4	NY Rangers	3–2	Washington		Holtby	18,506	47–13–4	98	Recap
65	March 5	Washington	2–1	Boston	OT	Grubauer	17,565	48–13–4	100	Recap
66	March 7	Washington	2–1	Anaheim	SO	Holtby	17,174	49–13–4	102	Recap
67	March 9	Washington	3–4	Los Angeles	OT	Holtby	18,324	49–13–5	103	Recap
68	March 12	Washington	2–5	San Jose		Grubauer	17,562	49–14–5	103	Recap
69	March 15	Carolina	1–2	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	50–14–5	105	Recap
70	March 18	Nashville	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	51–14–5	107	Recap
71	March 20	Washington	2–6	Pittsburgh		Holtby	18,656	51–15–5	107	Recap
72	March 22	Washington	4–2	Ottawa		Holtby	19,313	52–15–5	109	Recap
73	March 25	Washington	1–0	New Jersey	OT	Holtby	16,514	53–15–5	111	Recap
74	March 26	St. Louis	4–0	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	53–16–5	111	Recap
75	March 28	Columbus	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	54–16–5	113	Recap
76	March 30	Washington	1–2	Philadelphia	SO	Holtby	19,850	54–16–6	114	Recap

April: 2–2–2 (Home: 0–1–2; Road: 2–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
77	April 1	Washington	4–2	Colorado		Holtby	18,049	55–16–6	116	Recap
78	April 2	Washington	0–3	Arizona		Grubauer	17,125	55–17–6	116	Recap
79	April 5	NY Islanders	4–3	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	55–17–7	117	Recap
80	April 7	Pittsburgh	4–3	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	55–17–8	118	Recap
81	April 9	Washington	5–1	St. Louis		Holtby	19,610	56–17–8	120	Recap
82	April 10	Anaheim	2–0	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	56–18–8	120	Recap

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

Playoffs

2016 Stanley Cup playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC2) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	April 14	Philadelphia	0–2	Washington		Holtby	18,506	1–0	Recap
2	April 16	Philadelphia	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	2–0	Recap
3	April 18	Washington	6–1	Philadelphia		Holtby	19,678	3–0	Recap
4	April 20	Washington	1–2	Philadelphia		Holtby	19,692	3–1	Recap
5	April 22	Philadelphia	2–0	Washington		Holtby	18,506	3–2	Recap
6	April 24	Washington	1–0	Philadelphia		Holtby	19,925	4–2	Recap

Eastern Conference Second Round vs. (M2) Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh wins 4–2
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	April 28	Pittsburgh	3–4	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	1–0	Recap
2	April 30	Pittsburgh	2–1	Washington		Holtby	18,506	1–1	Recap
3	May 2	Washington	2–3	Pittsburgh		Holtby	18,601	1–2	Recap
4	May 4	Washington	2–3	Pittsburgh	OT	Holtby	18,614	1–3	Recap
5	May 7	Pittsburgh	1–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	2–3	Recap
6	May 10	Washington	3–4	Pittsburgh	OT	Holtby	18,650	2–4	Recap

Legend: Win Loss

Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

Regular Season^[5]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Evgeny Kuznetsov	82	20	57	77	27	32
Alexander Ovechkin	79	50	21	71	21	53
Nicklas Backstrom	75	20	50	70	17	36
Justin Williams	82	22	30	52	15	36
T. J. Oshie	80	26	25	51	16	34
Marcus Johansson	74	17	29	46	12	16
Jason Chimera	82	20	20	40	0	22
John Carlson	56	8	31	39	16	14
Andre Burakovsky	79	17	21	38	4	12
Matt Niskanen	82	5	27	32	10	38
Dmitry Orlov	82	8	21	29	8	26
Tom Wilson	82	7	16	23	3	163
Karl Alzner	82	4	17	21	14	26
Jay Beagle	57	8	9	17	0	24
Nate Schmidt	72	2	14	16	12	16
Brooks Orpik	41	3	7	10	11	24
Michael Latta	43	3	4	7	0	50
Brooks Laich^‡	60	1	6	7	−7	16
Taylor Chorney	55	1	5	6	8	21
Mike Richards	39	2	3	5	−2	8
Daniel Winnik^†	20	2	3	5	7	22
Stanislav Galiev	24	0	3	3	2	4
Aaron Ness	8	0	2	2	4	2
Paul Carey	4	1	0	1	0	0
Zach Sill	10	1	0	1	0	2
Mike Weber^†	10	0	0	0	−1	28
Sean Collins	2	0	0	0	−1	2
Ryan Stanton	1	0	0	0	−1	2
Chandler Stephenson	9	0	0	0	−3	2
Chris Brown^‡	1	0	0	0	0	0
Connor Carrick^‡	3	0	0	0	−2	0

Playoffs^[5]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Alexander Ovechkin	12	5	7	12	3	2
John Carlson	12	5	7	12	−2	4
Nicklas Backstrom	12	2	9	11	3	8
T. J. Oshie	12	6	4	10	2	11
Justin Williams	12	3	4	7	−3	14
Marcus Johansson	12	2	5	7	−2	2
Jay Beagle	12	3	0	3	1	2
Matt Niskanen	12	0	3	3	3	6
Jason Chimera	12	1	1	2	−1	12
Evgeny Kuznetsov	12	1	1	2	−4	8
Karl Alzner	12	0	2	2	3	6
Andre Burakovsky	12	1	0	1	−1	6
Taylor Chorney	7	0	1	1	−1	4
Dmitry Orlov	11	0	1	1	0	2
Tom Wilson	12	0	1	1	−3	13
Nate Schmidt	10	0	1	1	−3	2
Brooks Orpik	6	0	0	0	−3	10
Mike Richards	12	0	0	0	0	4
Daniel Winnik	12	0	0	0	0	4
Mike Weber	2	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

Regular Season^[5]
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	66	66	3841:11	48	9	7	141	2.20	1802	.922	3	0	1	6
Philipp Grubauer	22	16	1111:53	8	9	1	43	2.32	523	.918	0	0	0	2

Playoffs
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	12	12	732	6	6	2	21	1.72	363	.942	2	0	1	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Capitals. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Player suspensions/fines

Player	Explanation	Length	Salary	Date issued
Zach Sill	Boarding on Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid during NHL Game No. 588 in Boston on Tuesday, January 5, 2016, at 4:43 of the second period.	2 games	$6,182.80	January 6, 2016^[6]
Marcus Johansson	Illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey during NHL Game No. 601 in New York on Thursday, January 7, 2016, at 8:42 of the first period.	2 games	$40,322.58	January 8, 2016^[7]

Notable achievements

Awards

Regular Season
Player	Award	Awarded
E. Kuznetsov	NHL First Star of the Week^[8]	October 26, 2015
B. Holtby	NHL Second Star of the Week^[9]	November 30, 2015
B. Holtby	NHL Second Star of the Month^[10]	December 1, 2015
T. Oshie	NHL Second Star of the Week^[11]	December 21, 2015
A. Ovechkin	NHL All-Star game captain^[12]	January 2, 2016
B. Holtby	NHL Second Star of the Month^[13]	January 4, 2016
B. Holtby	NHL All-Star game selection^[14]	January 6, 2016
N. Backstrom	NHL All-Star game selection^[14]	January 6, 2016
A. Ovechkin	NHL First Star of the Week^[15]	January 11, 2016
E. Kuznetsov	NHL All-Star game replacement selection^[16]	January 28, 2016
E. Kuznetsov	NHL First Star of the Month^[17]	February 1, 2016

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
M. Niskanen	200th Career NHL Point	October 10, 2015
J. Carlson	400th Career NHL Game	October 13, 2015
C. Stephenson	1st Career NHL Game	October 15, 2015
E. Kuznetsov	100th Career NHL Game	October 15, 2015
S. Galiev	1st Career NHL Assist	October 15, 2015
A. Ovechkin	900th Career NHL Point	October 20, 2015
J. Carlson	200th Career NHL Point	November 5, 2015
A. Ovechkin	484th Career Goal; Most Goals scored by Russian	November 19, 2015
B. Laich	700th Career NHL Game	November 19, 2015
B. Holtby	200th Career NHL Game	December 8, 2015
N. Backstrom	600th Career NHL Game	December 8, 2015
M. Johansson	200th Career NHL Point	December 8, 2015
J. Williams	600th Career NHL Point	December 8, 2015
M. Niskanen	600th Career NHL Game	December 10, 2015
J. Chimera	900th Career NHL Game	December 18, 2015
N. Backstrom	600th Career NHL Point	December 18, 2015
N. Schmidt	100th Career NHL Game	December 31, 2015
A. Ovechkin	800th Career NHL Game	January 9, 2016
T. Chorney	100th Career NHL Game	January 9, 2016
A. Ovechkin	500th Career NHL Goal	January 10, 2016

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 27, 2015 (2015-06-27)	To New York Rangers BUF's 3rd-round pick in 2015 4th-round pick in 2015	To Washington Capitals MTL's 2nd-round pick in 2015	^[18]
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	To St. Louis Blues Troy Brouwer Pheonix Copley 3rd-round pick in 2016	To Washington Capitals T. J. Oshie	^[19]
February 23, 2016 (2016-02-23)	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2017	To Washington Capitals Mike Weber^{[Note 1]}	^[20]
February 28, 2016 (2016-02-28)	To New York Rangers Chris Brown	To Washington Capitals Ryan Bourque	^[21]
February 28, 2016 (2016-02-28)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Brooks Laich Connor Carrick 2nd-round pick in 2016	To Washington Capitals Daniel Winnik ANA's 5th-round pick in 2016	^[22]

Notes

^{Note 1} Buffalo to retain 50% ($1.67 million) of salary as part of trade.

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Taylor Chorney	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year, $700,000	^[23]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Justin Williams	Los Angeles Kings	2 years, $6.5 million	^[24]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Aaron Ness	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	1 year, $575,000	^[25]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Carter Camper	Binghamton Senators	1 year, $575,000	^[25]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Sean Collins	Columbus Blue Jackets	1 year, $575,000	^[25]
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Chris Bourque	Hartford Wolf Pack	2 years, $1.2 million	^[26]
July 4, 2015 (2015-07-04)	Dan Ellis	Florida Panthers	1 year, $650,000	^[27]
July 8, 2015 (2015-07-08)	Paul Carey	Providence Bruins	1 year, $575,000	^[28]
July 16, 2015 (2015-07-16)	Zach Sill	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 year, $575,000	^[29]
July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24)	Ryan Stanton	Vancouver Canucks	1 year, $575,000	^[30]
October 5, 2015 (2015-10-05)	Tim McGauley	Brandon Wheat Kings	3 years, entry-level contract	^[31]
January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)	Mike Richards	Los Angeles Kings	1 year, $1 million	^[32]
March 28, 2016 (2016-03-28)	Adam Carlson	Mercyhurst College	2 years, entry-level contract	^[33]

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Mike Green	Detroit Red Wings	3 years, $18 million	^[34]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Steve Oleksy	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 years, $575,000	^[35]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Chris Conner	Philadelphia Flyers	1 years, $575,000	^[36]
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Cameron Schilling	Chicago Blackhawks	1 years, $575,000	^[37]
July 3, 2015 (2015-07-03)	Joel Ward	San Jose Sharks	3 years, $9.825 million	^[38]
July 28, 2015 (2015-07-28)	Eric Fehr	Pittsburgh Penguins	3 years, $6 million	^[39]

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date	Ref

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date	Ref

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref
June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29)	Patrick Wey	^[40]

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29)	Jay Beagle	3-years, $5.25 million	^[41]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Stanislav Galiev	2-years, $2.3 million	^[42]
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Mike Moore	1 year, $575,000	^[25]
July 6, 2015 (2015-07-06)	Evgeny Kuznetsov	2-years, $6 million	^[43]
July 6, 2015 (2015-07-06)	Chris Brown	2-years, $1.701 million	^[44]
July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24)	Braden Holtby	5-years, $30.5 million	^[45]
July 30, 2015 (2015-07-30)	Jonas Siegenthaler	3-years, entry-level contract	^[46]
July 31, 2015 (2015-07-31)	Marcus Johansson	1-year, $3.75 million	^[47]
February 19, 2016 (2016-02-19)	Taylor Chorney	2-years, $1.6 million contract extension	^[48]

Draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, to be held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	22	Ilya Samsonov	G	Russia	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL)
2	57^[a]	Jonas Siegenthaler	D	Switzerland	ZSC Lions (NLA)
5	143	Conner Hobbs	D	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
6	173	Colby Williams	D	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)

Draft notes^[49]

The Washington Capitals' second-round pick will go to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on March 1, 2015, that sent Curtis Glencross to Washington in exchange for a third-round pick in 2015 and this pick.^[50]
^a The Montreal Canadiens' second-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015, that sent Buffalo's third-round pick in 2015 (62nd overall) and a fourth-round pick in 2015 (113th overall) to New York in exchange for this pick.^[51] The Rangers previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015, that sent Cam Talbot and a seventh-round pick in 2015 (209th overall) to Edmonton in exchange for Ottawa's third-round pick in 2015 (79th overall), a seventh-round pick in 2015 (184th overall) and this pick.^[51]
The Washington Capitals' third-round pick will go to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on March 1, 2015, that sent Curtis Glencross to Washington in exchange for a second-round pick in 2015 and this pick.^[50]
The Washington Capitals' fourth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015, that sent Montreal's second-round pick in 2015 (57th overall) to Washington in exchange for and Buffalo's third-round pick in 2015 (62nd overall) and this pick.^[51]
The Washington Capitals' seventh-round pick will go to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014, that sent Edward Pasquale and a sixth-round pick in 2014 to Washington in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2014, Nashville's seventh-round pick in 2014 and this pick.^[52]

References

^ "2015–2016 NHL Attendance – National Hockey League – ESPN". ESPN.
^ National Hockey League (2012). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2013. Triumph Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-60078-785-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2015-2016 Regular Season Schedule/Results - Washington Capitals - Schedule". Capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "2015-2016 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2015-2016 Regular Season Stats - Points - Washington Capitals - Statistics". Washington Capitals. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
^ "Capitals' Sill suspended two games for boarding". NHL. January 6, 2016.
^ "Capitals forward Johansson suspended two games". NHL. January 8, 2016.
^ "Kuznetsov, Markov and Quick named stars of week". NHL. October 26, 2015.
^ "Benn, Holtby and Galchenyuk named stars of week". NHL. November 30, 2015.
^ "Kane, Holtby and Duchene named stars for November". NHL. December 1, 2015.
^ "Varlamov, Oshie and Koivu named stars of week". NHL. December 21, 2015.
^ "Fans elect division captains for 2016 All-Star Game". NHL. January 2, 2016.
^ "Gaudreau, Holtby and Kane named stars for December". NHL. January 4, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Star-studded Central roster highlights All-Star reveal". NHL. January 6, 2016.
^ "Ovechkin, Mrazek and Barrie named stars of week". NHL. January 11, 2016.
^ "Kuznetsov, Neal added to All-Star Game rosters". NHL. January 28, 2015.
^ "Kuznetsov, Crawford, Letang named stars for January". NHL. February 1, 2016.
^ "Trades completed during 2015 NHL Draft weekend". Washington Capitals. June 27, 2015.
^ "Capitals Acquire T.J. Oshie from St. Louis". Washington Capitals. July 2, 2015.
^ "Capitals Acquire Mike Weber from Buffalo". Washington Capitals. February 23, 2016.
^ "Capitals Acquire Ryan Bourque from NY Rangers". Washington Capitals. February 28, 2016.
^ "Capitals Acquire Daniel Winnik from Toronto". Washington Capitals. February 28, 2016.
^ "Capitals Sign Taylor Chorney". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Justin Williams". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Capitals Sign Carter Camper, Sean Collins, Mike Moore and Aaron Ness". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Chris Bourque". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Dan Ellis". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Paul Carey". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Zach Sill". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Ryan Stanton". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Tim McGauley". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
^ "Capitals Agree to Terms with Mike Richards". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
^ "Capitals Sign Adam Carlson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
^ "Green agrees to three-year deal with Wings". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Penguins Sign Defenseman Steve Oleksy". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Flyers sign C Tim Brent, RW Chris Connor, D Davis Drewiske". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Blackhawks agree to terms with Schilling and Liambas". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Sharks Sign Forward Joel Ward". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Penguins Agree to Terms with Forward Eric Fehr to a Three-Year Contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
^ Vogel, Mike (June 29, 2015). "In wake of back to back concussions, Patrick Wey has elected to retire and pursue educational interests. Great kid, wish him the best. #Caps". @VogsCaps.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Jay Beagle". Capital's Today. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Stanislav Galiev". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Evgeny Kuznetsov". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Chris Brown". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
^ "CAPITALS RE-SIGN BRADEN HOLTBY". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
^ "Capitals Sign Jonas Siegenthaler". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Marcus Johansson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
^ "Capitals Re-sign Taylor Chorney". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
^ "2015 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Flames deal Glencross to Capitals". March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Trades completed during 2015 NHL Draft weekend". June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
^ "Notes from the 2014 NHL Draft". June 28, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.

[1] "2015–2016 NHL Attendance – National Hockey League – ESPN". ESPN.

[2] National Hockey League (2012). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2013. Triumph Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-60078-785-0.

[schedule-3] "2015-2016 Regular Season Schedule/Results - Washington Capitals - Schedule". Capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[4] "2015-2016 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com.

[regstats-5] "2015-2016 Regular Season Stats - Points - Washington Capitals - Statistics". Washington Capitals. Retrieved April 13, 2016.

[6] "Capitals' Sill suspended two games for boarding". NHL. January 6, 2016.

[7] "Capitals forward Johansson suspended two games". NHL. January 8, 2016.

[8] "Kuznetsov, Markov and Quick named stars of week". NHL. October 26, 2015.

[9] "Benn, Holtby and Galchenyuk named stars of week". NHL. November 30, 2015.

[10] "Kane, Holtby and Duchene named stars for November". NHL. December 1, 2015.

[11] "Varlamov, Oshie and Koivu named stars of week". NHL. December 21, 2015.

[12] "Fans elect division captains for 2016 All-Star Game". NHL. January 2, 2016.

[13] "Gaudreau, Holtby and Kane named stars for December". NHL. January 4, 2016.

[allstar-14] "Star-studded Central roster highlights All-Star reveal". NHL. January 6, 2016.

[15] "Ovechkin, Mrazek and Barrie named stars of week". NHL. January 11, 2016.

[16] "Kuznetsov, Neal added to All-Star Game rosters". NHL. January 28, 2015.

[17] "Kuznetsov, Crawford, Letang named stars for January". NHL. February 1, 2016.

[18] "Trades completed during 2015 NHL Draft weekend". Washington Capitals. June 27, 2015.

[19] "Capitals Acquire T.J. Oshie from St. Louis". Washington Capitals. July 2, 2015.

[20] "Capitals Acquire Mike Weber from Buffalo". Washington Capitals. February 23, 2016.

[21] "Capitals Acquire Ryan Bourque from NY Rangers". Washington Capitals. February 28, 2016.

[22] "Capitals Acquire Daniel Winnik from Toronto". Washington Capitals. February 28, 2016.

[23] "Capitals Sign Taylor Chorney". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[24] "Capitals Sign Justin Williams". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[4players-25] "Capitals Sign Carter Camper, Sean Collins, Mike Moore and Aaron Ness". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[26] "Capitals Sign Chris Bourque". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[27] "Capitals Sign Dan Ellis". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[28] "Capitals Sign Paul Carey". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[29] "Capitals Sign Zach Sill". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 16, 2015.

[30] "Capitals Sign Ryan Stanton". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015.

[31] "Capitals Sign Tim McGauley". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.

[32] "Capitals Agree to Terms with Mike Richards". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved January 6, 2016.

[33] "Capitals Sign Adam Carlson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved March 29, 2016.

[34] "Green agrees to three-year deal with Wings". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[35] "Penguins Sign Defenseman Steve Oleksy". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[36] "Flyers sign C Tim Brent, RW Chris Connor, D Davis Drewiske". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[37] "Blackhawks agree to terms with Schilling and Liambas". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[38] "Sharks Sign Forward Joel Ward". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[39] "Penguins Agree to Terms with Forward Eric Fehr to a Three-Year Contract". nhl.com. Retrieved July 28, 2015.

[40] Vogel, Mike (June 29, 2015). "In wake of back to back concussions, Patrick Wey has elected to retire and pursue educational interests. Great kid, wish him the best. #Caps". @VogsCaps.

[41] "Capitals Re-sign Jay Beagle". Capital's Today. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[42] "Capitals Re-sign Stanislav Galiev". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[43] "Capitals Re-sign Evgeny Kuznetsov". nhl.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

[44] "Capitals Re-sign Chris Brown". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 16, 2015.

[45] "CAPITALS RE-SIGN BRADEN HOLTBY". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015.

[46] "Capitals Sign Jonas Siegenthaler". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 30, 2015.

[47] "Capitals Re-sign Marcus Johansson". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.

[48] "Capitals Re-sign Taylor Chorney". capitals.nhl.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.

[49] "2015 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 3, 2015.

[CapitalGlencross-50] "Flames deal Glencross to Capitals". March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.

[2015Day2trades-51] "Trades completed during 2015 NHL Draft weekend". June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.

[2014DraftDay2-52] "Notes from the 2014 NHL Draft". June 28, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.

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v t e Washington Capitals
Founded in 1974 Based in Washington, D.C.
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Ted Leonsis) General manager Chris Patrick Head coach Spencer Carbery Team captain Alexander Ovechkin Current roster
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Category Commons

v t e Washington Capitals seasons
1970s	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 2015–16 NHL season
Pacific	Anaheim Arizona Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles San Jose Vancouver
Central	Chicago Colorado Dallas Minnesota Nashville St. Louis Winnipeg
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See also	Draft Winter Classic All-Star Game Stadium Series Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals Transactions Three Star Awards Suspensions and Fines