2015–16 Washington Capitals season

2015–2016 Washington Capitals
Presidents' Trophy Winners
Metropolitan Division Champions
Division	1st Metropolitan
Conference	1st Eastern
2015–2016 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 affiliations	Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (50)
Assists	Evgeny Kuznetsov (57)
Points	Evgeny Kuznetsov (77)
Penalties in minutes	Tom Wilson (163)
Plus/minus	(+): Evgeny Kuznetsov (+27) (–): Brooks Laich (–7)
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. The season began its regular games on October 10, 2015 against the New Jersey Devils.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team	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

Conference standings

Top 3 (Metropolitan Division)

Pos	Team	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

Top 3 (Atlantic Division)

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Florida Panthers	82	47	26	9	40	239	203	+36	103
2	x – Tampa Bay Lightning	82	46	31	5	43	227	201	+26	97
3	x – Detroit Red Wings	82	41	30	11	39	211	224	−13	93

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	ME	x – New York Islanders	82	45	27	10	40	232	216	+16	100
2	ME	x – Philadelphia Flyers	82	41	27	14	38	214	218	−4	96
3	AT	Boston Bruins	82	42	31	9	38	240	230	+10	93
4	ME	Carolina Hurricanes	82	35	31	16	33	198	226	−28	86
5	AT	Ottawa Senators	82	38	35	9	32	236	247	−11	85
6	ME	New Jersey Devils	82	38	36	8	36	184	208	−24	84
7	AT	Montreal Canadiens	82	38	38	6	33	221	236	−15	82
8	AT	Buffalo Sabres	82	35	36	11	33	201	222	−21	81
9	ME	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	34	40	8	28	219	252	−33	76
10	AT	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	29	42	11	23	198	246	−48	69

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)
#	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
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)

Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

Regular Season

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

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
Matt Niskanen	12	0	3	3	3	6
Jay Beagle	12	3	0	3	1	2
Jason Chimera	12	1	1	2	−1	12
Karl Alzner	12	0	2	2	3	6
Evgeny Kuznetsov	12	1	1	2	−4	8
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
Andre Burakovsky	12	1	0	1	−1	6
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

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.

Roster

Updated January 7, 2016.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
27		Karl Alzner	D	L	35	2007	Burnaby, British Columbia
19		Nicklas Backstrom (A)	C	L	36	2006	Gävle, Sweden
83		Jay Beagle Injured Reserve	RW	R	38	2007	Calgary, Alberta
65		Andre Burakovsky	LW	L	29	2013	Klagenfurt, Austria
74		John Carlson Injured Reserve	D	R	34	2008	Natick, Massachusetts
25		Jason Chimera	LW	L	45	2009	Edmonton, Alberta
4		Taylor Chorney	D	L	37	2015	Thunder Bay, Ontario
49		Stanislav Galiev	RW	R	32	2012	Moscow, Russia
31		Philipp Grubauer	G	L	32	2010	Rosenheim, Germany
70		Braden Holtby	G	L	34	2008	Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
90		Marcus Johansson	C/LW	L	33	2009	Landskrona, Sweden
92		Evgeny Kuznetsov	F	L	32	2010	Chelyabinsk, Russia
21		Brooks Laich	C	L	41	2004	Wawota, Saskatchewan
46		Michael Latta	C	R	33	2013	St. Clements, Ontario
55		Aaron Ness	D	L	34	2015	Roseau, Minnesota
2		Matt Niskanen	D	R	37	2014	Virginia, Minnesota
9		Dmitry Orlov	D	L	32	2009	Novokuznetsk, Soviet Union
44		Brooks Orpik (A) Injured Reserve	D	L	43	2014	San Francisco, California
77		T. J. Oshie	RW	R	37	2015	Mount Vernon, Washington
8		Alex Ovechkin (C)	LW	R	38	2004	Moscow, Soviet Union
10		Mike Richards	C	L	39	2016	Kenora, Ontario
88		Nate Schmidt	D	L	32	2013	St. Cloud, Minnesota
23		Zach Sill	C	L	36	2015	Truro, Nova Scotia
20		Ryan Stanton	D	L	34	2015	St. Albert, Alberta
14		Justin Williams	RW	R	42	2015	Cobourg, Ontario
43		Tom Wilson	RW	R	30	2012	Toronto, Ontario

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
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

Notable achievements

Awards

Regular Season

Player	Award	Awarded
E. Kuznetsov	NHL First Star of the Week	October 26, 2015
B. Holtby	NHL Second Star of the Week	November 30, 2015
B. Holtby	NHL Second Star of the Month	December 1, 2015
T. Oshie	NHL Second Star of the Week	December 21, 2015
A. Ovechkin	NHL All-Star game captain	January 2, 2016
B. Holtby	NHL Second Star of the Month	January 4, 2016
B. Holtby	NHL All-Star game selection	January 6, 2016
N. Backstrom	NHL All-Star game selection	January 6, 2016
A. Ovechkin	NHL First Star of the Week	January 11, 2016
E. Kuznetsov	NHL All-Star game replacement selection	January 28, 2016
E. Kuznetsov	NHL First Star of the Month	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
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
February 23, 2016 (2016-02-23)	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2017	To Washington Capitals Mike Weber
February 28, 2016 (2016-02-28)	To New York Rangers Chris Brown	To Washington Capitals Ryan Bourque
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

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
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Justin Williams	Los Angeles Kings	2 years, $6.5 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Aaron Ness	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	1 year, $575,000
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Carter Camper	Binghamton Senators	1 year, $575,000
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Sean Collins	Columbus Blue Jackets	1 year, $575,000
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Chris Bourque	Hartford Wolf Pack	2 years, $1.2 million
July 4, 2015 (2015-07-04)	Dan Ellis	Florida Panthers	1 year, $650,000
July 8, 2015 (2015-07-08)	Paul Carey	Providence Bruins	1 year, $575,000
July 16, 2015 (2015-07-16)	Zach Sill	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 year, $575,000
July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24)	Ryan Stanton	Vancouver Canucks	1 year, $575,000
October 5, 2015 (2015-10-05)	Tim McGauley	Brandon Wheat Kings	3 years, entry-level contract
January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)	Mike Richards	Los Angeles Kings	1 year, $1 million
March 28, 2016 (2016-03-28)	Adam Carlson	Mercyhurst College	2 years, entry-level contract

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
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Steve Oleksy	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 years, $575,000
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Chris Conner	Philadelphia Flyers	1 years, $575,000
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Cameron Schilling	Chicago Blackhawks	1 years, $575,000
July 3, 2015 (2015-07-03)	Joel Ward	San Jose Sharks	3 years, $9.825 million
July 28, 2015 (2015-07-28)	Eric Fehr	Pittsburgh Penguins	3 years, $6 million

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

Player signings

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

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals 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	Magnitogorsk (KHL)
2	57	Jonas Siegenthaler	D	Switzerland	Zurich
5	143	Conner Hobbs	D	Canada	Regina (WHL)
6	173	Colby Williams	D	Canada	Regina (WHL)

Draft notes

• 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.
• ^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.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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Washington Capitals' seventh-round pick will go to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014 that sent Eddie 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.

References