2018–19 Washington Capitals season

The 2018–19 Washington Capitals season was the 45th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. It was the first season with new head coach Todd Reirden. They entered the season as the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Capitals clinched a playoff spot on March 28, 2019, after a 3–2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. On April 4, the team defended their division title in a 2–1 win against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Capitals faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they lost in seven games.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Preseason===
The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2018.
2018 preseason game log: 2–3–2 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 1–2–1)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	
Game	Date 	Opponent 	Score	Record
1 	September 16	@ Boston 	1–2 	0–0–1
2 	September 18	Boston 	2–5 	0–1–1
3 	September 20	@ Montreal 	2–5 	0–2–1
4 	September 21	@ Carolina 	1–5 	0–3–1
5 	September 25	@ St. Louis	4–0 	1–3–1
6 	September 28	Carolina 	4–5 	1–3–2
7 	September 30	St. Louis 	5–2 	2–3–2
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log	2018–19 game log	2018–19 game log	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
October: 5–3–2, 12 points (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 2–2–1)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision	Location 	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
1 	October 3 	Boston 	7–0 	 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,506 	1–0–0 	2 	Recap
2 	October 4 	@ Pittsburgh 	6–7 	OT	Holtby 	PPG Paints Arena 	18,627 	1–0–1 	3 	Recap
3 	October 10 	Vegas 	5–2 	 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,506 	2–0–1 	5 	Recap
4 	October 11 	@ New Jersey 	0–6 	 	Copley 	Prudential Center 	16,514 	2–1–1 	5 	Recap
5 	October 13 	Toronto 	2–4 	 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,506 	2–2–1 	5 	Recap
6 	October 17 	NY Rangers 	4–3 	OT	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,506 	3–2–1 	7 	Recap
7 	October 19 	Florida 	5–6 	SO	Copley 	Capital One Arena 	18,506 	3–2–2 	8 	Recap
8 	October 22 	@ Vancouver 	5–2 	 	Holtby 	Rogers Arena 	17,227 	4–2–2 	10 	Recap
9 	October 25 	@ Edmonton 	1–4 	 	Holtby 	Rogers Place 	18,347 	4–3–2 	10 	Recap
10 	October 27 	@ Calgary 	4–3 	SO	Copley 	Scotiabank Saddledome	17,832 	5–3–2 	12 	Recap
===Playoffs===
The Capitals faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round of the playoffs, and were defeated in seven games.
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs	2019 Stanley Cup playoffs	2019 Stanley Cup playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC1) Carolina Hurricanes: Carolina won 4–3
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT 	Decision	Location 	Attendance	Series	Recap
1 	April 11 	Carolina 	4–2 	 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena	18,506 	1–0 	Recap
2 	April 13 	Carolina 	4–3 	OT 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena	18,506 	2–0 	Recap
3 	April 15 	@ Carolina 	0–5 	 	Holtby 	PNC Arena 	18,783 	2–1 	Recap
4 	April 18 	@ Carolina 	1–2 	 	Holtby 	PNC Arena 	19,202 	2–2 	Recap
5 	April 20 	Carolina 	6–0 	 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena	18,506 	3–2 	Recap
6 	April 22 	@ Carolina 	2–5 	 	Holtby 	PNC Arena 	18,913 	3–3 	Recap
7 	April 24 	Carolina 	3–4 	2OT	Holtby 	Capital One Arena	18,506 	3–4 	Recap
==Player statistics==
As of April 24, 2019
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	81	51	38	89	7 	40
 	80	22	52	74	2 	30
 	76	21	51	72	7 	50
 	80	13	57	70	21	34
 	69	25	29	54	5 	36
 	82	24	23	47	20	27
 	81	22	24	46	13	24
 	63	22	18	40	11	128
 	81	13	23	36	 	37
 	82	3 	26	29	3 	33
 	76	12	13	25	2 	14
 	80	8 	17	25	 	41
 	71	6 	19	25	24	60
 	64	8 	14	22	10	20
 	53	5 	15	20	6 	6
 	64	5 	6 	11	 	0
† 	20	3 	8 	11	7 	10
 	45	1 	9 	10	9 	4
 	53	2 	7 	9 	8 	32
 	54	4 	4 	8 	 	15
 	37	2 	6 	8 	 	6
‡ 	33	1 	5 	6 	3 	38
† 	20	0 	5 	5 	3 	4
 	26	0 	4 	4 	6 	10
 	2 	1 	1 	2 	3 	7
 	3 	0 	1 	1 	1 	2
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	7	4	5	9	 	19
 	7	5	3	8	 	4
 	7	1	5	6	 	2
 	7	3	2	5	1	2
 	7	0	5	5	0	6
 	7	0	4	4	 	4
 	7	1	2	3	 	2
 	7	2	0	2	 	6
 	4	1	1	2	0	4
 	7	1	1	2	 	0
 	7	1	1	2	 	0
 	7	0	2	2	0	0
 	7	1	0	1	 	6
 	7	0	1	1	 	0
 	7	0	0	0	 	6
 	6	0	0	0	 	2
 	3	0	0	0	0	0
 	7	0	0	0	 	2
 	4	0	0	0	0	2
 	3	0	0	0	 	0
 	1	0	0	0	0	0
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	59	58	3,406:34	32	19	5	160	2.82	1,795	.911	3	0	2	2
 	27	24	1,528:56	16	7 	3	74 	2.90	776 	.905	1	0	1	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	7	7	448:58	3	4	20	2.67	233	.914	1	0	0	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.
==Transactions==
The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Colorado AvalanchePhilipp GrubauerBrooks Orpik 	To Washington Capitals2nd-round pick in 2018 	
 	To Vancouver Canucks6th-round pick in 20186th-round pick in 2019 	To Washington Capitals6th-round pick in 2018 	
 	To Los Angeles Kings3rd-round pick in 2019Conditional 6th-round pick in 2020	To Washington CapitalsCarl Hagelin 	
 	To Detroit Red WingsMadison Bowey2nd-round pick in 2020 	To Washington CapitalsNick JensenBUF's 5th-round pick in 2019	
 	To Philadelphia FlyersMatt Niskanen 	To Washington CapitalsRadko Gudas 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Jay Beagle 	to Vancouver Canucks 	4-year 	
 	Nic Dowd 	from Vancouver Canucks 	1-year 	
 	Tyler Graovac 	to Calgary Flames 	1-year 	
 	Jayson Megna 	from Vancouver Canucks 	1-year 	
 	Michael Sgarbossa	from Winnipeg Jets 	1-year 	
 	Joe Whitney 	to Linköpings (SHL) 	2-year 	
 	Brooks Orpik 	from Colorado Avalanche 	1-year 	
 	Tim McGauley 	to Colorado Eagles (AHL) 	Unknown 	
 	Zach Sill 	to Sparta Praha (ELH) 	Unknown 	
 	Adam Carlson 	to Rapid City Rush (ECHL) 	1-year 	
 	Wayne Simpson 	to Rochester Americans (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Anthony Peluso 	to Calgary Flames 	1-year 	
 	Sergei Shumakov 	from CSKA Moscow (KHL) 	1-year 	
 	Alex Chiasson 	to Edmonton Oilers 	1-year 	
 	Parker Milner 	from Hershey Bears (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Joe Snively 	from Yale Bulldogs (ECAC Hockey) 	2-year 	
 	Bobby Nardella 	from Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Big Ten)	2-year 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player 	Team 	Ref
 	Dmitrij Jaskin	from St. Louis Blues	
===Contract terminations===
Date	Player 	Via 	Ref
 	Sergei Shumakov 	Mutual termination	
 	Maximilian Kammerer	Mutual termination	
 	Juuso Ikonen 	Mutual termination	
===Retirement===
Date	Player	Ref
 	 	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	John Carlson 	8-year 	
 	Devante Smith-Pelly	1-year 	
 	Michal Kempny 	4-year 	
 	Travis Boyd 	2-year 	
 	Riley Barber 	1-year 	
 	Liam O'Brien 	1-year 	
 	Madison Bowey 	2-year 	
 	Brooks Orpik 	1-year 	
 	Tom Wilson 	6-year 	
 	Alexander Alexeyev 	3-year 	
 	Nick Jensen 	4-year 	
 	Nic Dowd 	3-year 	
 	Shane Gersich 	1-year 	
 	Brian Pinho 	1-year 	
 	Liam O'Brien 	1-year 	
 	Carl Hagelin 	4-year 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos 	Nationality 	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	31 	Alexander Alexeyev 	D 	Russia 	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
2 	461	Martin Fehervary 	D 	Slovakia 	IK Oskarshamn (Allsvenskan)
2 	472	Kody Clark 	RW 	Canada 	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
3 	93 	Riley Sutter 	C/RW	Canada 	Everett Silvertips (WHL)
5 	124	Mitchell Gibson 	G 	United States	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)
6 	186	Alex Kannok-Leipert	D 	Canada 	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
7 	217	Eric Florchuk 	C 	Canada 	Victoria Royals (WHL)
Notes:
# The Florida Panthers' second-round pick went the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on July 2, 2017, that sent Marcus Johansson to New Jersey in exchange for Toronto's third-round pick in 2018 and this pick.
# The Colorado Avalanche's second-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2018, that sent Philipp Grubauer and Brooks Orpik to Colorado in exchange for this pick.
==References==
Category:Washington Capitals seasons
Washington Capitals