2015–16 Washington Capitals season

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.
==Off-season==
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Pre-season===
2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–0–2 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 2–0–2)	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 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log 	2015–16 Game Log
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October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	October: 8–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–0–0)	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
===Playoffs===
2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2016 Stanley Cup playoffs
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Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) Philadelphia Flyers: Washington wins 4–2	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC) 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 	
==Player statistics==
Final stats
;Skaters
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	82	20	57	77	27	32
 	79	50	21	71	21	53
 	75	20	50	70	17	36
 	82	22	30	52	15	36
 	80	26	25	51	16	34
 	74	17	29	46	12	16
 	82	20	20	40	0 	22
 	56	8 	31	39	16	14
 	79	17	21	38	4 	12
 	82	5 	27	32	10	38
 	82	8 	21	29	8 	26
 	82	7 	16	23	3 	163
 	82	4 	17	21	14	26
 	57	8 	9 	17	0 	24
 	72	2 	14	16	12	16
 	41	3 	7 	10	11	24
 	43	3 	4 	7 	0 	50
‡ 	60	1 	6 	7 	−7	16
 	55	1 	5 	6 	8 	21
 	39	2 	3 	5 	−2	8
† 	20	2 	3 	5 	7 	22
 	24	0 	3 	3 	2 	4
 	8 	0 	2 	2 	4 	2
 	4 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0
 	10	1 	0 	1 	0 	2
† 	10	0 	0 	0 	−1	28
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	−1	2
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	−1	2
 	9 	0 	0 	0 	−3	2
‡ 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
‡ 	3 	0 	0 	0 	−2	0
 Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	12	5	7	12	3 	2
 	12	5	7	12	−2	4
 	12	2	9	11	3 	8
 	12	6	4	10	2 	11
 	12	3	4	7 	−3	14
 	12	2	5	7 	−2	2
 	12	0	3	3 	3 	6
 	12	3	0	3 	1 	2
 	12	1	1	2 	−1	12
 	12	0	2	2 	3 	6
 	12	1	1	2 	−4	8
 	7 	0	1	1 	−1	4
 	11	0	1	1 	0 	2
 	12	0	1	1 	−3	13
 	10	0	1	1 	−3	2
 	12	1	0	1 	−1	6
 	6 	0	0	0 	−3	10
 	12	0	0	0 	0 	4
 	12	0	0	0 	0 	4
 	2 	0	0	0 	−1	0
;Goaltenders
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	66	66	3841:11	48	9	7	141	2.20	1802	.922	3	0	1	6
 	22	16	1111:53	8 	9	1	43 	2.32	523 	.918	0	0	0	2
 Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	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==
=== 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
 	NHL First Star of the Week 	October 26, 2015
 	NHL Second Star of the Week 	November 30, 2015
 	NHL Second Star of the Month 	December 1, 2015
 	NHL Second Star of the Week 	December 21, 2015
 	NHL All-Star game captain 	January 2, 2016
 	NHL Second Star of the Month 	January 4, 2016
 	NHL All-Star game selection 	January 6, 2016
 	NHL All-Star game selection 	January 6, 2016
 	NHL First Star of the Week 	January 11, 2016
 	NHL All-Star game replacement selection	January 28, 2016
 	NHL First Star of the Month 	February 1, 2016
=== Milestones ===
 Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
 	200th Career NHL Point 	October 10, 2015
 	400th Career NHL Game 	October 13, 2015
 	1st Career NHL Game 	October 15, 2015
 	100th Career NHL Game 	October 15, 2015
 	1st Career NHL Assist 	October 15, 2015
 	900th Career NHL Point 	October 20, 2015
J. Carlson 	200th Career NHL Point 	November 5, 2015
 	484th Career Goal; Most Goals scored by Russian	November 19, 2015
 	700th Career NHL Game 	November 19, 2015
 	200th Career NHL Game 	December 8, 2015
 	600th Career NHL Game 	December 8, 2015
 	200th Career NHL Point 	December 8, 2015
 	600th Career NHL Point 	December 8, 2015
M. Niskanen 	600th Career NHL Game 	December 10, 2015
 	900th Career NHL Game 	December 18, 2015
N. Backstrom	600th Career NHL Point 	December 18, 2015
 	100th Career NHL Game 	December 31, 2015
A. Ovechkin 	800th Career NHL Game 	January 9, 2016
 	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 	Details 	Ref
 	To New York Rangers BUF's 3rd-round pick in 20154th-round pick in 2015 	To Washington Capitals MTL's 2nd-round pick in 2015 	
 	To St. Louis Blues Troy Brouwer Pheonix Copley 3rd-round pick in 2016	To Washington Capitals T. J. Oshie 	
 	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2017 	To Washington Capitals Mike Weber 	
 	To New York Rangers Chris Brown 	To Washington Capitals Ryan Bourque 	
 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Brooks LaichConnor Carrick2nd-round pick in 2016	To Washington Capitals Daniel WinnikANA's 5th-round pick in 2016	
;Notes
*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
 	Taylor Chorney 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1 year, $700,000 	
 	Justin Williams	Los Angeles Kings 	2 years, $6.5 million 	
 	Aaron Ness 	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Carter Camper 	Binghamton Senators 	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Sean Collins 	Columbus Blue Jackets 	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Chris Bourque 	Hartford Wolf Pack 	2 years, $1.2 million 	
 	Dan Ellis 	Florida Panthers 	1 year, $650,000 	
 	Paul Carey 	Providence Bruins 	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Zach Sill 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Ryan Stanton 	Vancouver Canucks 	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Tim McGauley 	Brandon Wheat Kings 	3 years, entry-level contract 	
 	Mike Richards 	Los Angeles Kings 	1 year, $1 million 	
 	Adam Carlson 	Mercyhurst College 	2 years, entry-level contract 	
=== Free agents lost ===
Date	Player 	New team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars)	Ref
 	Mike Green 	Detroit Red Wings 	3 years, $18 million 	
 	Steve Oleksy 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 years, $575,000 	
 	Chris Conner 	Philadelphia Flyers	1 years, $575,000 	
 	Cameron Schilling	Chicago Blackhawks 	1 years, $575,000 	
 	Joel Ward 	San Jose Sharks 	3 years, $9.825 million 	
 	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
 	Patrick Wey	
===Player signings===
Date	Player 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
 	Jay Beagle 	3-years, $5.25 million 	
 	Stanislav Galiev 	2-years, $2.3 million 	
 	Mike Moore 	1 year, $575,000 	
 	Evgeny Kuznetsov 	2-years, $6 million 	
 	Chris Brown 	2-years, $1.701 million 	
 	Braden Holtby 	5-years, $30.5 million 	
 	Jonas Siegenthaler	3-years, entry-level contract 	
 	Marcus Johansson 	1-year, $3.75 million 	
 	Taylor Chorney 	2-years, $1.6 million contract extension	
==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 	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
* 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.
* 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 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.
==References==
Category:Washington Capitals seasons
Washington Capitals season, 2015-16
Category:Presidents' Trophy seasons