2019–20 Washington Capitals season

The 2019–20 Washington Capitals season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. The Capitals entered the season as the 4-time defending Metropolitan Division champions. They would go on to win the division for the fifth year in a row.
The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Capitals advanced to the playoffs, but were eliminated by the New York Islanders in the first round in five games. 
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Eastern Conference===
==Schedule and results==
===Preseason===
The preseason schedule was published on June 17, 2019.
2019 preseason game log: 5–1–0 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–1–0)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	
Game	Date 	Opponent 	Score 	Record
1 	September 16	Chicago 	4–3 OT	1–0–0
2 	September 18	St. Louis 	3–2 	2–0–0
3 	September 21	Carolina 	3–2 	3–0–0
4 	September 25	@ Chicago 	6–0 	4–0–0
5 	September 27	@ St. Louis	3–4 	4–1–0
6 	September 29	@ Carolina 	4–3 	5–1–0
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.
2019–20 game log	2019–20 game log	2019–20 game log	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
October: 9–2–3, 21 points (Home: 2–1–2; Road: 7–1–1)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision	Location 	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
1 	October 2 	@ St. Louis 	3–2 	OT	Holtby 	Enterprise Center 	18,096 	1–0–0 	2 	Recap
2 	October 4 	@ NY Islanders 	2–1 	 	Samsonov	Nassau Coliseum 	13,917 	2–0–0 	4 	Recap
3 	October 5 	Carolina 	2–3 	OT	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,506 	2–0–1 	5 	Recap
4 	October 8 	Dallas 	3–4 	OT	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,573 	2–0–2 	6 	Recap
5 	October 10 	@ Nashville 	5–6 	 	Holtby 	Bridgestone Arena 	17,386 	2–1–2 	6 	Recap
6 	October 12 	@ Dallas 	4–1 	 	Samsonov	American Airlines Center	18,532 	3–1–2 	8 	Recap
7 	October 14 	Colorado 	3–6 	 	Samsonov	Capital One Arena 	18,573 	3–2–2 	8 	Recap
8 	October 16 	Toronto 	4–3 	 	Samsonov	Capital One Arena 	18,573 	4–2–2 	10 	Recap
9 	October 18 	NY Rangers 	5–2 	 	Holtby 	Capital One Arena 	18,573 	5–2–2 	12 	Recap
10 	October 20 	@ Chicago 	5–3 	 	Holtby 	United Center 	21,187 	6–2–2 	14 	Recap
11 	October 22 	@ Calgary 	5–3 	 	Holtby 	Scotiabank Saddledome 	18,002 	7–2–2 	16 	Recap
12 	October 24 	@ Edmonton 	3–4 	OT	Holtby 	Rogers Place 	17,144 	7–2–3 	17 	Recap
13 	October 25 	@ Vancouver 	6–5 	SO	Samsonov	Rogers Arena 	18,871 	8–2–3 	19 	Recap
14 	October 29 	@ Toronto 	4–3 	OT	Holtby 	Scotiabank Arena 	19,258 	9–2–3 	21 	Recap
===Playoffs===
The Capitals played in a round-robin tournament to determine their seed for the playoffs. Washington finished with a 1–1–1 record to clinch the third seed for the playoffs.
The Capitals were defeated by the New York Islanders in the first round in five games. 
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs	2020 Stanley Cup playoffs	2020 Stanley Cup playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Eastern Conference Seeding Round-robin
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision	Location 	Record	Points	Recap
1 	August 3 	@ Tampa Bay 	2–3 	SO	Holtby 	Scotiabank Arena	0–0–1 	1 	Recap
2 	August 6 	@ Philadelphia 	1–3 	 	Holtby 	Scotiabank Arena	0–1–1 	1 	Recap
3 	August 9 	Boston 	2–1 	 	Holtby 	Scotiabank Arena	1–1–1 	3 	Recap
==Player statistics==
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	69	15	60	75	12 	26
 	68	48	19	67	−12	30
 	61	12	42	54	−1 	14
 	69	25	27	52	3 	18
 	63	19	33	52	−2 	40
 	69	26	23	49	4 	26
 	68	21	23	44	−3 	93
 	69	16	23	39	3 	48
 	69	4 	23	27	5 	36
 	58	8 	17	25	12 	16
 	59	9 	13	22	16 	36
 	58	3 	15	18	19 	22
 	66	9 	7 	16	6 	79
 	56	7 	8 	15	11 	28
 	63	2 	13	15	15 	40
 	61	3 	8 	11	3 	13
 	24	3 	7 	10	9 	2
 	64	2 	7 	9 	11 	43
 	68	0 	8 	8 	1 	13
‡ 	24	3 	1 	4 	5 	6
† 	7 	1 	3 	4 	0 	4
 	6 	0 	1 	1 	−2 	6
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
† 	10	0 	0 	0 	−2 	21
 	3 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	0
 	6 	0 	0 	0 	−2 	17
‡ 	2 	0 	0 	0 	1 	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	5	0	6	6	−11	2
 	8	4	1	5	−1 	2
 	8	3	2	5	−4 	4
 	8	3	0	3	−7 	13
 	8	1	2	3	−5 	23
 	8	0	3	3	−1 	4
 	5	0	2	2	−1 	2
 	8	1	0	1	−2 	6
 	4	1	0	1	0 	0
 	5	0	1	1	−2 	0
 	5	0	1	1	−5 	2
 	8	0	1	1	0 	8
 	8	0	1	1	0 	2
 	8	0	1	1	−4 	2
 	5	0	1	1	−2 	4
 	8	0	0	0	−7 	2
 	8	0	0	0	−1 	0
 	8	0	0	0	−4 	4
 	8	0	0	0	−3 	12
 	7	0	0	0	−7 	0
 	2	0	0	0	0 	0
 	2	0	0	0	−1 	0
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	48	47	2,743:10	25	14	6	142	3.11	1,385	.897	0	0	1	4
 	26	22	1,411:02	16	6 	2	60 	2.55	689 	.913	1	0	0	2
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	8	8	482:36	2	5	1	20	2.49	213	.906	0	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.
==Transactions==
The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To New Jersey Devils4th-round pick in 2019BUF's 5th-round pick in 2019 	To Washington CapitalsSJS's 3rd-round pick in 2019 	
 	To San Jose Sharks7th-round pick in 20197th-round pick in 2020 	To Washington Capitals5th-round pick in 2019 	
 	To Colorado AvalancheAndre Burakovsky 	To Washington CapitalsScott Kosmachuk2nd-round pick in 2020ARI's 3rd-round pick in 2020	
 	To Vegas Golden KnightsChandler Stephenson 	To Washington Capitals5th-round pick in 2021 	
 	To San Jose Sharks2nd-round pick in 2020Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2021	To Washington CapitalsBrenden Dillon 	
 	To Montreal Canadiens3rd-round pick in 2020 	To Washington CapitalsIlya Kovalchuk 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Riley Barber 	to Montreal Canadiens 	1-year 	
 	Brett Connolly 	to Florida Panthers 	4-year 	
 	Garnet Hathaway 	from Calgary Flames 	4-year 	
 	Brendan Leipsic 	from Los Angeles Kings 	1-year 	
 	Philippe Maillet 	from Ontario Reign (AHL) 	2-year 	
 	Aaron Ness 	to Arizona Coyotes 	2-year 	
 	Richard Panik 	from Arizona Coyotes 	4-year 	
 	Nathan Walker 	to St. Louis Blues 	1-year 	
 	Jayson Megna 	to Colorado Avalanche 	1-year 	
 	Mathias Bau Hansen 	to Dornbirn Bulldogs (EBEL) 	1-year 	
 	Chase Priskie 	to Carolina Hurricanes 	2-year 	
 	Dmitrij Jaskin 	from/to Dynamo Moscow (KHL) 	1-year 	
 	Mason Mitchell 	to Rochester Americans (AHL)	-year 	
 	Hampus Gustafsson 	to Rögle BK (SHL) 	1-year 	
 	Devante Smith-Pelly	to Kunlun Red Star (KHL) 	1-year 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player	Team 	Ref
 	 	from/to	
===Contract terminations===
Date	Player	Via	Ref
 	 	 	
===Retirement===
Date	Player 	Ref
 	Brooks Orpik	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	Michael Sgarbossa 	2-year 	
 	Vitek Vanecek 	3-year 	
 	Aliaksei Protas 	3-year 	
 	Brett Leason 	3-year 	
 	Connor McMichael 	3-year 	
 	Colby Williams 	1-year 	
 	Jakub Vrana 	2-year 	
 	Christian Djoos 	1-year 	
 	Chandler Stephenson	1-year 	
 	Nicklas Backstrom 	5-year 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	25 	Connor McMichael	C 	 	London Knights (OHL)
2 	56 	Brett Leason 	RW 	 	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
3 	911 	Aliaksei Protas 	C 	 	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
5 	1532	Martin Has 	D 	 	Tappara U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)
Notes:
# The San Jose Sharks' third-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a fourth-round pick and Buffalo's fifth-round pick both in 2019 (118th and 129th overall) to New Jersey in exchange for this pick.
# The San Jose Sharks' fifth-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2019 (211th overall) and 2020 to San Jose in exchange for this pick.
==References==
Category:Washington Capitals seasons
Washington Capitals