Photo: Reuters
Just six years ago, it seemed like the Eastern Conference ran through Washington or Pittsburgh as three consecutive meetings in the second round between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins determined the Stanley Cup Champion from 2016-2018, when the two finished each of those seasons as the first and second-place teams in the Metropolitan Division, respectively.
After those three consecutive meetings, both teams failed to advance past the first round for four consecutive seasons before neither qualified for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and it appeared that Washington and Pittsburgh were on the precipice of rebuilding.
However, Washington entered Thursday tied for the Metropolitan Division lead with a 9-3-0 record and the second-best points percentage (.750) in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh sat two games below .500 (5-7-2) going into their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
With the two teams set to meet for the first time this season at Capital One Arena on Friday (7:30 PM ET, ESPN+, Hulu), NoVa Caps looks at how both teams have built their rosters since the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, when both were in the hunt in the Eastern Conference wild-card race but failed to qualify for the top eight..
Note: We will not recap all moves made by Washington and Pittsburgh since, rather than the ones that significantly impacted their respective rosters.
2023 NHL Trade Deadline
- February 23: Washington Sends D Dmitry Orlov, RW Garnet Hathaway To Boston Bruins For 2023 28th overall pick, 2024 90th overall pick (LW Eriks Mateiko), Boston’s 2025 second-round pick, RW Craig Smith
As the NHL Trade Deadline approached, Washington found itself in the midst of a six-game losing streak. With Orlov and Hathaway nearing unrestricted free agency and the team struggling to reach an agreement with both players on a contract extension, the Capitals traded Orlov, who had played 686 regular-season games over parts of 11 seasons in Washington and was a pivotal piece of the team that brought the franchise its first Stanley Cup in 2018, and Hathaway, a mainstay on a very good Capitals fourth-line.
Smith was a salary cap casualty for the league-leading Bruins and signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Stars in July 2023.
- February 28: Washington Traded Gustafsson, 2023 28th overall pick (C Easton Cowan) to Toronto Maple Leafs for D Rasmus Sandin
Washington needed to move another player on an expiring contract but also aimed to remain competitive for the following season, with Alex Ovechkin still pursuing the NHL goals record. They used the first-round pick acquired in the Orlov trade with Boston to land a 22-year-old former first-round pick who could contribute for years to come.
Sandin, the 28th overall pick from 2018, saw a big bump in production with more ice time, tallying three goals, 15 points, .4687 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4397 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4282 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 19 games with the Capitals to close out the 2022-23 season. Sandin’s ice time drew to 22:59 per game with Washington, which ranked second on the team, including 2:17 on the power play (ninth).
Sandin did not pick up where he left off for his first full season in Washington. He posted three goals, 23 points, a -13 rating, .4612 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4606 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .47 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 68 regular-season games, where he averaged 21:07 per game (second), including 1:24 on the power play (second). Sandin appeared in only one first-round game due to injury and it was apparent that the Capitals missed him as they allowed 11 goals over the three games he missed.
The team signed Sandin to a five-year contract extension ($4.6 million cap hit), which kicks in this season, on March 6, 2024. He has been much better to begin the 2024-25 season with five assists, a +5 rating, .4835 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .557 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5269 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 19:34 per game (tied for third), including 43 seconds on the power play (third) and 1:38 on the penalty kill (fourth).
Despite sitting on the postseason bubble, Pittsburgh bought during the trade deadline but did not take any big swings. However, they traded a couple of second- and third-round picks for players who left the team after that spring, which did not help them and ultimately cost GM Ron Hextall his job.
Other Moves Made
- Washington
- traded C Lars Eller to Colorado Avalanche in exchange for second-round pick in 2025 NHL Draft
- traded LW Marcus Johansson to Minnesota Wild in exchange for third-round pick in 2024 NHL Draft
- Pittsburgh
- acquired D Dmitry Kulikov from Anaheim Ducks in exchange for LW Brock McGinn, 2024 third-round pick
- acquired C Mikael Granlund from Nashville Predators in exchange for 2023 second-round pick
- traded C Teddy Blueger to Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for D Peter DiLiberatore, 2024 third-round pick
- acquired C Nick Bonino from San Jose Sharks for conditional 2024 fifth-round pick, 2023 seventh-round pick
2023 Offseason
- July 1: Pittsburgh signed Eller to two-year contract ($2.45 million cap hit)
The 35-year-old has fit in well in Steel Town, tallying 19 goals, 38 points, a -2 rating, .54 faceoff-winning percentage, and .506 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 96 games since joining the team. Eller, who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for Washington in 2018, has also played a key role on Pittsburgh’s penalty kill where he has average 2:10 per game (third among Penguins forwards).
- July 1: Pittsburgh signed G Alex Nedeljkovic to one-year, $1.5 million contract
The 28-year-old has emerged as the starting goaltender in Western Pennsylvania as he has gone 20-9-9 with a .902 save percentage (.908 at five-on-five), 2.94 goals-against average, a shutout, and -1.9 five-on-five goals-saved above average in 39 games with the Penguins and Tristan Jarry has struggled over the past couple years.
- July 1: Pittsburgh signed D Ryan Graves to six-year contract ($4.5 million cap hit)
In a decision that Pittsburgh likely regrets, the 29-year-old has three goals, 14 points, a +7 rating, .4917 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .508 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4868 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 84 games with the Penguins to date, where he has averaged 17:51 per game (fifth among Penguins blueliners), including 1:56 on the penalty kill (also fifth).
- August 6: Pittsburgh acquired D Erik Karlsson, LW Dillon Hamaliuk, 2026 third-round pick from San Jose for Granlund, RW Mike Hoffman, D Jan Rutta, 2024 14th overall pick (C Konsta Helenius)
- Traded D Jeff Petry, G Casey DeSmith, RW Nathan Legare, 2025 second-round pick to Montreal Canadiens for Hoffman, LW Rem Pitlick
While averaging 24:02 per game (26 seconds behind Kris Letang for the team lead), including 3:27 on the man advantage (second among Penguins to appear in more than 50 games), the 34-year-old has 12 goals, 64 points, an even rating, .5428 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5423 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5399 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 96 games with Pittsburgh. Granlund, Petry, and Rutta all lasted just a season (in Granlund’s case, just a quarter of) in Pittsburgh until the team got rid of them.
Washington did not execute many major changes over that offseason.
Other Moves Made
- Pittsburgh
- acquired LW Reilly Smith from Vegas in exchange for 2024 84th overall pick (G Kirill Zarubin)
- signed C Noel Acciari to three-year contract ($2 million cap hit)
- signed LW Matt Nieto to two-year contract ($900,000 cap hit)
- Washington
- acquired D Joel Edmundson from Montreal for 2024 78th (LW Logan Sawyer), 210th (RW Makar Khanin) overall picks
2024 NHL Trade Deadline
- March 5: Washington traded LW Anthony Mantha (.5 retained) To Vegas Golden Knights For 2024 52nd overall pick (D Leon Muggli), 2026 fourth-round pick
With the 28-year-old in the midst of a big bounce back season as he posted 20 goals (just two behind center Dylan Strome’s for the team lead) and 34 points (fourth) in 56 games, Washington sent the pending unrestricted free agent to the desert as they were seven points out of a postseason spot at the time of the trade.
While Mantha was one of the best Capitals this season, it was a contract year and he had an underwhelming 2022-23 season where he tallied 11 goals and 27 points in 67 games and was often a healthy scratch. Washington reportedly tried to offload Mantha’s $5.7 million cap hit last summer but struck out. If the team got this return for Mantha a year ago, it would be a huge win.
- March 7: Pittsburgh traded LW Jake Guentzel, D Ty Smith to Carolina for LW Michael Bunting, C Vasily Ponomarev, RW Ville Koivunen, rights to RW Cruz Lucius, 2024 44th overall pick (D Harrison Brunicke)
With Guentzel approaching unrestricted free agency and the Penguins spiraling out of the postseason race, they traded him in a deal that brought back Bunting, 29 (7-14-21 in 34), and Ponomarev, 22 (one goal in six AHL games).
- March 8: Traded C Evgeny Kuznetsov (.5 retained) to Carolina Hurricanes for 2025 third-round pick
Just five days after the 31-year-old cleared waivers, Washington traded Kuznetsov, who had just returned from the NHLPA Players’ Assistance Program and was in the midst of the worst season of his NHL career (six goals, 17 points in 43 games with the Capitals), to Carolina.
Kuznetsov finished the season with two goals and seven points in 20 regular-season games following the trade but stepped up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring four goals and six points in 10 contests. Though, Kuznetsov was a healthy scratch in Game 2 of their second-round series against the Rangers.
Kuznetsov had requested a change of scenery at least twice before, had an underwhelming performance for the better part of the past five seasons, and his cap hit of $7.8 million was a salary cap killer. Kuznetsov also had moments that frustrated Washington, on the ice and off (including getting placed on COVD-19 protocol three times, suspended for substance abuse over the past five years). It was time for the Capitals to move on and they are lucky that they got a reasonable asset in return, let alone avoided giving up draft capital and/or a prospect to offload Kuznetsov’s contract.
Other Moves Made
- Pittsburgh
- Traded D Chad Ruhwedel to New York Rangers for 2027 fourth-round pick
- acquired LW Emil Bemstrom from Columbus Blue Jackets for LW Alex Nylander, 2026 conditional sixth-round pick
- Washington
- Traded Edmundson (.5 retained) To Toronto Maple Leafs For 2024 83rd overall pick (flipped for G Logan Thompson), Chicago Blackhawks’ 2025 fifth-round pick
2024 Offseason
- June 19: Washington acquired C Pierre-Luc Dubois from Los Angeles Kings for G Darcy Kuemper
With Washington needing a top-six center after losing Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom in the previous year and Charlie Lindgren taking the starting job in net, the team acquired the 26-year-old after he had a disappointing season in Los Angeles, who gave up a lot of futures to acquire him from the Winnipeg Jets a year ago and did not see a fit between the player and team. Dubois, 26, has a goal, seven points, .452 faceoff-winning percentage, and .6097 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 12 games, fitting in well with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael, who have also seen a spike in their production.
- June 27: Washington acquired LW Andrew Mangiapane from Calgary Flames for Colorado’s 2025 second-round pick
The 28-year-old has three goals, four points, and a .5906 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 12 outings, fitting in well on the Capitals’ third-line.
- June 29: Washington acquired Thompson from Vegas Golden Knights for 2024 83rd overall pick (G Pavel Moysevich), 2025 third-round pick
The 27-year-old has been in a timeshare situation with Lindgren through 12 games this season but is 6-0-0 with a .903 save percentage, 2.81 goals-against average, and a goal-saved above average at five-on-five in six.
- June 29: Pittsburgh acquired C Kevin Hayes, 2025 second-round pick from St. Louis Blues for future considerations
The 32-year-old has notched three goals, four points, a .593 faceoff-winning percentage, and .5213 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 14 contests.
- July 1: Washington acquired D Jakob Chychrun from Ottawa for D Nick Jensen, 2026 third-round pick
With Washington needing more offense from their blueline after trading Orlov a year and a half ago and finishing last season 31st in the category (20 goals), the team traded shutdown 34-year-old defenseman Jensen for Chychrun, who has two goals, four points, a +5 rating, .5103 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .557 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5455 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in eight games before suffering a lower-body injury that has kept him out for four straight games.
- July 1: Washington signed D Matt Roy to six-year contract ($5.75 million cap hit)
The 29-year-old has missed close to 11 of Washington’s 12 games but has an assist, -1 rating, .5156 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5383 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4828 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in the 28:46 he has been on the ice for this season.
- July 1: Washington signed RW Brandon Duhaime to two-year contract ($1.85 million cap hit)
The 27-year-old has fit in well on Washington’s fourth-line on the forecheck and defensively with two goals, four points, and a .5265 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 12 games.
- July 1: Washington signed RW Taylor Raddysh to one-year, $1 million contract
The 26-year-old has tallied two goals, five points, and a .5959 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 12 contests while playing a part of the Capitals’ shutdown line.
- July 1: Pittsburgh signed C Blake Lizotte to two-year contract ($1.85 million cap hit)
The 26-year-old recently got into the team’s lineup due to a concussion that forced him to miss the first 11 games of the season but has an empty-net goal and .5682 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in three contests with his new team.
- July 1: Pittsburgh signed LW Anthony Beauvillier to one-year, $1.25 million contract
The 27-year-old has three goals, four points, and a .4937 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 14 contests to add some much-needed scoring depth to the Penguins.
- July 1: Pittsburgh signed D Matt Grzelyck to one-year, $2.75 million contract
After Pittsburgh tallied 176.92 expected goals-against at five-on-five last season (eighth-worst), the team brought in the 30-year-old, who has helped offensively with seven helpers but not defensively as he has a -7 rating, .4922 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4191 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4378 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 14 contests.
- October 7: Washington signed LW Jakub Vrana to one-year, $775,000 contract
The 28-year-old has two goals, four points, and a .4253 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in nine games after making the team on a PTO but has been healthy scratched three times.
Other Moves Made
- Pittsburgh
- traded LW Reilly Smith to New York Rangers for 2027 second-, conditional 2025 fifth-round picks (lower of New York or Minnesota’s)
- Washington
- acquired 2024 43rd overall pick (D Cole Hutson) from Buffalo Sabres in exchange for LW Beck Malenstyn
Conclusion
While both teams were in awfully similar spots down the stretch two seasons ago and last year, they have made moves that have landed them in very different situations now. Both swung big deals for offensive-minded defensemen in Karlsson and Chychrun, respectively, and traded big pieces of their Stanley Cup-winning rosters in Guentzel for Pittsburgh and Orlov for Washington to rebuild. The two have executed a couple of major trades but also made a lot of changes around the edges, especially in their bottom-six forward groups.
As Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby enter perhaps the final 2-3 years of their NHL careers, both teams are bracing for life after their departures while also putting them in position to win as they go out into the sunset. Now, the question is how both’s respective plans will work.
By Harrison Brown
