Capitals regroup, focus on youth after missing out on Ehlers sweepstakes

The Washington Capitals missed out on the biggest fish in free agency, the team’s leadership admitted, after Nikolaj Ehlers, the top available forward, signed with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“We looked to try to do something big,” Capitals general manager Chris Patrick said Saturday on the final day of the franchise’s offseason development camp. “It didn’t go our way.”

Washington was reportedly one of the finalists in the Ehlers sweepstakes.

The Capitals needed a scoring option on the top two lines. Ehlers, who posted 24 goals and 39 assists in 69 games for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets last season, fit the bill.

Negotiations wore on in the week after free agency opened, with rumors growing by the day. Ehlers ultimately signed with Carolina, the team that eliminated Washington from the postseason in May.

“It didn’t come down to the money or the offer or the term or any of that,” Patrick said. “It was a player picking what he thought was the best situation both on and off the ice … the process dragged out, obviously, but totally respect a guy taking his time to make the right decision for him.”

Without Ehlers, Washington’s front office was left shrugging its collective shoulders. The team allowed former players like Lars Eller, Andrew Mangiapane and Taylor Raddysh to sign with other teams in free agency as they regrouped.

The Capitals didn’t say they were done in free agency, but the frenzied first week has cooled down league-wide.

“It got to the point fairly early in free agency where we’d be looking at names, and it was, ‘Is this guy better than X young player in our organization?’” Patrick said. “That’s what we’re kind of weighing.”

The Capitals are growing a prospect pool that features rising stars like Ryan Leonard, Ilya Protas, Andrew Cristall and Cole Hutson, any of whom could see extended time on the NHL roster next season.

Those players need the experience as the Capitals continue to prepare for life without captain Alex Ovechkin. The 39-year-old is entering the final year of his contract after breaking the NHL career goals record last season.

“We’re at a point where if we’re bringing in a guy just to bring in a guy because he’s played in the NHL before, he’s going to end up blocking one of our younger guys that might end up having a bigger, more positive impact on the team,” Patrick said.

This offseason, Washington has already added 25-year-old defenseman Declan Chisholm and 23-year-old forward Justin Sourdif via trades with the Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers, respectively.

More moves could come in the future, but Capitals fans shouldn’t hold their breath.

“We’ll explore the trade market, see what’s out there,” Patrick said before denying recent reports that Washington could have a busy offseason. “We’ve sent a lot of picks out the last few weeks, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re prudent with how we do it.”

The current stage of the Capitals’ push for a title has revolved around maintaining a group that unexpectedly secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference last season.

Last offseason saw Patrick and team president Brian MacLellan bring in a ragtag group via trades and free agency. The Capitals went on to the second-best record in the league and their first victory in a playoff series since the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

Several key players were rewarded with new contracts for their performances.

Patrick noted that his free agency work occurred during the season, as he re-signed defenseman Jakob Chychrun, goaltender Charlie Lindgren and forward Nic Dowd.

Anthony Beauvillier, who originally joined the Capitals via a midseason trade with the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, followed in their path after testing free agency. After a strong postseason performance, Beauvillier signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract on Thursday.

Hendrix Lapierre, a 23-year-old who has split time between the Capitals and the AHL Hershey Bears, joined them with a new one-year contract on Sunday.

“I feel good about that, and I feel good about the cash base we have,” Patrick said. “If we have space [at the trade deadline] and we’re in a spot to use it, then we’ll definitely be aggressive.”

For now, the Capitals are focused on the talent in-house.

“We have some young kids that are going to get a good opportunity to compete for a spot in camp and we’ll see where it goes,” Patrick said. “That’s what training camps are for. We’ll see who’s ready to go.”