2017–18 Washington Capitals season
The 2017–18 Washington Capitals season was the 43rd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. They played their home games at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. They were led by head coach Barry Trotz in his fourth season as coach of the Capitals. The Capitals won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the upstart Vegas Golden Knights, a first-year expansion team in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Capitals finished the regular season with 105 points, winning the Metropolitan Division for the third year in a row. Left winger and team captain Alexander Ovechkin secured his seventh Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, by leading the league with 49 goals. Fellow Capitals teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov led the team in assists with 56.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they lost the first two games of their first round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets before winning the next four games to advance to the Conference Semi-finals against their arch-rival, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion's Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended the Capitals' playoffs during each of the previous two years. The Capitals defeated the Penguins in six games to advance the Eastern Conference Finals, their first trip to a conference championship series since 1998. The Capitals defeated the top seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games, after overcoming a 3–2 series deficit following a Game 5 loss for the first time in franchise history, with goaltender Braden Holtby posting shutouts in both Games 6 and 7 in the process, to earn their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1998, when they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. Making their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance for the first time in twenty years, the Capitals went up against the upstart Vegas Golden Knights and emerged victorious in five games to claim the franchise's inaugural Stanley Cup championship, while becoming the 100th Stanley Cup champions since 1914. Team captain Alexander Ovechkin was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Schedule and results
Preseason
The Capitals' preseason schedule was released on June 7, 2017.Regular season
The team released its regular season schedule on June 22, 2017.Playoffs
The Capitals endured hardships during their first successful Stanley Cup run through 24 games, and simultaneously became the second Stanley Cup champion to trail at least once in all four playoff rounds and the fourth to drop the first two games of the first series at home. This also tied this run with four others for the third-longest to a Stanley Cup championship, ever.Player statistics
Final Stats;Skaters
| Player | ||||||
| 82 | 49 | 38 | 87 | 3 | 32 | |
| 79 | 27 | 56 | 83 | 3 | 48 | |
| 81 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 5 | 46 | |
| 82 | 15 | 53 | 68 | 0 | 32 | |
| 74 | 18 | 29 | 47 | 2 | 31 | |
| 81 | 18 | 20 | 38 | −6 | 38 | |
| 78 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 10 | 187 | |
| 82 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 10 | 22 | |
| 68 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 24 | 36 | |
| 70 | 15 | 12 | 27 | −6 | 30 | |
| 73 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 2 | 12 | |
| 56 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 3 | 27 | |
| 79 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 3 | 16 | |
| 61 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 26 | |
| 67 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 13 | 8 | |
| 75 | 7 | 9 | 16 | −6 | 38 | |
| 63 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 10 | |
| 51 | 0 | 12 | 12 | −3 | 24 | |
| 81 | 0 | 10 | 10 | −9 | 68 | |
| ‡ | 24 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| † | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 0 |
| † | 22 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| † | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
| Player | ||||||
| 24 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 12 | 16 | |
| 24 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 8 | 8 | |
| 20 | 5 | 18 | 23 | −1 | 6 | |
| 24 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 5 | 31 | |
| 24 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 11 | 8 | |
| 24 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 6 | 18 | |
| 21 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 31 | |
| 24 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 6 | |
| 24 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | |
| 24 | 7 | 1 | 8 | −2 | 12 | |
| 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | |
| 24 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 | |
| 23 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | |
| 24 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 8 | |
| 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |
| 24 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 10 | |
| 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 15 | |
| 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltenders
| Player | ||||||||||||||
| 54 | 54 | 3,067:48 | 34 | 16 | 4 | 153 | 2.99 | 1,648 | .907 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 35 | 28 | 1,864:48 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 73 | 2.35 | 953 | .923 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | |||||||||||||
| 23 | 22 | 1385:45 | 16 | 7 | 50 | 2.16 | 639 | .922 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2 | 2 | 105:23 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4.55 | 49 | .837 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Capitals. Statistics reflect time with the Capitals only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Capitals only.
Transactions
The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.Draft picks
Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2017 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 23 and 24, 2017 at the United Center in Chicago.| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
| 4 | 120 | Tobias Geisser | D |  |