- Spencer Carbery says his retooled Capitals are “deeper,” especially up front, after missing the 2026 playoffs by three points
- Washington added Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch to the top six and reshaped its blue line this offseason
- Read below for Carbery’s breakdown of the new-look Capitals
The Capitals think they already fixed what sank them.
Head coach Spencer Carbery got the question at development camp: how does this roster stack up against the one that missed the playoffs by three points? He didn’t overthink the answer.
“I just think deeper,” Carbery said. “Deeper up front especially.”
Washington didn’t just tinker around the edges. General manager Chris Patrick spent the summer hunting a top-six winger and landed two, trading for Jordan Kyrou and prying Alex Tuch out of Buffalo in a sign-and-trade.
Kyrou was the headliner. Washington shipped Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin and the No. 16 pick to St. Louis on June 23 to get him:
He’s 28, signed for five more years, and coming off a 46-point season. That’s a real scoring threat off the rush, exactly what the top six had been missing.
Take a look at what Kyrou brings:
Up front is where Carbery expects the biggest jump. He talked about no longer burying his stars in heavy minutes every night.
“Our forward group as a whole, I just think what you’re going to see is we are going to be able to rely on all four lines way more consistently,” Carbery said. He floated Tom Wilson dropping from around 18 minutes a night toward 16.
The blue line got a makeover, too. Vincent Desharnais, Justin Holl and Dylan McIlrath are in, Timothy Liljegren is back, and Cole Hutson keeps rising. Jakob Chychrun anchors it, while Martin Fehervary hunts a new partner after leaning on John Carlson all last year.
Kyrou even joins a lineup with an old junior teammate on the back end:
Since the 2018 Cup run, Washington hasn’t handed Carbery a forward group this deep. Dylan Strome already called this a Stanley Cup or bust year, and the roster finally backs him up.
