- Elite Prospects projects Washington as the NHL’s heaviest team next season at an average of 205 pounds
- The Caps edge the Dallas Stars by less than a pound and sit more than 10 pounds ahead of last-place Colorado
- Read below for the full breakdown, from Aliaksei Protas at 251 pounds to the new big-body additions
The Capitals spent the summer getting bigger, and the numbers back it up.
Elite Prospects projects Washington as the heaviest team in the NHL for 2026-27. The average Caps player weighs 205 pounds, a hair more than the Dallas Stars and better than 10 pounds heavier than the last-place Colorado Avalanche.
The size shows up on the height chart, too. Washington averages 6-foot-2, and only the Stars, Panthers, and Rangers stand taller.
General manager Chris Patrick loaded up on big bodies this offseason. Vincent Desharnais checks in at 6-foot-7, Alex Tuch and Justin Holl at 6-foot-4, Boone Jenner at 6-foot-2, and Jordan Kyrou at 6-foot-1.
Tuch was the headliner, a 6-foot-4 power forward who scored 33 goals in Buffalo last season. Washington made the trade official in late June:
The Kyrou deal came together a day earlier, with Connor McMichael and a first-round pick heading to St. Louis:
Those additions join a core that already ran heavy. Aliaksei Protas tips the scale at 251 pounds, the most on the roster, followed by Alex Ovechkin at 238, Desharnais at 227, and Tom Wilson and Ilya Protas at 225. Cole Hutson is the only Capital who weighs under 180.
Ovechkin has been hyping the beef for months. Asked in April about skating alongside the Protas brothers and Wilson, he gave a short scouting report on the group.
“I think it’s going to be the heaviest line in the league,” Ovechkin said. “Good luck.”
The Caps have chased this formula before. The 2018 Cup team rolled Ovechkin, Wilson, TJ Oshie, and Brooks Orpik, and the front office is betting the same recipe still holds up in the spring.
