- Capitals re-sign Justin Sourdif to an eight-year, $50.8 million extension worth $6.35 million per season
- The deal landed hours before the new CBA dropped the ceiling on extensions to seven years
- Read below for the full contract structure and the rookie season that earned it
Washington got Justin Sourdif locked up with hours left on the clock.
The Capitals re-signed the 24-year-old forward Tuesday to an eight-year, $50.8 million extension, a $6.35 million cap hit that runs through 2034-35. Tuesday was the final day any team could hand out an eight-year contract before the new collective bargaining agreement kicked in at midnight and cut the maximum to seven.
That made it two in one day for Washington. Ryan Leonard signed his own eight-year deal earlier Tuesday at $84 million, and both contracts start in 2027-28.
General manager Chris Patrick explained in the team release why the Capitals wanted Sourdif this long.
“Justin is a good young forward who has continued to develop steadily throughout his career. He is versatile and demonstrated his ability to play an important forward role for our team whenever the opportunity arose last season.”
PuckPedia posted the structure, and it is front-loaded the same way Leonard’s is. Sourdif collects a $7.3 million signing bonus in each of the first two years, and $29.8 million of the $50.8 million total gets paid out over the first four seasons. He also picks up a 15-team no-trade clause in Years 3 through 5 and a 10-team list for the rest of the deal.
A 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth pried him out of Florida last June, when he had four NHL games on his resume. He turned that into 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 78 games as a rookie, ranking third among all NHL rookies in plus-minus at plus-17 and tying for eighth in scoring.
His best night came January 5 against Anaheim. Sourdif put up three goals and two assists to become the first Capitals rookie with a hat trick since Alex Ovechkin did it in 2006, also against the Ducks.
Take a look at all three:
Sourdif still has the final season of his two-year, $1.65 million contract to play before the new money starts. He is in line for the fourth-line center job Nic Dowd held until the Capitals shipped him to Vegas at the deadline.
Washington opens the preseason against Boston on September 20.
