Top 10 Best Washington Capitals Players of All Time

The Washington Capitals first entered the NHL as an expansion team in the 1974-75 season. Since then, they have won one Stanley Cup and have made several deep playoff runs. Listed below are the best players the franchise has ever seen, including one of the NHL’s greatest goal scorers ever.

Who Are the Best Washington Capitals Hockey Players of All Time?

1. Alex Ovechkin
2. Rod Langway
3. Peter Bondra
4. Mike Gartner
5. Olaf Kolzig
6. Nicklas Bäckström
7. Dale Hunter
8. Scott Stevens
9. Kevin Hatcher
10. Dennis Maruk

1. Alex Ovechkin

• Second-most goals in NHL history
• Three-time Hart Trophy winner
• Capitals franchise leader in games played, goals, and points

Alex Ovechkin is a left winger who has played all of his 18+ year NHL career to date with the Washington Capitals. He entered the league as a 20-year-old in 2005 and scored 52 goals in his first season, winning the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL. In addition to winning the Hart Trophy three times as the best player in the league (2008, 2009, 2013), he has won the Maurice Richard Trophy nine times as the player with the most goals in the league. He has also been captain of the Capitals since 2010. As of the end of the 2022-2023 season, his 822 career goals are second in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky.

In 2018, Ovechkin won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals. His 99 shots on goal and 15 goals scored were the most in the playoffs that year, and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason. 

2. Rod Langway

• Two-time Norris Trophy winner
• Best plus/minus in franchise history (+116)
• Team captain all 11 of his years with the franchise

Rod Langway was a defenseman who played 11 of his 15 NHL seasons with the Washington Capitals. He holds the franchise record for the best career plus/minus with +116, and he won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in each of his first two seasons after being traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Capitals. In his first season with the Capitals, the team went from allowing 4.22 goals per game to allowing only 3.54, a change for which Langway is widely credited.

Langway was named captain of the Capitals in his first season with the team and remained captain for all 11 years that he played for the team. Only current captain Alex Ovechkin has ever had a longer tenure as captain within the franchise.

3. Peter Bondra

• Scored 472 goals for the Capitals
• Five-time NHL All-Star game selection
• Holds franchise record for most short-handed goals (32)

Peter Bondra was a right winger who played the first 14 years of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. When he left the Capitals in 2003, he held the franchise record for goals with 472, a mark that has since been eclipsed only by Alex Ovechkin. He led the NHL in goals twice during his career, scoring 34 goals in the shortened 47-game 1994-95 season and 52 goals in 1997-98. 

Bondra scored 32 short-handed goals during his time with the Capitals, almost twice as many as any other player in franchise history, and also recorded 19 hat tricks (second only to Ovechkin). In the 1997-98 postseason, Bondra’s seven goals in 17 playoff games helped propel the Capitals to the first Stanley Cup Final appearance in the history of the franchise. 

4. Mike Gartner

• Scored 387 goals for the Capitals, third most in franchise history
• Four-time NHL All-Star Game selection
• Co-holds the NHL record for most consecutive seasons with 30+ goals

Mike Gartner was a right winger who played the first ten seasons of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He has the third most goals (397), power play goals (98), game-winning goals (54), and hat tricks (13) in franchise history, and the fourth most total points (789). He scored 36 goals as a rookie with the Capitals in the 1979-80 season and continued on to score at least 30 goals in each of his ten seasons with the team, beginning a streak of 15 consecutive seasons where he scored at least 30 goals, tied for most in NHL history as of the end of the 2022-23 NHL season.

Gartner was a four-time All-Star during his time with the Capitals and played in seven total All-Star games during his career. His 708 career goals, including the 397 he scored with the Capitals, put him eighth all-time in NHL goal scoring.

5. Olaf Kölzig

• 2000 Vezina Trophy winner
• Most wins (301) and saves (18,013) in Capitals history
• Won the King Clancy Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contribution in 2006

Olaf Kölzig was a goaltender who played the first 16 seasons of his 17-year NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He holds the franchise goaltender records for games played (711), wins (301), and saves (18,013). He finished top-10 in voting for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender three times in his career, including when he won the award in the 1999-2000 season. He also represented the Capitals at the NHL All-Star game twice.

In addition to recognition for his on-ice play, Kölzig won the King Clancy Trophy for his leadership and humanitarian effort in the 2005-06 season for his work in founding two organizations for autism research: Athletes Against Autism and the Carson Kolzig Foundation, the latter of which was named for his son.

6. Nicklas Bäckström

• 2018 Stanley Cup winner
• Holds Capitals record for most assists (791)
• Played over 1,000 games for the Capitals

Nicklas Bäckström is a center who has played all 16 years of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He is second in franchise history in games played (1,097) and points scored (1,032), behind only Alex Ovechkin in each category. His 791 assists are the most in Capitals history, a statistic that is indicative of his longtime role as centerman and playmaker for Alex Ovechkin.

As of March 2022, when they played in their 1,000th game together, Bäckström had assisted on 35.5% of Ovechkin’s 764 career goals (274), and Ovechkin had assisted on 40.5% of Bäckström’s 262 career goals (106). Bäckström and Ovechkin’s strong chemistry helped the Capitals win their first-ever Stanley Cup in 2018, a postseason run during which Bäckström averaged more than 20 minutes of playing time per game and had 23 total points.

7. Dale Hunter

• Scored first series-clinching overtime goal in Capitals history
• Team captain for five seasons
• Holds Capitals record for most penalty minutes (2,003)

Dale Hunter was a center who played 12 seasons of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He was a reliable point-scorer and sits seventh all-time in career points with the Capitals with 556. He was also a physical defensive presence, receiving votes for the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward during five of his seasons with the Capitals. His 2,003 penalty minutes while playing with the Capitals are the most in franchise history, and his 3,565 penalty minutes during his whole NHL career are the second most in NHL history.

One of Hunter’s most famous achievements was his overtime winner in game seven of the 1988 Patrick Division Semifinals. The Capitals had been a successful team for most of the decade but had failed to win a playoff series until Hunter’s overtime goal capped a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit, including a 3-0 deficit in game seven.

8. Scott Stevens

• Two-time NHL All-Star Game selection
• Finished top-10 in Norris Trophy voting five times in eight seasons with the Capitals
• Had a plus/minus of +90 with the Capitals

Scott Stevens was a defenseman who played the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. The Capitals were still a relatively new franchise when he was drafted in 1982, so he had the opportunity to prove himself a strong player at the age of 18, a season where he finished third in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie. Over the eight seasons that he played for the Capitals, he was top-10 in voting for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman five times.

Stevens was a strong points producer for a defenseman, scoring at least 40 points in each of the seasons that he played for the Capitals. He was also a very physical player, racking up 1,628 penalty minutes during his years with the Capitals, second in franchise history only to Dale Hunter.

9. Kevin Hatcher

• Three-time NHL All-Star Game selection
• Finished top-10 in voting for the Norris Trophy three times while with the Capitals
• Scored 426 points for the Capitals

Kevin Hatcher was a defenseman who played the first ten seasons of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He was both a physical player and a strong scoring talent for a defenseman, recording 999 penalty minutes and 426 points during his years with the Capitals. He finished top-10 in  voting for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman three times while with the Capitals.

Hatcher was an especially strong playoff performer and helped the Capitals win their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1988 after many frustrating years of first-round playoff losses; he scored five goals and had seven assists for a total of 12 points in the seven-game series that ended with Dale Hunter’s overtime winner.

10. Dennis Maruk

• Scored 182 goals in just five seasons with the Capitals
• Played in 1982 All-Star Game
• Holds franchise record for most points per game (1.26)

Dennis Maruk was a center who played five seasons of his NHL career for the Washington Capitals. Although he did not play many seasons for the Capitals, he made an impact when he was a member of the team from the 1978-79 season through the 1982-83 season, scoring 182 goals in that time, still the 10th-most in franchise history. 

Maruk’s 1.26 points per game are the best in Capitals history, and his 136 points in the 1981-82 season also give him the most points in a single season in franchise history. Although Maruk did not win any individual awards during his seasons with the Capitals, he came in sixth in voting for the Hart Trophy as the best player in the NHL in 1982.

Honorable Mentions

• John Carlson
• Dave Christian
• Bengt-Åke Gustafsson
• Braden Holtby
• Calle Johansson
• Evegeny Kuznetzov
• Kelly Miller
• Adam Oates
• Michal Pivonka
• Mike Ridley

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