Blow to the Public: Washington Capitals To Purchase CapFriendly Website, Site Reportedly to Go Dark Following Draft

A staple of the hockey community is going to be going dark as the Washington Capitals are reportedly in agreement to purchase the CapFriendly website, perhaps the single best site for NHL contract information.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Capitals reached an agreement to purchase the site along with its infrastructure, tools and API and that other teams that had had contracts with CapFriendly to have access these tools were informed that those contracts were being terminated.

CapFriendly is extremely popular, with over 200,000 followers on Twitter/X alone, so not only is this a blow to rival teams. but also a massive blow to the public sphere.

It's also a blow to most everyone who works in and around hockey as CapFriendly was perhaps one of the most frequently visited sites and I can attest to this on a personal level.

Per Friedman, CapFriendly and the Capitals at least wanted to have the website stay up through the 2024 draft and the start of free agency so an official deal isn't expected to go through till July.

It isn't like there are no other sources for information though as other sites that cover contracts and the salary cap do exist, such as PuckPedia.com.

Regardless though, the reality of this purchase sucks for thousands of hockey fans who loved the convenience and accessibility of CapFriendly.