The Capitals had the seventh-best points percentage following a pivotal trade deadline.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — After John Carlson and Nic Dowd were shipped out ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, the Washington Capitals got the message loud and clear: they had to be better.
But a new question loomed: now what?
"It was as difficult a 48 hours as I've been around in my three years here... I was really proud of the way that our guys took that message and executed it on a daily basis. There's no you can't sugarcoat it; we were not as good. When you lose John Carlson and you lose Nic Dowd, you're not going to show up the next day and be as good of a team on the ice or have as strong of a leadership core. It's impossible; those are two huge parts of our on ice, in our locker room" coach Spencer Carbery said. "It also didn't mean that our standard and expectations had to change. It didn't go, 'Oh, season's over. We just lost two of our better players, so let's just play out the stretch.' It was the complete opposite."
With two key leaders parting ways and the Capitals selling at the deadline, the team chose to, rather than throwing int he towel, to have a talk about where things stood and the plan going forward.
"To have two really good friends and lifelong friends get traded in the middle of the season, it was tough," Dylan Strome said. "We just had a good meeting in the locker room just after both those guys left and just talked it out."
It was an open, candid discussion, where players were able to share their thoughts on the season and where things stood, as well as how they were feeling personally.
For Strome, who took over as one of the alternate captains following the trades, it was something that sparked the group going into a vital final push.
"I was able to speak my mind in there and (you could) say how you feel, and it doesn't always have to be positive, either," Strome said. "A good thing about this team is, we're a pretty open and honest team. And if guys got something on their chest, there's no problem with getting it off."
In that meeting, the players sat down to discuss the trade and share their thoughts on the season as a whole, while coming up with a plan moving forward.
From there, they took a "committee approach" to fill the voids left and tried to claw back up the standings and fight for a playoff spot, even with it looking unlikely.
"When you trade two guys like that, the dynamic changes a lot... everybody got to speak their mind," Pierre-Luc Dubois said, adding, "It's never easy losing a legend like johnny and a veteran that's experienced a lot in his career like Dowder. Sometimes you can't replace that with one or two guys; sometimes, it has to be a committee approach."
In the final 19 games of the season after those trades, the Capitals went 12-5-2 while posting the seventh-best points percentage in the league over that span.
"Having guys like John and Dowder kind of walk out of the room, it leaves you in a bit of a weird spot," Tom Wilson said. "The only thing you can do is kind of rally together and do it as a team, and I think nobody even gave up for a second or a minute."
Connor McMichael led the team with 15 points, while Ryan Leonard had nine goals and Alex Ovechkin got back on track and picked up eight. Cole Hutson's arrival helped bolster the power play, Ilya Protas' call-up provided a spark and everyone chipped in to contribute more and helped D.C. pull within a point of a playoff spot by the time it was eliminated.
While Washington didn't get the result it wanted, the way that the group responded spoke volumes, and it sets a positive impression for the future.
"Our guys dug in, and I felt like what they what I thought was really important is what Nic Dowd and John Carlson had helped build here on the ice, but also in the locker room," Carbery said. "I challenged our guys to continue to carry on and do not let off the gas pedal when it comes to your competitiveness when the puck drops, when it comes to your habits that you play with, when it comes to doing the right things and playing the right way. Really proud of our group."