Alex Ovechkin arrived in Washington as the first overall pick in 2004 and became the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer while anchoring a franchise that dates to a 1974 expansion. That patience paid off with a Stanley Cup in 2018. Capital One Arena, which opened downtown in 1997 under a different name, has backed one of the league's most passionate fan bases ever since.
As of Nov 3, 2026, here are the most recently projected forward lines, defense pairings and power-play units for the Washington Capitals. On the top line, the Washington Capitals are currently projected to run left wing Aliaksei Protas, center Pierre-Luc Dubois and right wing Tom Wilson together, a trio expected to log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the roster, though without last change on the road it does not always draw the other team's top shutdown pairing. On the blue line, the top pairing is Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy, who typically log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the back end and face the toughest zone starts, though the team's primary penalty-kill pairing is not always the same duo. On the power play, the PP1 unit runs Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Jordan Kyrou, Alex Ovechkin and Jakob Chychrun, the unit most teams send out first on a power play, though a delayed-penalty scramble already in progress or a late matchup change can put a different five over the boards. These combinations reflect pre-game reporting rather than real-time tracking, and can change between games and even between periods, so check the today's lines tool for the most current deployment before puck drop.
| # | Player | Off | Def | PP | PK | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Carlson | 90 | 38 | 66 | 34 | 91 |
| 2 | Anthony Mantha | 60 | 53 | 49 | 0 | 85 |
| 3 | Alex Ovechkin | 61 | 26 | 47 | 0 | 83 |
| 4 | Aliaksei Protas | 67 | 40 | 45 | 67 | 83 |
| 5 | Dylan Strome | 47 | 26 | 72 | 0 | 78 |
As of Nov 3, 2026, the most recently projected lineup for the Washington Capitals includes 4 forward lines, 3 defense pairings and 2 power-play units, updated whenever a new pre-game lineup is reported.
As of Nov 3, 2026, the top line projected for the Washington Capitals is left wing Aliaksei Protas, center Pierre-Luc Dubois and right wing Tom Wilson.
These projected lines are drawn from Daily Faceoff's pre-game reporting, typically beat writers covering morning skates and warmups before puck drop. They reflect the coaching staff's intended deployment rather than shift-by-shift tracking collected once a game is already underway, and can still shift between a morning skate and the opening faceoff.
Lines can change from game to game, and sometimes within a single game, as a coaching staff reacts to matchups, injuries, scoring droughts or chemistry. Check back before each Washington Capitals game for the latest projected combinations, or browse the historical lines archive to see how often this team's lines have shifted recently.
