Washington Capitals: Top 10 best free agents of all-time
In order to build a hockey team for the season you got to draft, develop, trade and add through free agency. We’ve talked about the best Washington Capitals draft picks, the positions, and what not. It’s time to tackle the free agents.
We went through the free agents of past and present and came up with another all time list featuring the top 10 of them. The purpose of these is to generate discussion and so far this series has. Who were your favorite additions? These ones either made an immediate impact, had good seasons, or helped the Capitals either through leadership or during their 2018 Stanley Cup run.
#10 Kip Miller
Kip Miller signed with the Washington Capitals as a free agent in July 9, 2002. He spent two seasons with the team there to wrap up his career. He was age 33 and 34 during those two seasons.
In 2002-03, Miller scored 12 goals and added 38 assists for 50 points in 72 games. The next season the numbers dipped a little bit to nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points in 66 games.
Miller was signed to a bottom six depth role and did good despite the age. His contract allowed him to make $550,000 the first year to $900,000 the second year.
#9 Justin Williams
On July 1, 2015 the Washington Capitals signed Justin Williams to a two year, $6.5 million contract. After another second round playoff exit that came off the heels of a heartbreaking Game 7 defeat to the New York Rangers, the Caps hoped adding “Mr. Game 7” to their lineup would change their playoff fortunes. It didn’t.
But even though it didn’t and Mr. Game 7 actually lost a Game 7 to end his short time with the Caps, Williams produced and maybe his leadership in the locker room was picked up by the boys and still felt even after he left. We all know what the Caps did the season after he left and they luckily needed just one Game 7 to get through.
In 2015-16, Williams scored 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points. The next season he had 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points. Overall with the Capitals he scored 46 goals and added 54 assists for 100 points.
In the playoffs his first season he had seven points in 12 game with three goals and four assists. The next year he had three goals and six assists for nine points in 13 games including an overtime goal in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Sadly the Caps didn’t win a Stanley Cup with Mr. Game 7 but hey at least it was fun.
#8 Ulf Dahlen
The Washington Capitals acquired Ulf Dahlen on August 16, 1999. He spent three seasons with the Caps making $850,000 in 1999-00, $1,000,000 in 2000-01, and $1,650,000 in 2001-02.
His first two seasons with the Caps saw him score 15 goals both years with 23 assists for 38 points in 1999-00 and 33 assists for 48 points the next season. In 2001-02, Dahlen scored 23 goals and had 29 assists for 52 points. In 217 games with the Caps, Dahlen recorded 53 goals and 85 assists for 138 points. He was in the playoffs two out out o those three seasons, in fact it was the first two seasons but he only had two assists in 11 games.
Despite playing just 12 minutes his first year with the squad, Dahlin was successful on the power play. His second season saw his ice time bumped to 14 minutes which caused him to rack up 10 more assists. What was impressive about his third season was that it was his shortest season with the Caps as he skated in 69 games. As he kept scoring the Caps promoted him from the third to the second line.
Dahlin was signed by the Caps in his early to mid 30s and his time with the Caps were the last of his productive seasons. He retired after the 2002-03 season ending his NHL career with the Dallas Stars.
#7 Devante Smith-Pelly
Devante Smith-Pelly was one of those free agents the Washington Capitals signed to a bargain back on July 3, 2017. Not a lot of people knew much about him but by the end of the 2017-18 season, he would forever be a legend.
The Caps signed him in 2017 to a contract worth $650,000. They signed him right after the New Jersey Devils bought out his contract. He wasn’t completely unheard of. Smith-Pelly had five playoff goals in 12 games as a 21 year old in 2013-14 with the Anaheim Ducks.
Smith-Pelly would score seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 2017-18 but that wasn’t the best part. In the Caps run to the Stanley Cup he scored seven goals and recorded an assist for eight points. That included goals in three straight finals games including the tying goal in Game 5.
Unfortunately Smith-Pelly’s time in D.C. was short despite being awarded a one year contract extension worth one million. He had offers from other teams that were worth more but he wanted to come back.
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DSP had four goals and four assists for eight points in 54 games before the Caps put him on waivers and clearing to go to the Hershey Bears. He came back in the playoffs but hasn’t played in the NHL since. He will always be a legend here though.
#6 Jeff Halpern
Jeff Halpern is a great local DMV story. He was signed by the Washington Capitals on March 29, 1999 as an undrafted free agent. In the 1999-00 season, Halpern recorded 29 points with 18 goals and 11 assists. The next year he had 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points.
In 2001-02, Halpern’s numbers dropped as he scored five goals and added 14 assists for 19 points in 48 games. The next year they went up to 13 goals and 21 assists for 46 points and Halpern crushed it in the 2003-04 season with 19 goals and 27 assists for 46 points.
Halpern returned to the Caps coming off the lockout and recorded 44 points in 70 games in 2005-06 with 11 goals and 33 assists. He would sign with the Dallas Stars as a free agent after the season. He would return to the Capitals on July 1, 2011 for one season. In that one season in 2011-12, Halpern scored four goals and 12 assists for 16 points. Not quite the reunion we hoped.
But what makes Halpern’s story great is that he is a native of D.C. In Potomac, Maryland to be exact. He is currently an assist coach to the back to back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. He will be remembered fondly as Capitals fans as a player who grew up in the DMV and made it and others like Joe Snivley will look to follow in his footsteps.
#5 Viktor Kozlov
Viktor Kozlov was signed by the Washington Capitals in free agency on July 1, 2007. His role was similar to Kip Miller’s, being a veteran coming to a young team ready to take that next step. He played a top six role in his first year and had a similar point production. In his first season, Kozlov recorded 16 goals and 38 assists for 54 points.
In his second season, Kozlov recorded 41 points in 67 games with 13 goals and 28 assists. He was paid higher in his second year but couldn’t find the details of his contract anywhere. As a result his point production got better. He was also solid on the power play both seasons while ending up with pretty much the same number of giveaways and takeaways while being sheltered in his minutes. Despite this, Kozlov would keep the puck in the attacking zone whenever he was on the ice.
In the playoffs Kozlov recorded three assists in seven games in Washington’s first round series agains the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008. In 2009, Kozlov scored four goal san gadded two assists for six points in 14 games. That included one game winning goal which occurred in Game 6 in the first round against the New York Rangers.
#4 Matt Niskanen
Matt Niskanen was signed by the Washington Capitals on July 1, 2014 in one of the first free agent moves by General Manager Brian MacLellan. He brought leadership to the locker room, told the media what was on his mind and what was real regarding the state of the team, and helped strengthen the defense.
Niskanen scored four goals and added 27 assists for 31 points in his first season with the Caps. His next season saw him score five goals and 27 assists for 32 points. In 2016-17 Niskanen had five goals and 34 assists for 39 points.
In the Stanley Cup winning season of 2017-18, Niskanen recorded seven goals and 22 assists for 29 points before recording eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points his final season in D.C. He later got traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Radko Gudas then hung his skates after the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season.
When the Caps signed Niskanen in 2014, they inked him to a seven year deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $5.75 million. While he isn’t the best offensively he is a shutdown defenseman who is effective on the penalty kill as well.
Niskanen spent five seasons with the Caps and recorded 156 lints in 390 games with 29 goals and 127 assists. He also had 579 total blocks and 731 hits.
#3 Robert Lang
Like Matt Niskanen, Robert Lang was also a pickup from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lang was only around the Washington Capitals for two years. At the time of his signing which occurred on July 1, 2002, it was a five year deal but he was traded as part of that fire sale in the 2003-04 season.
Who did they get in the trade? A first round pick from the Detroit Red Wings in 2004 (which turned out to be Mike Green) as well as Tomas Fleishmann.
Lang scored 22 goals and had 47 assists for a nice 69 points in his first season with the Caps. He followed that up with 29 goals and 45 assists for 74 points in 63 games before he was traded to the Red Wings.
Lang was nearly a point per game player during his time in D.C. In 2003 he was playing 22 minutes a game and was the Caps main guy. In the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Lang had three points in six games. That was his lone time the Capitals were in the playoffs with him on the team as they bowed out in the first round.
The reason someone that short of a term is ranked so high? The return the Caps got in the trade (which led to Mike Green).
#2 Joel Ward
The Washington Capitals signed Joel Ward on July 1, 2011 after he spent time with the Nashville Predators. In his first season, Ward scored six goals and added 12 assists for 18 points. The next year he had eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points. Ward broke out in the 2013-14 season with 24 goals and 25 assists for 49 points. The next season he had 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points.
Ward came from the Nashville Predators where he had a solid playoff performance with seven goals and six assists in 12 games. He was even more clutch come playoff time with the Caps. In 2012, the Caps were up against the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins and it was Ward’s overtime goal on the road that quieted the crowd and gave the Caps a huge upset.
In the 2013 playoff series against the New York Rangers, Ward had one goal and three assists for four points. The Caps missed the playoffs in 2014 but were back a year later. In 14 games in the spring of 2015, Ward had three goals and six assists for nine points including a buzzer beater in Game 1 against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden which once again stunned the crowd.
In four years with the Caps, Ward skated in 276 games and recorded 57 goals and 64 assists for 121 points.
#1 Brooks Orpik
In addition to Matt Niskanen, Brian MacLellan added Brooks Orpik to the Washington Capitals defense in his first offseason as General Manager. At six foot three and 217 pounds, Brooks Orpik has made life hell for opposing forwards ever since he was drafted in 2003. He was on the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup team and also won a Stanley Cup with the Caps in 2018. In the latter, he was an NHL best plus 17 in 24 games.
Orpik’s deal came on July 1, 2014 and was a five year contract. He was mostly on the second and third defensive pairs during his time with the Caps and became a mentor for Washington’s young blueliners.
Although Orpik wasn’t a goal scorer he did have his moments. Such as the case when he scored the game winning goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. That goal along with Braden Holtby’s save gave the Caps their first win in a Stanley Cup Finals game and they never looked back.
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After Washington’s run to the Cup, Orpik was on a wild journey. He got traded to the Colorado Avalanche and then the Avs bought out his contract. The Caps scooped him back up where he played one more season in the NHL before hanging up his skates.