ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have named Chris Patrick as their general manager, with former GM Brian MacLellan remaining as president of hockey operations.
Patrick, 48, who was also named senior vice president, has worked for the Capitals in various roles since 2009 and served as MacLellan’s assistant GM for the past three years. The son of the team’s former president, Dick Patrick, was previously director of player personnel after a long stint as a professional scout, and he is now just the seventh GM in the organization’s 50-year history.
“Chris is a dedicated, hard-working executive who is fully prepared for this next step in his career,” owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement. “His vision, vast experience, hockey acumen and assessment of players make him the perfect leader to move our team forward.”
MacLellan, 65, spent a decade as GM since taking over for George McPhee in 2014. He completed building the team that won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in 2018.
“With Dick Patrick as president, Brian as president and Chris as general manager, we believe we have a dynamic leadership team to continue to guide our hockey operations department,” Leonsis said. “Brian’s leadership, experience and vision for our hockey team, combined with Chris’ impressive track record and successful tenure as an executive, talent evaluator and guardian of our minor league partnerships, position our hockey operations team for a successful future.”
The front office shakeup is the latest in the NHL, with an established GM moving up and handing over day-to-day operations. It happened in 2022 with Colorado after the Avalanche won the Cup, with Chris MacFarland succeeding Joe Sakic as GM and Sakic becoming president of hockey operations, while St. Louis outlined a succession plan for Alexander Steen and Doug Armstrong to follow suit. path .
With Washington, Patrick takes control of an overhaul effort that MacLellan has accelerated in recent weeks to keep the club’s window open for the final two years of captain Alex Ovechkin’s contract. MacLellan changed nearly a quarter of the roster, acquiring center Pierre-Luc Dubois, wing Andrew Mangiapane, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goaltender Logan Thompson in separate trades and signing free agents Matt Roy, Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh.
“I think we’re better,” MacLellan said last week, giving no indication of promotions at the time. “I just think it’s a team with a better position. Should be better offensively. We’ll find out about that later. I think overall it’s just a deeper, better structured team than last year.”
The Capitals reached the playoffs on a tiebreaker as the second and final wild card in the Eastern Conference. They were defeated in the first round by the Presidents’ Trophy winners New York Rangers, who lost in the East final to eventual Cup champion Florida.
They reached the postseason in 15 of the last 17 seasons of what is known as the Ovechkin era. The Russian star and face of the franchise since he was first drafted in 2004 is 42 years away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record and will turn 39 in September.
