The Washington Capitals have locked in Justin Sourdif for the long haul, agreeing to an eight-year contract extension worth $50.8 million. The deal carries an average annual value of $6.35 million, Senior Vice President and General Manager Chris Patrick announced.
Patrick praised the 24-year-old forward’s growth and flexibility, saying, “Justin is a good young forward who has continued to develop steadily throughout his career. He is versatile and demonstrated his ability to play an important forward role for our team whenever the opportunity arose last season,” said Patrick.
“We are thrilled to sign him to a long-term contract and look forward to seeing him continue to elevate his game alongside our veteran core and our young group of players. We believe he has a bright future ahead of him and are confident that he will continue to make valuable contributions to our organization in the coming years.”
Sourdif’s rookie season in Washington made the case for the commitment. He put up 35 points, scoring 15 goals and adding 20 assists, in 78 games in 2025-26. Among NHL rookies, he finished third in plus-minus at plus-17, tied for eighth in points and tied for 11th in goals.
His strongest stretch came from Dec. 31 through the end of the regular season, when he piled up 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 40 games. Those 12 goals were third on the Capitals over that span and tied for fourth among NHL rookies. At five-on-five, Washington outscored opponents 47-28 with Sourdif on the ice, and his 62.7 goals-for percentage at five-on-five led Capitals forwards and ranked second on the team.
He also delivered one of the season’s biggest individual nights on Jan. 5 against Anaheim, when he scored his first career hat trick and matched the franchise record for points in a game by a rookie with five, going 3g-2a-5p. The 6-foot, 195-pound forward became the ninth rookie in franchise history to score a hat trick and the first since Alex Ovechkin on Jan. 13, 2006 at Anaheim. Sourdif and Ryan Leonard, who had 2g-2a-4p on Dec. 3, 2025 at San Jose, were two of only three NHL rookies last season to post four or more points in a game.
Before his breakout in Washington, Sourdif had already started building a resume in pro hockey. Originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in the third round, 87th overall, of the 2020 NHL Draft, he scored his first NHL goal in his lone Panthers appearance of the 2024-25 season on Feb. 25, 2025 at Nashville.
He also posted 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists) in 43 games with the Charlotte Checkers that season, ranking fifth on the team in goals and sixth in points despite the limited sample. His 0.79 points per game was the second-best mark on Charlotte among skaters with at least 20 games played.
Charlotte’s playoff run only added to the ledger. During the Checkers’ trip to the Calder Cup Finals, Sourdif ranked third on the club with 10 points (4 goals, 10 assists) in 18 postseason games and tied for the team lead with two game-winning goals. Four of those 10 points came in the Finals, which Charlotte lost in six games to the Abbotsford Canucks.
The year before, in 2023-24, Sourdif set an AHL career high with 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists) in 58 games for Charlotte. That total placed him fourth on the team, while his 26 assists ranked third. He also appeared in three games for Florida that season and made his NHL debut on Oct. 16, 2023 at New Jersey.
Across his NHL career, Sourdif has 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) and has averaged 14:28 of ice time in 82 games with Washington and Florida. In 149 AHL games with Charlotte, he has 96 points (35 goals, 61 assists).
Before turning pro, Sourdif spent five seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings, where he totaled 205 points (86 goals, 119 assists) in 199 games. Internationally, he helped Canada to a silver medal at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, finishing with five points (one goal, four assists) in five games.
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