The Washington Capitals are set to open their 2026 rookie camp from Sept. 13-15 at McMullen Hockey Arena in Annapolis, Md., senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick announced.
A handful of notable young names are already lined up for the three-day camp, including Cole Hutson, Ilya Protas, 2025 first-round pick Lynden Lakovic, 2024 first-round pick Terik Parascak and Andrew Cristall. The full roster will come later.
Media members who want to cover rookie camp in Annapolis need to confirm with Alex D'Agostino in the Capitals PR department by Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Once rookie camp wraps up, Washington will move into its 2026-27 training camp in partnership with MedStar Health, with Caps Media Day scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 17 at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Players, coaches and management will all be available to the media that day, and the full camp roster and schedule will be announced later.
As in previous years, MedStar Capitals Iceplex will be off-limits to the media on Wednesday, Sept. 16, when veterans go through physicals and off-ice testing. The organization noted that this will be the Capitals’ 20th training camp at the facility, which sits inside the Beltway and includes two NHL-sized rinks. All on-ice sessions during camp will be open to the public at no cost.
The rookie camp schedule begins Sunday, Sept. 13, with goalie ice at 10:30 a.m. followed by practice from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The same schedule repeats Monday, Sept. 14 and Tuesday, Sept. 15, which serves as the final day of rookie camp.
The team’s preseason slate starts Sunday, Sept. 20 at TD Garden against the Boston Bruins. Washington then visits the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, Sept. 21 at GIANT Center in Hershey, Penn., before hosting Boston on Friday, Sept. 25 at Capital One Arena in its lone home preseason game. The exhibition schedule closes Saturday, Sept. 26 in Philadelphia against the Flyers.
The regular season begins Friday, Oct. 2 at the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Capitals’ home opener comes Wednesday, Oct. 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena.
In Other News...
Protas Brothers Add Intrigue To Capitals Early Camp Picture
The Capitals informal skates ahead of camp at MedStar Capitals Iceplex have offered an early look at a pair of familiar names, with Aliaksei and Ilya Protas both on the ice as Washington starts piecing together its roster picture. Aliaksei arrives after a productive season that turned him into a more important part of the lineup, while Ilyas rise has been just as notable after a standout year in the AHL that put him on the organizations radar.
Ilyas next step is one of the more interesting camp storylines because his development has moved quickly, from league honors in the minors to a brief NHL look that showed why the Capitals are eager to see what comes next. Seeing both brothers in the same early sessions only adds to the sense that Washington has some intriguing internal options to monitor as camp gets closer, even if the exact shape of their roles is still to be determined. [Read more 🡒]