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Votable lists that rank the top players to ever play on each team in the National Hockey League.

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Some of the greatest Capitals in team history are also some of the most recognizable faces in the league. Many Capitals have taken home individual honors, even when the team itself has faltered. If you want hall of fame players, the Capitals have them. Does the name Braden Holtby ring a bell? In addition to Holtby, players like Mike Green, Phil Housely, and Ken Klee are further proof of the great players in history who have scored for the Washington Capitals. The list also includes newbies who have shown their skill on the ice, from Alex Ovechkin to Nickolas Backstrom.Who are some of the greatest&nbsp;Washington Capitals of all time? That's not an easy question, especially when you consider who has played for the team. But it's up to you to decide who are the best players to play for the Capitals. Are these guys the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/15-great-nhl-players">greatest hockey players of all time</a>&nbsp;or even the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-current-nhl-players">best players today</a>? That's up to you to decide but for now, take a look and vote up and down your favorite Capitals of all time.

The Best Washington Capitals of All Time 

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Alexander Ovechkin

Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin (born September 17, 1985), often referred to as "Ovi" or "the Great Eight", is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Prior to entering the league, Ovechkin played for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague for four seasons, from 2001 until 2005, and returned to play for them briefly during the 2012–13 NHL lockout. A highly touted prospect, Ovechkin was selected by the Capitals first overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. With the 2004–05 NHL lockout cancelling the season, Ovechkin remained in Russia until 2005, joining the Capitals for the 2005–06 season. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, scoring 52 goals and 54 assists to lead all rookies with 106 points and finishing third overall in league scoring.
Ovechkin has led the NHL in goal scoring (for which the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy is awarded) an NHL record eight times. His first such title came in the 2007–08 season, when his 65 goals and 112 points also earned him the Art Ross Trophy for most points scored, the Hart Memorial Trophy for most valuable player, and the Lester B. Pearson Award for best player as voted on by the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). Ovechkin would again win the Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy, and Pearson Award in 2009,  and won the Ted Lindsay Award (the renamed Pearson Award) for a third consecutive year in 2010; this also marked the fifth straight year that he was named to the First All-Star Team.
After some years of decreased scoring, Ovechkin reclaimed the goal scoring title in 2013, earning the Richard Trophy and his third Hart Trophy. He would repeat as the Richard Trophy winner in 2014, 2015, and 2016, scoring at least 50 goals each season and becoming only the third player to score 50 goals in seven different seasons. Ovechkin reached 600 career NHL goals in 2018 and is considered one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history. In 2017, Ovechkin was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players of all-time. After ten playoff runs with the Washington Capitals, Ovechkin won his first Stanley Cup in 2018, as well as the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player in the 2018 playoffs.
Internationally, Ovechkin has represented Russia in multiple tournaments. His first IIHF tournament was the 2002 World U18 Championship. The following year he made his debut at the World Junior Championship, helping Russia win the gold medal. He played two more years at the World Juniors, as well as once more at the World U18 Championships. Ovechkin's first senior tournament was the 2004 World Championship, and he also played in the World Cup that year. Ovechkin has also played for Russia at the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Overall, Ovechkin has represented Russia at eleven World Championships and three Olympics in his career, winning the World Championship three times.

Nicklas Bäckström

Nicklas Bäckström (Swedish: [ˈnɪkːlas ²bɛkːstrœm]; born 23 November 1987) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and an alternate captain for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bäckström was selected fourth overall by the Capitals at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and has since gone on to become Washington's all-time franchise leader in assists. Bäckström won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Capitals.

T. J. Oshie

Timothy Leif "T. J." Oshie (born December 23, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey right winger for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, as the 24th overall pick.  He then spent the first seven years of his NHL career with the Blues before being traded to the Washington Capitals in 2015. Oshie won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Capitals.

Mike Gartner

Michael Alfred Gartner (born October 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Phoenix Coyotes.
He also played one season in the defunct World Hockey Association for the Cincinnati Stingers. Gartner was born in Ottawa, Ontario. In 2017 Gartner was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Tom Wilson

Thomas Wilson (born March 29, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Capitals selected him in the first round, 16th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Rod Langway

Rodney Cory Langway (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Langway also spent time with teams in the American Hockey League (AHL) and East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) as a player-coach after his NHL career ended. A two-time winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL, Langway was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

Peter Bondra

Peter Bondra (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpɛtɛɾ ˈbɔndɾa]; born February 7, 1968) is a Soviet-born Slovak former professional ice hockey player. He was the general manager of the Slovakia national team from 2007 to 2011. A two-time 50-goal scorer, Bondra became the 37th player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 500 NHL goals.



John Carlson

John Carlson (born January 10, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Capitals in the first round, 27th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Carlson won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Capitals, as the highest scoring defenseman during the playoffs.

Dale Hunter

Dale Robert Hunter (born July 31, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and current co-owner, president, and head coach of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Hunter was born in Petrolia, Ontario, but grew up in Oil Springs, Ontario, and was one of three brothers, with Dave and Mark, to play in the NHL.

Olaf Kölzig

Olaf Kölzig (born 6 April 1970), known as Olie the Goalie or Godzilla, is a German former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltender coach and player development coach for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). With the exception of eight games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he played his entire 14-year NHL career with the Capitals.
Kölzig was born in South Africa to German parents but grew up in several cities across Canada. His family moved to Union Bay, British Columbia, when he was a teenager. Kölzig never applied for Canadian citizenship, which allowed him to represent Germany internationally. Kölzig ranks among the NHL's top 30 in career saves (15th with 18,233), wins (28th with 303), games (23rd with 719), and minutes (23rd with 41,671).



Dino Ciccarelli

Dino Ciccarelli (born February 8, 1960) is a Canadian former professional hockey player who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League, primarily with the Minnesota North Stars, but also notably with the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he had his third-highest scoring season. He scored 1,200 points in his NHL career.  His 608 career NHL goals are also the most goals scored by a draft-eligible player who was not drafted by an NHL team. Ciccarelli was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.

Adam Oates

Adam Robert Oates (born August 27, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, former co-head coach for the New Jersey Devils and former head coach for the Washington Capitals. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Edmonton Oilers. Known as an elite playmaker, his career total of 1,079 assists was the fifth-highest total in NHL history at the time of his 2004 retirement.
After retiring as a player, he served as an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils prior to joining the Capitals as their head coach for two seasons between 2012 and 2014. In 2017, Oates was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.As a college player, Oates was a standout forward for the RPI Engineers. He set single-season school records for assists and points and was named an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) all-star and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American in both 1984 and 1985. He was named a tournament all-star in helping RPI win the 1985 national championship, and in 1990–91, the NHL included him in its Second All-Star Team; he played in five All-Star Games. He holds the record for most points all-time of any NHL player who also played NCAA Hockey. Oates was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 12, 2012.

Braden Holtby

Braden Holtby (born September 16, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was awarded the Vezina Trophy in 2016 as the league’s best goaltender. Holtby won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Capitals.

Scott Stevens

Scott Stevens   (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils, serving as captain of the Devils from 1992 to 2004. Although offensively capable,  his defensive play and his heavy body checking on opponents were crucial to his success.
Stevens started his career with the Capitals, where he helped the team make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. After spending a season with the Blues, he was acquired by the Devils through arbitration. Personifying the team's defence-first mentality, he captained the Devils to four Stanley Cup Finals appearances in nine years, winning three of them. In 2000, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs. Despite his team success with the Devils, he never won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's best defenceman. His career came to an end after a slapshot hit his head and caused post-concussion syndrome.
Stevens was later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. Stevens retired with the most games played by an NHL defenceman (1,635 games), later passed by Chris Chelios. Stevens was also the youngest player in league history to reach 1,500 games played, playing in his 1,500th game at age 37 years, 346 days. He did not have a negative plus/minus in any of his 22 NHL seasons, and had the most penalty minutes of any player enshrined in the Hall of Fame until Chris Chelios was inducted in 2013. In 2017, Stevens was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.

Evgeny Kuznetsov

Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Kuznetsov (Russian: Евгений Евгеньевич Кузнецов; born 19 May 1992) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has represented Russia in junior and senior level competitions on numerous occasions, winning gold medals at the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, as well as at the 2012 IIHF World Championship and 2014 IIHF World Championship. Kuznetsov won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018 and was the highest scoring player in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs with 32 points, the most by any player in a single postseason since Evgeni Malkin in 2009. Kuznetsov is known for his bird celebration he used throughout  the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, earning him the nickname "The Birdman".

Al Iafrate

Albert Anthony Iafrate ( EYE-ə-FRAY-tee; born March 21, 1966) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League between 1984 and 1998. He is perhaps most famous for his extremely hard slapshot. He set a record for velocity during the NHL Skills Competition of 1993, a record which stood for 16 years, at 105.2 miles per hour (169.3 km/h). The record was broken in 2009 by Zdeno Chára of the Boston Bruins with a slapshot at 105.4 mph in Montreal. Iafrate was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and grew up in Livonia, Michigan.
Iafrate was given the nickname "the Planet" by The Boston Globe sportswriter Kevin Paul Dupont for his peculiar personality.
Internationally, Iafrate has represented the United States at the 1984 Winter Olympics and 1998 IIHF World Championship.

Sergei Gonchar

Sergei Viktorovich Gonchar (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Гонча́р, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐnˈtɕar]; born 13 April 1974) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who is currently an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has previously played for the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins (with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2009), Ottawa Senators, Dallas Stars and the Montreal Canadiens.

Dennis Maruk

Dennis John Maruk (born November 17, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1975 to 1989, scoring a career high 60 goals for the Washington Capitals in 1981–82.

Mike Green

Michael David Green (born October 12, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Best known for his hard slapshot, Green put up impressive offensive statistics for a defenceman from 2007 to 2010. He was given the nickname "Game Over Green" during the 2007–08 season when he displayed a propensity for scoring game-winning goals in the last minutes of the third period or overtime.

Sergei Fedorov

Sergei Viktorovich Fyodorov (Серге́й Викторович Фёдоров; born December 13, 1969) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and the current general manager of CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). During his playing career, Fedorov was primarily a centre, but occasionally played as a winger or defenceman.
Fedorov gained fame in the National Hockey League (NHL) for his unique style of play with the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he won the Stanley Cup three times, as well as the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1994. After a highly publicized departure from the Red Wings in the summer of 2003, Fedorov played stints with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals before retiring from the NHL in 2009. He played in over 1,200 NHL games and scored 483 goals in the NHL. He is a three-time Olympian, the first European-trained player to win the Hart Trophy and is considered to be one of the best playoff performers in NHL history. In 2017, Fedorov was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.Fedorov was considered one of the best players in the world in the 1990s leading into the early 2000s. He last played for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL, where he was made captain in early September 2011. He was also an ambassador for Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Fedorov was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 9, 2015, and to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2016.

Kevin Hatcher

Kevin John Hatcher (born September 9, 1966) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the NHL for 17 seasons between 1984 and 2001 for the Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes.  He is the older brother of former NHL player Derian Hatcher, with whom he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame on October 21, 2010. Hatcher was born in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Joé Juneau

Joseph Juneau (French pronunciation: ​[ʒoe ʒyno]) (born January 5, 1968) is a Canadian retired professional hockey player and engineer, born in Pont-Rouge, Quebec. He played  in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes and the Montreal Canadiens.

Dmitri Orlov

Dmitry Orlov may refer to:

Dmitry Orlov (ice hockey), Russian professional ice hockey player
Dmitry Orlov (writer), Russian-American engineer and a writer
Dmitry Moor, born Dmitry Stakhievich Orlov, Russian artist noted for his propaganda posters

Calle Johansson

Carl Christian "Calle" Johansson (born 14 February 1967) is a former assistant coach with the Washington Capitals and retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1987 and 2004, most of it with the Capitals. He has worked as hockey colour commentator for Swedish Canal+ and worked as an assistant for six seasons for Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien before returning to the Capitals organization.

Michal Pivoňka

Michal Pivoňka (born January 28, 1966) is a retired National Hockey League player.  He played his entire NHL career with the Washington Capitals. Selected by the Capitals in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Pivonka defected to the United States during the summer of 1986.  Since Eastern Europe was still under the Iron Curtain, it was still difficult for younger hockey players from the Eastern Bloc to play in the NHL.
During his NHL career, Pivonka played in 825 games, scored 181 goals and had 418 assists for a total of 599 points, twice leading the Capitals in scoring; 1991–92 (23G, 57A, 80P) and 1995–96 (16G, 65A, 81P). Pivonka last played in the NHL during the 1998-99 season, before finally retiring from hockey in 2000 after several injury-filled seasons. He has the third most assists in Capitals history with 418, trailing only Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin.

Some of the greatest Capitals in team history are also some of the most recognizable faces in the league. Many Capitals have taken home individual honors, ...