Caps Promote Patrick to GM

Following one of the busiest three-week stretches of offseason in the Caps’ half century history in the NHL, the team made even more news on Monday morning with the announcement of Chris Patrick’s promotion from associate general manager to general manager of the Capitals. That shift in hockey operations personnel was announced concurrently with the elevation of president and previous GM Brian MacLellan to president of hockey operations.

Patrick becomes just the seventh general manager in Washington Capitals franchise history, and he is the first of that group to have been drafted by the team as well; Patrick was the Caps’ eighth-round choice (197th overall) in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.

“First and foremost, to me it’s an affirmation of what we’ve been doing for the last 10 or 15 years,” says Patrick, son of Caps’ chairman and minority owner Dick Patrick. “And the fact that [majority owner] Ted [Leonsis] has faith in us to be the next step in the leadership for the organization, I think speaks a lot to the group we have and what we’ve built in hockey ops. That was my first reaction.

“For me, this is the only team I’ve ever been around, starting in 1982 [Chris was six then] when my dad got involved. I couldn’t imagine rooting for or cheering for another team. And when I first got involved, I thought that if something like this ever happened, it was probably going to be outside of Washington. I had to get my head around the fact that if it ever happened, I’d have to not be a Caps fan anymore. But the fact that I am able to get this opportunity here is a dream come true for me, for sure.”

MacLellan becomes the first of Washington’s previous half dozen GMs to remain in the organization beyond the conclusion of his tenure in the GM’s chair in the District, a position he rose to 10 years ago this past May. That MacLellan is staying on with the organization is also no surprise. In his 10 seasons on the job, he has helped guide the team to nine playoff appearances and its lone Stanley Cup title, all while compiling the third-best record of any GM in NHL history with 500 or more games.

In 10 seasons at the helm, MacLellan’s Caps teams played to a 449-244-88 record, and the resulting .631 points percentage ranks third behind only Montreal’s Sam Pollock (.685 from 1964-78) and Boston’s Don Sweeney (.665 from 2015-present). During that decade, Washington won its first Stanley Cup title in 2018, it won two Presidents’…