2003–04 Washington Capitals season

The 2003–04 Washington Capitals season was the Capitals's 30th season of play. The team finished in fifth and last-place in the Southeast Division, and fourteenth overall in the Eastern Conference, to miss the playoffs.

2003–04 Washington Capitals
Division	5th Southeast
Conference	14th Eastern
2003–04 record	23–46–10–3
Home record	13–20–6–2
Road record	10–26–4–1
Goals for	186
Goals against	253
Team information
General manager	George McPhee
Coach	Bruce Cassidy (Oct-Dec) Glen Hanlon (Dec-Apr)
Captain	Steve Konowalchuk (Oct) Vacant (Oct-Apr)
Alternate captains	Peter Bondra (Oct-Feb) Jaromir Jagr (Oct-Jan) Brendan Witt
Arena	MCI Center
Average attendance	14,720
Minor league affiliate(s)	Portland Pirates
Team leaders
Goals	Robert Lang (29)
Assists	Robert Lang (45)
Points	Robert Lang (74)
Penalty minutes	Darcy Verot (135)
Plus/minus	Robert Lang (+2)
Wins	Olaf Kolzig (19)
Goals against average	Olaf Kolzig (2.89)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Offseason

Regular season

On December 10, 2003, head coach Bruce Cassidy was fired after a disappointing 8–18–1–1 start to the season. Assistant coach Glen Hanlon was named his replacement.^[1]

The Capitals were the most penalized team in the League, with 401 power-play opportunities against. They also scored the fewest short-handed goals in the League, with just 4.^[2]

Final standings

Southeast Division^[3]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
1	1	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	10	Atlanta Thrashers	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
3	11	Carolina Hurricanes	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
4	12	Florida Panthers	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
5	14	Washington Capitals	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	Y- Boston Bruins	NE	82	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
3	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	40	21	15	6	209	188	101
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
5	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
8	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
8.5
9	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	34	7	4	220	221	85
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
13	New York Rangers	AT	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

2003–04 regular season^[5]
October: 2–7–1–0 (home: 2–2–0–0; road: 0–5–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 W October 9, 2003 6–1 New York Islanders (2003–04) 1–0–0–0 Recap 2 L October 11, 2003 3–4 Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 1–1–0–0 Recap 3 T October 13, 2003 2–2 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 1–1–1–0 Recap 4 L October 14, 2003 1–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 1–2–1–0 Recap 5 L October 17, 2003 2–4 @ Dallas Stars (2003–04) 1–3–1–0 Recap 6 L October 18, 2003 1–4 @ St. Louis Blues (2003–04) 1–4–1–0 Recap 7 L October 23, 2003 1–5 @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 1–5–1–0 Recap 8 L October 25, 2003 1–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 1–6–1–0 Recap 9 L October 29, 2003 2–4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) 1–7–1–0 Recap 10 W October 31, 2003 2–1 Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 2–7–1–0 Recap
November: 5–8–0–1 (home: 1–4–0–1; road: 4–4–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 11 L November 1, 2003 1–2 @ Minnesota Wild (2003–04) 2–8–1–0 Recap 12 W November 4, 2003 5–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 3–8–1–0 Recap 13 L November 6, 2003 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 3–9–1–0 Recap 14 L November 8, 2003 2–3 San Jose Sharks (2003–04) 3–10–1–0 Recap 15 L November 10, 2003 2–3 Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) 3–11–1–0 Recap 16 W November 12, 2003 7–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 4–11–1–0 Recap 17 L November 14, 2003 2–5 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 4–12–1–0 Recap 18 W November 15, 2003 2–1 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 5–12–1–0 Recap 19 L November 20, 2003 2–3 @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 5–13–1–0 Recap 20 OTL November 22, 2003 2–3 OT Florida Panthers (2003–04) 5–13–1–1 Recap 21 W November 24, 2003 4–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (2003–04) 6–13–1–1 Recap 22 L November 26, 2003 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 6–14–1–1 Recap 23 L November 28, 2003 3–5 Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 6–15–1–1 Recap 24 W November 29, 2003 5–3 @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04) 7–15–1–1 Recap
December: 4–8–2–0 (home: 2–4–1–0; road: 2–4–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 25 W December 2, 2003 4–1 @ New York Islanders (2003–04) 8–15–1–1 Recap 26 L December 4, 2003 0–3 @ New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 8–16–1–1 Recap 27 L December 6, 2003 3–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) 8–17–1–1 Recap 28 L December 8, 2003 1–4 @ Colorado Avalanche (2003–04) 8–18–1–1 Recap 29 W December 11, 2003 6–5 Boston Bruins (2003–04) 9–18–1–1 Recap 30 L December 13, 2003 1–5 Detroit Red Wings (2003–04) 9–19–1–1 Recap 31 W December 16, 2003 5–0 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 10–19–1–1 Recap 32 T December 17, 2003 2–2 OT @ Florida Panthers (2003–04) 10–19–2–1 Recap 33 T December 19, 2003 2–2 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 10–19–3–1 Recap 34 L December 21, 2003 4–5 New York Islanders (2003–04) 10–20–3–1 Recap 35 W December 23, 2003 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 11–20–3–1 Recap 36 L December 27, 2003 1–3 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 11–21–3–1 Recap 37 L December 29, 2003 1–3 Boston Bruins (2003–04) 11–22–3–1 Recap 38 L December 31, 2003 1–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 11–23–3–1 Recap
January: 5–7–2–1 (home: 3–4–2–0; road: 2–3–0–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 39 T January 1, 2004 2–2 OT New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 11–23–4–1 Recap 40 L January 3, 2004 2–5 @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 11–24–4–1 Recap 41 L January 4, 2004 1–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) 11–25–4–1 Recap 42 L January 7, 2004 0–3 Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04) 11–26–4–1 Recap 43 W January 9, 2004 4–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 12–26–4–1 Recap 44 W January 11, 2004 1–0 Edmonton Oilers (2003–04) 13–26–4–1 Recap 45 T January 14, 2004 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (2003–04) 13–26–5–1 Recap 46 OTL January 17, 2004 1–2 OT @ New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 13–26–5–2 Recap 47 W January 18, 2004 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 14–26–5–2 Recap 48 L January 21, 2004 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 14–27–5–2 Recap 49 L January 23, 2004 1–4 @ Florida Panthers (2003–04) 14–28–5–2 Recap 50 L January 25, 2004 1–4 Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 14–29–5–2 Recap 51 W January 28, 2004 2–1 @ New York Rangers (2003–04) 15–29–5–2 Recap 52 W January 29, 2004 5–3 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 16–29–5–2 Recap 53 L January 31, 2004 1–6 Vancouver Canucks (2003–04) 16–30–5–2 Recap
February: 4–5–3–0 (home: 2–2–2–0; road: 2–3–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 54 W February 3, 2004 2–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 17–30–5–2 Recap 55 L February 4, 2004 1–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 17–31–5–2 Recap 56 T February 12, 2004 3–3 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 17–31–6–2 Recap 57 L February 13, 2004 2–5 @ Nashville Predators (2003–04) 17–32–6–2 Recap 58 W February 15, 2004 4–0 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04) 18–32–6–2 Recap 59 T February 17, 2004 1–1 OT Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 18–32–7–2 Recap 60 W February 19, 2004 3–1 New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 19–32–7–2 Recap 61 T February 21, 2004 2–2 OT Florida Panthers (2003–04) 19–32–8–2 Recap 62 L February 23, 2004 3–6 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 19–33–8–2 Recap 63 L February 25, 2004 1–2 Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 19–34–8–2 Recap 64 W February 27, 2004 4–1 @ Florida Panthers (2003–04) 20–34–8–2 Recap 65 L February 28, 2004 2–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 20–35–8–2 Recap
March: 3–10–1–0 (home: 3–4–1–0; road: 0–6–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 66 L March 2, 2004 0–1 Florida Panthers (2003–04) 20–36–8–2 Recap 67 L March 5, 2004 2–3 @ New York Rangers (2003–04) 20–37–8–2 Recap 68 W March 6, 2004 2–1 Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 21–37–8–2 Recap 69 L March 8, 2004 1–4 Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 21–38–8–2 Recap 70 L March 10, 2004 0–6 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 21–39–8–2 Recap 71 L March 12, 2004 3–4 Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04) 21–40–8–2 Recap 72 L March 13, 2004 2–5 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 21–41–8–2 Recap 73 L March 16, 2004 1–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 21–42–8–2 Recap 74 W March 18, 2004 4–3 OT New York Rangers (2003–04) 22–42–8–2 Recap 75 T March 20, 2004 2–2 OT Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 22–42–9–2 Recap 76 L March 23, 2004 0–3 @ New York Islanders (2003–04) 22–43–9–2 Recap 77 L March 24, 2004 2–3 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 22–44–9–2 Recap 78 L March 27, 2004 1–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 22–45–9–2 Recap 79 W March 30, 2004 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 23–45–9–2 Recap
April: 0–1–1–1 (home: 0–0–0–1; road: 0–1–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 80 T April 1, 2004 3–3 OT @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 23–45–10–2 Recap 81 OTL April 3, 2004 2–3 OT New York Rangers (2003–04) 23–45–10–3 Recap 82 L April 4, 2004 3–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 23–46–10–3 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.

			Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
20	Robert Lang‡	C	63	29	45	74	2	24
55	Sergei Gonchar‡	D	56	7	42	49	−20	44
11	Jeff Halpern	C	79	19	27	46	−21	56
68	Jaromir Jagr‡	RW	46	16	29	45	−4	26
12	Peter Bondra‡	RW	54	21	14	35	−17	22
14	Kip Miller	C	66	9	22	31	−10	8
9	Dainius Zubrus	C	54	12	15	27	−16	38
28	Alexander Semin	LW	52	10	12	22	−2	36
25	Mike Grier‡	RW	68	8	12	20	−19	32
24	Brian Willsie	RW	49	10	5	15	−7	18
2	Josef Boumedienne	D	37	2	12	14	−10	30
18	Matt Pettinger	LW	71	7	5	12	−9	37
29	Joel Kwiatkowski	D	80	6	6	12	−28	89
19	Brendan Witt	D	72	2	10	12	−22	123
23	Trent Whitfield	C	44	6	5	11	−2	14
3	Jason Doig	D	65	2	9	11	−12	105
22	Anson Carter†‡	RW	19	5	5	10	2	6
13	Bates Battaglia†	LW	66	4	6	10	−23	38
15	Boyd Gordon	C	41	1	5	6	−9	8
4	Rick Berry	D	65	0	6	6	−5	108
27	Craig Johnson†	LW	15	0	6	6	−6	8
51	Stephen Peat	RW	64	5	0	5	−10	90
8	Steve Eminger	D	41	0	4	4	−11	45
38	Todd Rohloff†	D	35	0	3	3	−5	18
16	Brian Sutherby	C	30	2	0	2	−5	28
27	Ivan Ciernik	RW	7	1	1	2	1	0
92	Michael Nylander‡	C	3	0	2	2	1	8
76	Darcy Verot	LW	37	0	2	2	−6	135
34	Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre†	D	13	1	0	1	−2	14
17	John Gruden	D	11	1	0	1	−1	6
63	Owen Fussey	RW	4	0	1	1	−1	0
37	Olaf Kolzig	G	63	0	1	1		6
22	Steve Konowalchuk‡	LW	6	0	1	1	−5	0
21	Brooks Laich†	C	4	0	1	1	−1	0
41	Brad Norton†	D	16	0	1	1	−4	17
33	Maxime Ouellet	G	6	0	1	1		0
64	Roman Tvrdon	C	9	0	1	1	−3	2
49	Dwayne Zinger	D	7	0	1	1	2	9
69	Mel Angelstad†	LW	2	0	0	0	0	2
35	Sebastien Charpentier	G	7	0	0	0		0
36	Jakub Cutta	D	3	0	0	0	−1	0
36	Colin Forbes†	C	2	0	0	0	0	0
58	Jean-Francois Fortin	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
75	Chris Hajt	D	5	0	0	0	0	2
39	Graham Mink	C	2	0	0	0	−1	2
26	Shaone Morrisonn†	D	3	0	0	0	0	0
65	Andrej Podkonicky	C	2	0	0	0	−1	0
1	Rastislav Stana	G	6	0	0	0		0
56	Garret Stroshein	RW	3	0	0	0	−1	14
31	Matthew Yeats†	G	5	0	0	0		2
40	Nolan Yonkman	D	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.

		Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
37	Olaf Kolzig	63	19	35	9	1958	180	2.89	.908	2	3738
33	Maxime Ouellet	6	2	3	1	210	19	3.12	.910	1	365
1	Rastislav Stana	6	1	2	0	100	11	3.13	.890	0	211
31	Matthew Yeats†	5	1	3	0	141	13	3.02	.908	0	258
35	Sebastien Charpentier	7	0	6	0	168	21	3.41	.875	0	369

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Robert Lang	^[6]
	NHL Defensive Player of the Week	Olaf Kolzig (February 23)	^[7]
	NHL Offensive Player of the Month	Robert Lang (November)	^[8]
	NHL Offensive Player of the Week	Robert Lang (November 17)	^[9]
		Robert Lang (December 22)	^[7]
		Jeff Halpern (April 5)	^[7]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
500th game played	Olaf Kolzig	November 22, 2003	^[10]

Transactions

The Capitals were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.^[11]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 22, 2003	To Montreal Canadiens 4th-round pick in 2003 7th-round pick in 2003	To Washington Capitals Nashville’s 4th-round pick in 2003	^[12]
June 22, 2003	To Ottawa Senators Future considerations^[a]	To Washington Capitals Washington’s 9th-round pick in 2003	^[13]
June 30, 2003	To Philadelphia Flyers Conditional 7th-round pick in 2004^[b]	To Washington Capitals Rights to Dmitri Yushkevich	^[14]
July 14, 2003	To Nashville Predators Mike Farrell	To Washington Capitals Alexander Riazantsev	^[15]
October 5, 2003	To Ottawa Senators Denis Hamel	To Washington Capitals Future considerations^[a]	^[16]
October 22, 2003	To Colorado Avalanche Steve Konowalchuk 3rd-round pick in 2004	To Washington Capitals Bates Battaglia Rights to Jonas Johansson	^[17]
January 23, 2004	To New York Rangers Jaromir Jagr	To Washington Capitals Anson Carter	^[18]
February 18, 2004	To Ottawa Senators Peter Bondra	To Washington Capitals Brooks Laich 2nd-round pick in 2005	^[19]
February 27, 2004	To Detroit Red Wings Robert Lang	To Washington Capitals Tomas Fleischmann 1st-round pick in 2004 4th-round pick in 2006	^[20]
March 3, 2004	To Boston Bruins Sergei Gonchar	To Washington Capitals Shaone Morrisonn 1st-round pick in 2004 2nd-round pick in 2004	^[21]
March 4, 2004	To Boston Bruins Michael Nylander	To Washington Capitals 2nd-round pick in 2006 Future considerations^[c]	^[22]
March 8, 2004	To Los Angeles Kings Anson Carter	To Washington Capitals Jared Aulin	^[23]
March 9, 2004	To Buffalo Sabres Mike Grier	To Washington Capitals Rights to Jakub Klepis	^[24]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 14, 2003 (2003-07-14)	Andrej Podkonicky	Iserlohn Roosters (DEL)	1-year	Free agency	^[25]
	Garret Stroshein	Portland Pirates (AHL)	2-year	Free agency	^[25]
July 18, 2003 (2003-07-18)	John Gruden	Eisbaren Berlin (DEL)	1-year	Free agency	^[26]
August 18, 2003 (2003-08-18)	Francois Methot	Buffalo Sabres	1-year	Free agency	^[27]
September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05)	Darcy Verot	Calgary Flames	1-year	Free agency	^[28]
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Denis Hamel	Ottawa Senators		Waiver draft	^[29]
	Brian Willsie	Colorado Avalanche		Waiver draft	^[29]
November 4, 2003 (2003-11-04)	Colin Forbes	Portland Pirates (AHL)		Free agency	^[30]
January 9, 2004 (2004-01-09)	Todd Rohloff	Columbus Blue Jackets		Waivers	^[31]
March 4, 2004 (2004-03-04)	Brad Norton	Los Angeles Kings		Waivers	^[32]
March 5, 2004 (2004-03-05)	Craig Johnson	Toronto Maple Leafs		Waivers	^[33]
March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)	Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre	Atlanta Thrashers		Waivers	^[34]
	Bill Lindsay	Atlanta Thrashers		Waivers^[d]	^[37]
March 19, 2004 (2004-03-19)	Matthew Yeats	Portland Pirates (AHL)		Free agency	^[38]
April 3, 2004 (2004-04-03)	Mel Angelstad	Portland Pirates (AHL)		Free agency	^[39]
April 26, 2004 (2004-04-26)	Justin Eddy	Quinnipiac University (AHA)		Free agency	^[40]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via^[e]	Ref
July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)	Krys Barch^[f]		Contract expiration (UFA)	^[41]
	Nathan Forster^[g]		Contract expiration (UFA)	^[41]
July 17, 2003 (2003-07-17)	Chris Ferraro	Phoenix Coyotes	Free agency (VI)	^[44]
	Peter Ferraro	Phoenix Coyotes	Free agency (UFA)	^[44]
	Josh Green	Calgary Flames	Free agency (UFA)	^[44]
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Mark Murphy	Philadelphia Flyers	Free agency (VI)	^[45]
August 7, 2003 (2003-08-07)	Calle Johansson		Retirement (III)^[h]	^[47]
	Andreas Salomonsson	Modo Hockey (SHL)	Free agency (II)^[i]	^[49]
September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05)	Todd Rohloff	Columbus Blue Jackets	Free agency (VI)	^[50]
September 27, 2003 (2003-09-27)	Ken Klee	Toronto Maple Leafs	Free agency (III)	^[51]
N/A	Ryan VanBuskirk	Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL)	Free agency (UFA)	^[52]
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Glen Metropolit	Ottawa Senators	Waiver draft	^[29]
October 9, 2003 (2003-10-09)	Alex Henry	Minnesota Wild	Waivers	^[53]
October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14)	Colin Forbes	Portland Pirates (AHL)	Free agency (UFA)	^[54]
November 11, 2003 (2003-11-11)	Dmitri Yushkevich	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL)	Free agency (III)	^[55]
December 11, 2003 (2003-12-11)	Sergei Berezin	HC CSKA Moscow (RSL)	Free agency (III)	^[56]
May 2, 2004 (2004-05-02)	Andrej Podkonicky	HC Liberec (ELH)	Free agency	^[57]
May 26, 2004 (2004-05-26)	Rastislav Stana	Sodertalje SK (SHL)	Free agency^[j]	^[59]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 26, 2003 (2003-06-26)	Peter Bondra	1-year	Option exercised	^[60]
	Jeff Halpern	1-year	Option exercised	^[61]
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Boyd Gordon	3-year	Entry-level	^[62]
	Petr Sykora	1-year^[k]	Re-signing	^[63]
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Jean-Francois Fortin	1-year	Re-signing	^[64]
	Chris Hajt	1-year	Re-signing	^[64]
July 16, 2003 (2003-07-16)	Alexander Semin	3-year	Entry-level	^[65]
July 17, 2003 (2003-07-17)	Jason Doig	1-year	Re-signing	^[66]
July 21, 2003 (2003-07-21)	Trent Whitfield	1-year	Re-signing	^[67]
July 22, 2003 (2003-07-22)	Stephen Peat	1-year	Re-signing	^[68]
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Mike Grier	1-year	Re-signing	^[69]
July 25, 2003 (2003-07-25)	Rick Berry	1-year	Re-signing	^[70]
July 28, 2003 (2003-07-28)	Matt Pettinger	1-year	Re-signing	^[71]
July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31)	Alex Henry	1-year	Re-signing	^[72]
August 10, 2003 (2003-08-10)	Michael Nylander	1-year	Re-signing	^[73]
August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19)	Rastislav Stana	1-year	Re-signing	^[74]
September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05)	Ivan Ciernik	1-year	Re-signing	^[28]
September 11, 2003 (2003-09-11)	Joel Kwiatkowski	1-year	Re-signing	^[75]
May 27, 2004 (2004-05-27)	Maxime Daigneault	3-year	Entry-level	^[76]
June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01)	Tomas Fleischmann	3-year	Entry-level	^[77]
	Jonas Johansson	3-year	Entry-level	^[77]

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.^[78]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	18	Eric Fehr	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	83	Stephen Werner	United States	University of Massachusetts (NCAA)
4	109	Andreas Valdix	Sweden	Malmo Redhawks (Sweden)
5	155	Josh Robertson	United States	Proctor High School (USHS-MN)
8	249	Andrew Joudrey	Canada	Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)
9	279	Mark Olafson	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Farm teams

The Capitals main American Hockey League affiliate was the Portland Pirates. Though they had no direct ECHL affiliate, players were sent from time to time between the Dayton Bombers and Reading Royals.

See also

• 2003–04 NHL season

Notes

1. Washington’s 9th-round pick in 2004^[11]
2. Condition not met.
3. 4th-round pick in 2005
4. Claim rescinded due to the severity of the throat injury Lindsay suffered during a January 3 game.^[35][36]
5. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[41]
6. Barch was inactive during the 2003–04 season.^[42]
7. Forster was inactive during the 2003–04 season.^[43]
8. Johansson came out of retirement to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 9, 2004.^[46]
9. Washington retained Salomonsson’s NHL rights through the 2005–06 season.^[48]
10. Washington retained Stana’s NHL rights through the 2007–08 season.^[58]
11. Club option for a second year.

References

• "Washington Capitals 2003–04 roster and statistics". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
• "2003–04 Washington Capitals Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 8, 2022.

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