Washington Capitals promote Chris Patrick to GM, Brian MacLellan remains President of Hockey Operations – NoVa Caps

According to Elliotte Freidman of Sportsnet, the Washington Capitals have promoted Chris Patrick to GM and Brian MacLellan to President of Hockey Operations.

“We are very pleased to announce Chris’ promotion to General Manager,” owner Ted Leonsis said in a press release. “Chris is a dedicated and hard-working executive who is well prepared for this next step in his career. His vision, extensive experience, hockey sense and player evaluation make him the perfect leader to lead our team forward. We are confident he will succeed in this new role.”

“With Dick Patrick as Chairman, Brian as President and Chris as General Manager, we believe we have a dynamic leadership team that will continue to move our hockey operations forward. Over the last decade, Brian has done an outstanding job leading our hockey operations, helping to bring the Stanley Cup to Washington and maintaining our team’s consistent competitiveness. Brian’s leadership, experience and vision for our hockey team, combined with Chris’ impressive track record and successful tenure as an executive, talent evaluator and steward of our minor league partnerships, positions our hockey team for a successful future.”

Patrick, who becomes the seventh general manager in franchise history, begins his 17th season with the Capitals and his first as associate general manager. During his tenure as assistant general manager of player personnel, Patrick worked closely with MacLellan on all hockey-related matters. In his previous role, Patrick also oversaw the club’s professional scouting team and worked closely with the Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate who won the 2023 Calder Cup. As associate general manager, Patrick will maintain his previous responsibilities and will also oversee the team’s analytics department, player contract negotiations, hockey operations staff, player personnel, and budget and team planning matters.

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Patrick joined the Capitals in 2008-09 in a player development and scouting role, assisting the hockey department with scouting drafted players at the college and junior levels. During the 2010-11 season, Patrick was promoted to pro scout, a title he held until 2014-15 when he was promoted to director of player personnel.

Patrick graduated from Princeton University with a degree in political science in 1998 and received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in 2006. Prior to joining the Capitals, Patrick spent eight years in investment banking and private equity for Deutsche Bank, Grotech Capital Group and Constellation Energy Commodities Group.

Patrick grew up in the Washington, DC area and played hockey in the Capital Beltway Hockey League and for the Little Caps. Patrick attended and played hockey at the Kent School in Connecticut before playing four seasons at Princeton University, winning the ECAC championship in 1998. Patrick was selected by the Capitals in the eighth round (197th overall) in the 1994 NHL Draft.

Patrick and his father, Capitals President Dick Patrick, became the sixth and seventh members of the family to win the Stanley Cup in 2018. Patrick and his wife, Kelley, live in Millersville, Maryland with their four daughters, Emma, ​​Allie, Ashley and Annie.

MacLellan has been Washington’s GM since May 2014, replacing George McPhee, and led the team to its first Stanley Cup title in 2018.

The 2024-25 season will be MacLellan’s 24th with the organization. Since the 65-year-old MacLellan was named general manager on May 26, 2014, the Capitals have compiled a record of 449-244-88 (.631 points percentage), earning the third-most wins in the NHL during that span. MacLellan finishes his career as general manager with the third-highest points percentage in NHL history among GMs with at least 500 games of experience, trailing only Sam Pollock (Montreal Canadiens, 1964-1978: .685) and Don Sweeney (Boston Bruins, 2015-present: .665).

During MacLellan’s tenure, Washington won a Stanley Cup, two Presidents’ Trophies and a franchise-record five consecutive Metropolitan Division titles from 2015–16 to 2019–20.

By Harrison Brown