The Washington Capitals promoted Chris Patrick to GM and Brian MacLellan to President of Hockey Operations, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman.
“We are thrilled to announce Chris’ promotion to general manager,” said owner Ted Leonsis in a press release. “Chris is a dedicated and hard-working executive, who is fully prepared for this next step in his career. His vision, extensive experience, hockey acumen, and player evaluation make him the perfect leader to drive our team forward. We are confident that he will thrive 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 in place to continue to guide our hockey operations department forward. Over the past decade, Brian has excelled as the head of our hockey operations department, helping 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 guardian of our minor league partnerships, position our hockey operations team for a successful future.”
Patrick, who becomes the seventh general manager in franchise history, is entering his 17th season with the Capitals and first as associate general manager. During his tenure as assistant general manager, player personnel, Patrick worked closely with MacLellan regarding all hockey-related matters. In his previous role, Patrick also oversaw the club’s professional scouting staff and worked closely with the Hershey Bears, the Capitals AHL affiliate, who captured the 2023 Calder Cup championship. As associate general manager, Patrick will maintain his prior responsibilities as well as oversee the team’s analytics department, player contract negotiations, hockey operations staff, player personnel and budget and team scheduling issues.
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Patrick joined the Capitals in 2008-09 in a player development and scouting role, assisting the hockey operations department with scouting drafted players at the collegiate 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 the director of player personnel.
Patrick graduated from Princeton University with a degree in politics and economics in 1998 and earned a Master of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia in 2006. Prior to joining the Capitals, Patrick worked in investment banking and private equity for Deutsche Bank, Grotech Capital Group and Constellation Energy Commodities Group for eight years.
Patrick grew up playing hockey in the Washington, D.C., area 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 team president Dick Patrick, became the sixth and seventh family members of the Patrick family to win the Stanley Cup in 2018. Patrick and his wife, Kelley, reside in Millersville, Md, with their four daughters: Emma, Allie, Ashley and Annie.
MacLellan has been GM of Washington since May 2014 after replacing George McPhee and led them to their first Stanley Cup title in 2018.
The 2024-25 season will mark MacLellan’s 24th with the organization. Since appointing MacLellan, 65, as general manager on May 26, 2014, the Capitals have compiled a record of 449-244-88 (.631 point percentage) and have recorded the third-most wins in the NHL in that span. MacLellan finishes his run as general manager with the third-highest point 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 has 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