George McPhee trades
| Colorado Avalanche acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Semyon Varlamov | July 1, 2011 | 2012 1st round pick |  |
| 2012 or 2013 2nd round pick | ||||
| Chicago Blackhawks acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2011 1st round pick (#26-Phillip Danault) | June 24, 2011 | Troy Brouwer | |
| Nashville Predators acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2013 conditional 7th round pick (if Stefishen appears on the Capitals reserve list as a signed NHL contracted player for 1 day or more during the 2011-12 or 2012-13 league years) | June 2, 2011 | Taylor Stefishen | |
| New Jersey Devils acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dave Steckel | February 28, 2011 | Jason Arnott | |
| 2012 2nd round pick | ||||
| Washington Capitals acquire | Date | Florida Panthers acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Wideman | February 28, 2011 | Jake Hauswirth |  |
| 2011 3rd round pick (#86-Jonathan Racine) | ||||
| Colorado Avalanche acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomas Fleischmann | November 30, 2010 | Scott Hannan | |
| St. Louis Blues acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Stefan Della Rovere | July 28, 2010 | D.J. King | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2010 4th round pick (#116-Petter Granberg) | June 26, 2010 | 2010 4th round pick #112-Philipp Grubauer) | |
| 2010 5th round pick (#146-Daniel Brodin) | ||||
| Columbus Blue Jackets acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2010 conditional 6th round pick (not exercised) | March 3, 2010 | Milan Jurcina | |
| Washington Capitals acquire | Date | Carolina Hurricanes acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Corvo | March 3, 2010 | Oskar Osala |  |
| Brian Pothier | ||||
| 2011 2nd round pick (#57-Tyler Wotherspoon) | ||||
| Washington Capitals acquire | Date | Carolina Hurricanes acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Walker | March 3, 2010 | 2010 7th round pick (#206-Ricard Blidstrand) | |
| Minnesota Wild acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2010 2nd round pick (#56-Johan Larsson) | March 3, 2010 | Eric Belanger | |
| Columbus Blue Jackets acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Clark | December 28, 2009 | Jason Chimera | |
| Milan Jurcina | ||||
| Calgary Flames acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Keith Seabrook | July 17, 2009 | future considerations | |
| Arizona Coyotes acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sami Lepisto | June 27, 2009 | 2010 5th round pick (#142-Caleb Herbert) | |
| New Jersey Devils acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 1st round pick (#23-Tyler Cuma) | June 20, 2008 | 2008 1st round pick (#21-Anton Gustafsson) | |
| 2008 2nd round pick (#54-Patrice Cormier) | ||||
| Washington Capitals acquire | Date | Philadelphia Flyers acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 1st round pick (#27-John Carlson) | June 20, 2008 | Steve Eminger |  |
| 2008 3rd round pick (#84-Jacob DeSerres) | ||||
| Columbus Blue Jackets acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rights to Theo Ruth | February 26, 2008 | Sergei Fedorov | |
| Washington Capitals acquire | Date | Atlanta Thrashers acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandre Giroux | February 26, 2008 | Joe Motzko |  |
| Vancouver Canucks acquire | Date | Washington Capitals acquire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Matt Pettinger | February 26, 2008 | Matt Cooke | |