Capitals fire Adam Oates; GM out

— -- WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals have fired coach Adam Oates and will not renew the contract of general manager George McPhee after failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

The team announced the moves in a news release Saturday.

"George has been a terrific, longtime executive for our franchise, and I'm grateful for his commitment to the Capitals organization for the past 17 years," owner Ted Leonsis said. "Under his leadership the Capitals won seven division titles, twice were the top team in the Eastern Conference, earned a Presidents' Trophy and competed in the playoffs 10 times. He was a highly effective manager who is extremely well regarded within our organization and around the NHL. We have the utmost respect for him and his family and wish them nothing but the very best.

"We are also appreciative of Adam's efforts and thank him for his devotion, work ethic and contributions to the Capitals the past two seasons. He is a smart, tactical coach who improved the performance of several of our players. He is a Hall of Fame player who we believe will be a longtime coach in the NHL. We will help him in whatever way we are able and wish him well.

"This is an important time for our organization, and I feel a change is needed in order to get us back to being a top echelon team that competes for the Stanley Cup."

Oates, a former star player for the Capitals, had one season left on his three-year contract. This was his first job as a head coach.

McPhee's contract was up. He has been the GM of the team for 17 years, drafting Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom in the first round.

While Ovechkin has won three league MVP awards and again led the NHL in scoring this season with 51 goals, the Capitals haven't made it past the second round of the playoffs during the Russian wing's career.

The Capitals went 38-30-14 this season. Leonsis and Capitals president Dick Patrick will hold a news conference Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.