It was announced on 14 October 2015 that newly named club captain, Everett Sheen, would be leaving the club with immediate effect. Alternate captain, Paul Zanette, was later chosen as the new captain of the Capitals. On 10 November 2015, Canadian forward Brandon Coccimiglio – a former teammate of Rutherford – joined the club as the replacement player for Sheen. The Capitals had to deal with the departures of Ryan Hayes and David Rutherford, while Nate Fleming would also leave for personal reasons. Ned Lukacevic, Ņikita Koļesņikovs, Brandon Thompson, Garrett Milan and RJay Berra would later join the club but the Capitals would finish bottom in a hugely disappointing 10th place, despite a strong start to the season, thus missing the play-offs. Emmerson would later leave the club and retire from hockey after one season as player-coach while club stalwart David Beatson, the Capitals' longest-serving player, would retire after eighteen years with the team.