Ottawa Senators Acquire Graeme Clarke From Washington Capitals, Trade Wyatt Bongiovanni

Ottawa acquired Graeme Clarke from the Washington Capitals in a straight player-for-player swap that moved center Wyatt Bongiovanni to Washington, sources reported March 6, 2026. The transaction was carried across AHL and NHL outlets and shows Ottawa adding a 24-year-old winger with 15 goals this season while Washington takes on a 26-year-old forward who has produced 25 points for Belleville in 2025-26.

The Hershey Bears news release announcing the Capitals' side of the deal stated, "The Washington Capitals, the National Hockey League affiliate of the Hershey Bears, have acquired forward Wyatt Bongiovanni from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Graeme Clarke. Bongiovanni will report to Hershey. The announcement was made by Washington senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick." That same release lists Bongiovanni at 25 points this season with Belleville - 12 goals and 13 assists in 54 games - and notes he recorded his 100th career AHL point with an assist on Jan. 31 at Cleveland.

Hershey's release also provides Bongiovanni career context: 215 career AHL games and 101 points (63 goals, 38 assists), plus 23 career power-play goals and a 42.9 percent shootout conversion rate. The release contains an internal inconsistency on his 2025-26 power-play mark - it states he has "striking for four power-play goals" this season while elsewhere saying he "ranked tied for second on Belleville in power-play goals (2)." Both lines appear in the Hershey release as published.

Graeme Clarke arrives with a resume of steady AHL production and recent volatility. TheAHL lists Clarke with 24 points this season for Hershey - 15 goals and nine assists in 50 games - and career totals of 332 AHL games with 99 goals and 111 assists for 210 points. RMNB noted Clarke "has struggled with consistency throughout the season" and that he "was recently healthy-scratched by Bears head coach Derek King." RMNB also reported Clarke signed a one-year, two-way contract last July.

Clarke's profile includes an AHL All-Star nod in 2024, three career NHL games with the New Jersey Devils in 2023-24, and being a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, according to TheAHL’s career summary. Puckpedia’s transaction line attached the label "General Manager Steve Staios" to Ottawa’s side of the move.

Most outlets timestamp the swap as March 6, 2026, though the Oursportscentral page header carrying the Hershey release shows March 7, 2026 while the Hershey release itself is dated March 6. The supplied materials explicitly confirm Bongiovanni will report to the Hershey Bears; they do not include a direct statement that Clarke will report to Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, so Clarke’s immediate AHL assignment remains unconfirmed in the available notices. The one-for-one deal reshapes depth for both organizations as the AHL season pushes toward the trade-deadline stretch.