Capitals will be patient while Ovechkin mulls future

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Washington Capitals have entered their offseason with two plans.

One includes Alex Ovechkin returning for his 22nd NHL season. The other is the beginning of life without the NHL's all-time leader in goals.

At some point, Ovechkin will sit down with management and owner Ted Leonsis to discuss whether he intends to play next season, but the Capitals want to give their captain the time and space he needs to make that decision.

"The team's position is we're giving him some time here to get away from the season a little bit and think things through and talk to his family," general manager Chris Patrick said Monday. "And then he'll meet with both (team president Brian MacLellan) and I, and we'll continue to support him in however his decision process plays out."

The Capitals (43-30-9) would prefer to be playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they fell short of qualifying, finishing three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division and four back of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. That started their offseason sooner than they'd hoped and, with that, the discussions about Ovechkin's future.

Ovechkin is on an expiring five-year, $47.5 million contract ($9.5 million average annual value) he signed with Washington in 2021. He sounded as though he was leaning toward returning for another season after a 2-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Washington's regular-season finale on April 14, saying "I hope it's not my last game."

He said similar at the Capitals' end-of-the season media availability two days later.

"To be honest with you, I'm pretty sure it's not my last game," he said. "I hope it's not my last game against Columbus. I have to make a decision to see where we're at -- the team, family."

After a normal season, Patrick and MacLellan would've met with Ovechkin when they conducted their other exit meetings. They thought it would be better in this case to wait, though.

"We could have met with him the day after the season ended, but I don't think he was ready at that point to have that conversation," Patrick said. "I think he needs to take some time and just get away from it."

Ovechkin demonstrated he can still produce a high level; he led Washington with 32 goals to increase his NHL-record total to 929. He also had a team-leading 64 points while not missing a regular-season game for the sixth time in his career.

The forward's importance as Capitals captain goes beyond his goal and point production, though.

"I think his presence is huge, and when he decides to leave, it's going to be a big hole personality-wise, leadership-wise," MacLellan said.

Still, Ovechkin is approaching his 41st birthday on Sept. 17 and acknowledged that staying healthy and keeping up with the speed of the NHL have become more of a challenge as he's aged. Ovechkin also said he wants to hear from Patrick and MacLellan what moves they plan to make to help Washington's chances of winning the Stanley Cup next season, saying, "team-wise, this is the most important thing for me."

The Capitals have qualified for the playoffs in 16 of Ovechkin's 21 seasons, including winning the Cup for the first time in 2018. But they've won only one playoff series (a first-round victory against the Montreal Canadiens last season) since.

Patrick believes they are in a good position to upgrade the roster and contend for the Cup next season.

"We're in a window where we're trying to win," he said. "We have a good team here and we're hoping to add pieces to help be a competitive team, a Stanley Cup contending team."

Patrick mentioned against wanting to add a scoring wing, something he's been pursuing since last offseason. Options on the unrestricted free agent market are expected to be limited, but Patrick said the Capitals are well positioned to add through free agency or trades.

Washington acquired a second pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft in the trade that sent defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks on March 6, along with a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. The Capitals also added a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft, a third-round selection in the 2027 draft and goalie prospect Jesper Vikman in the trade that sent center Nic Dowd to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 5. 

MacLellan said they have "a lot" of space to add under next season's $104 million salary cap -- with or without Ovechkin.

"We're in really the best spot we've been in as far as having the stuff to trade that a team might want," Patrick said. "We've got picks, we've got some good prospects. There's obviously some prospects we're not going to move in those deals, (but) from that perspective our wallet is full.

"If there' an opportunity there, we'd like to jump on it."

Acquiring a scoring wing would be even more important if Ovechkin doesn't return, but knowing his plans isn't essential right now.

"It's no different than really any offseason where you have some players that are expiring and you go down different paths depending on what happens with them," Patrick said. "So, same thing with him, even though he's the greatest goal-scorer of all-time.

"If he decides to stay, we'll go one way. If he decides that he wants to retire, we'll go a different way."

MacLellan said he and Leonsis have already talked some with Ovechkin, "leading up to the end of the season … just to get a sense of what he was feeling." Patrick said "ideally" the Capitals will know Ovechkin's intentions before the draft on June 26-27 and the start of free agency on July 1, but they aren't going to pressure him.

"I think he's earned the right to do the process how he wants to," Patrick said. "So, we'll just work with whatever we get information-wise."