Tom Gulitti of NHL.com: The Washington Capitals season just ended and Alex Ovechkin is not interested in talking about his contract situation just yet.
“We just lost in a playoff series” Ovechkin said. “Let’s talk about my contract and all that stuff later on.”
Ovechkin will be 36-years old when next season starts. Ovechkin, GM Brian MacLellan, and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis have all said they aren’t worried about it.
Samantha Pell: Ovechkin on contract talks: “I’m confident. We still have time. Obviously, I want to finish my career here.”
Sammi Silber: Capitals T.J. Oshie when asked about Seattle:
“I want to spend the rest of my career here and retire here… I’ve approached every day since I’ve been here like this will be the last team I’ll ever play for.”
Samantha Pell: Capitals Evgeny Kuznetsov when asked if he expects to be back next season.
“Of course. I like this team. I like to be here. This organization, the team, did a lot of good things for me and I believe I have done some good things also.”
Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic: The Capitals are one of the older teams in the league. They won’t have much cap flexibility this offseason. Will the Capitals decide to tweak their roster or will they go a little bigger and retool.
Will Ilya Samsonov or Vitek Vanecek be their starter next season? Samsonov has a higher ceiling but was undependable this past season – offseason ATV accident, two COVID stints, and late for a team function. They can only protect one for the expansion draft.
Pierre LeBrun reported they could explore trading Evgeny Kuznetsov as they may be growing tired of his antics.
If the Capitals don’t re-sign Alex Ovechkin before the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, they won’t have to protect him. Ovechkin doesn’t have an agent and is handling talks on his own.
Projecting who the Capitals will protect in the expansion draft. If Ovechkin is signed, he’ll be on the list. If he isn’t signed, another forward will be added – Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Anthony Mantha, Tom Wilson, Lars Eller, Conor Sheary, John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, Justin Schultz and Samsonov.
