Despite his kids\u2019 eagerness to stay in Washington, D.C., Ovechkin will need to consider whether he can adequately prepare for another season. He started his press conference by stating this was \u201cthe fastest season I played through my career\u201d, so Washington\u2019s leader understands that this summer is critical if he chooses to return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the summer, you have to work you have to work you ass off to get better and be in better shape. When you\u2019re 20, it\u2019s no big thing. When you\u2019re 40, it\u2019s harder and harder.\u201d <\/p>\n
When asked if he would play for another NHL franchise, Ovechkin\u2019s classic grin and cheeky response \u201cI\u2019m a free agent.\u201d drew a laugh from the crowd of media members before he quickly followed up with a \u201cprobably not\u201d in response to wearing another NHL team\u2019s colors.<\/p>\n
Ovechkin Needs Playoff-Caliber Roster to Return<\/p>\n
The decision comes down to many factors, but the one under the control of general manager Chris Patrick<\/a> will be roster construction. The Capitals have a projected $36.5 million in cap space heading into the offseason, according to PuckPedia<\/a>. That number likely decreases by $10 million if Washington can come to terms with the 14th captain in franchise history<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I want to come back\u2026 first of all, it would have to be to make the playoffs,\u201d Ovechkin stated. \u201cWe have to fight for a Cup. It\u2019s probably the biggest thing. Otherwise, if you take different scenarios, family-wise, health-wise, but team-wise, this would be the most important thing for me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Four members of the 2025-26 Capitals squads are set to join Ovechkin as UFAs: Brandon Duhaime<\/a>, David Kampf<\/a>, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Timothy Liljegren. If all four members hit the free-agent market, Washington will clear nearly $9 million in salary next season. Accounting for an estimated team-friendly salary for an Ovechkin contract next season, Washington would have approximately $26 million to improve the roster without any additional subtractions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ovechkin Impressed by Capitals Youth Movement<\/p>\n It won\u2019t take a roster overhaul for Ovechkin to be convinced to return. He saw young players step up after John Carlson was shockingly traded to the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> at the 2026 Trade Deadline. The infusion of youth, including teenagers Cole Hutson<\/a> and Ilya Protas<\/a>, helped keep the Capitals in playoff contention down the season\u2019s final days.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can see it, Leon (Leonard), Little Pro (Ilya Protas), Huts (Hutson), they are going to be great players in this league,\u201d Ovechkin said. \u201cTo have that experience because we are fighting for a playoff spot. It was kind of like 10 to 12 games were basically, for us, it was like Game 7.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Leonard, 21, scored 20 goals and amassed 45 points in 75 games during his first full season on NHL duty. Huston, 19, scored three goals and recorded 10 points in his first 14 NHL games after his arrival from the NCAA\u2019s Boston University<\/a>. Protas, 19, scored once and added three assists for four points in his first four NHL contests after being recalled from the American Hockey League\u2019s Hershey Bears<\/a> on April 6.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If Ovechkin decides to commit to Washington for the 2026-27 season (or more), these three players will likely have to do some heavy lifting while on their rookie deals. Luckily for the Capitals, none of them seemed overwhelmed while competing in the world\u2019s best hockey league. Washington\u2019s stars of the future will certainly benefit from another season of tutelage under the NHL\u2019s greatest goal scorer, if he chooses to return to Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite his kids\u2019 eagerness to stay in Washington, D.C., Ovechkin will need to consider whether he can adequately…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5114],"tags":[191,5,4,190,109,5222],"class_list":{"0":"post-554881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-capitals","8":"tag-capitals","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-capitals","13":"tag-washingtoncapitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116422736854123980","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}