Alex Ovechkin isn’t hiding what he thinks about the Washington Capitals’ makeover.
After one of the busiest offseasons in the league, Washington added Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch to its forward group and Vincent Desharnais to the blue line. Then came the latest jolt: Ovechkin is back for the 2026-27 season on a one-year deal, giving the Capitals a roster that looks loaded heading into the new campaign.
Once Ovechkin decided he was returning, the contract talks moved fast. As he put it, "I think it took us maybe like 10 minutes." He added, "I called Chris (Patrick) and said, ‘OK, let’s make a deal,’ and he said what was going to happen with the signing bonus and I said, ‘OK, let’s go.’”
And Ovechkin clearly likes what he sees around him. He called the Capitals "one of the best teams" after the summer additions, saying, "I’m very excited for the team, and for the fans as well, because on paper, you can see our team is one of the best teams. But now we have to work for the Stanley Cup, for the playoffs first and then the Stanley Cup."
He also pointed to the constant questions about his future as part of the reason he came back. "Everybody was asking me, ‘Are you coming back?
Are you coming back?’ Then, that situation when you can see we have that type of team that we have, to win one more time, the Stanley Cup, it’s one of the big reasons (I’m returning)."
Washington is chasing its first Stanley Cup since 2018, and the group it has assembled now looks like its strongest in years. The Eastern Conference won’t offer any easy paths, but the Capitals believe they’ve given themselves a real chance to make a deep run.
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Aliaksei Protas Embodies What The Capitals Do Better Than Most
The Capitals have built a reputation for squeezing real value out of their cap space, and Aliaksei Protas is a clean example of why that matters. Signed to a five-year deal worth $3.375 million per year, he has grown into a top-six forward while giving Washington far more production than his price tag would suggest.
Protas has followed his first full NHL season with consecutive 52-plus point campaigns, a leap that has turned a modest contract into one of the organizations best bargains. With three years still left on the deal, the bigger question is how long Washington can keep getting this kind of return, especially if this is only one of the clubs most efficient investments. [Read more 🡒]