Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is opening training camp on the sideline, with the team listing him as day-to-day because of a lower-body injury.
The 41-year-old has already missed the last two days of skating, sat out Sunday’s preseason opener and will also be out for Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Hershey. He had been working mostly alongside Dylan Strome and Ryan Leonard to begin camp before the injury sidelined him.
Coach Spencer Carbery said Washington is taking a wait-and-see approach and will use the next two practice days to gauge Ovechkin’s status before making any call on whether he can return for Friday’s preseason home game against the Boston Bruins or the preseason finale in Philadelphia on Saturday.
"We'll see how it goes this week. We'll be off tomorrow, and then we'll come back and have two practice days, so I'll be able to give you a more accurate update on when we see him and how many games... I'm not going to commit to anything," Carbery said.
This is not the first time Ovechkin has dealt with an injury in camp, and it comes as he enters his 22nd NHL season. He’s coming off a strong year in which he led Washington with 32 goals and 64 points.
Even with a modified role expected this season, Ovechkin said he’s ready to do "whatever it takes" to help the Capitals win. He pointed to how close the team came last year and stressed the importance of being ready from the start.
"I’m pretty sure everybody understands that we have a very good opportunity to be in the playoffs and make some noise out there," Ovechkin said. "The season has not started yet and we have to be ready for Game 1.
If you look at last year we missed by one point or two points, right? So you have to be ready right away because every point is very important for us and in the end it’s going to cost you."