- 21 hours ago
Alex Ovechkin sounds like he's interested in playing one more year. How will the organization handle it in a way that is agreeable all parties.
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00:00So Alex Ovechkin yesterday went on record to say that he wants to keep playing.
00:05My words, not his, but we'll play his words for you, and they were pretty definitive, I thought.
00:09He said he hopes that he didn't just play his last game, and that he hoped he has another season
00:16coming.
00:16He also said it's going to be up to him, his family, and the team to decide what happens now,
00:20and he would go on to say that he wants to play, and that his family, specifically his kids, wants
00:25to see him continue to play.
00:27This was Alex Ovechkin at the team's practice facility yesterday.
00:30I think, to be honest with you, I'm pretty sure it's not my last game.
00:40I hope it's not my last game against Columbus.
00:43And, like, how I said, I have to make a decision to see where we are, you know, the team,
00:54family.
00:55Like, obviously family is going to support me, like my wife and kids, and kids already ask me, like, Dad,
01:04are you staying or not?
01:06We'll tell, like everybody else.
01:09I'll tell them, we'll see.
01:13Ovechkin with the media on breakdown day as the Capitals said their goodbyes for the final time yesterday at their
01:20practice facility.
01:22I'd say that pretty much answers the question about his willingness and interest in coming back.
01:27We can stop speculating.
01:28We now know he would prefer to be back.
01:30Yeah, we were looking at clues, and there's a pretty big clue when the player says he wants to come
01:34back.
01:34Now, you and I were on after the Nats game yesterday, so we kind of went into this a little
01:39bit.
01:39But to hammer home my point from yesterday, and I don't want to speak for you, but I think you
01:44might feel the same,
01:45there are three parties that he mentioned.
01:47Party one, Alex Ovechkin.
01:49Check.
01:49He would like to play hockey again, like to come back.
01:52We have a pretty definitive there, yes?
01:53Party number two, his family.
01:56He would say, yeah, I'm going to talk to my family.
01:58His family seems very interested in the idea that he would come back.
02:00His kids love it.
02:02They love hanging out with the boys.
02:03They love this, they love that.
02:04Okay, that's second unit.
02:05He said they've already been grilling him about whether or not he's going to play,
02:09and they've made it clear that they want him to play.
02:11The third group is the Washington Capitals organization.
02:14Anyway, it's a beautiful day out here at Raspberry Falls.
02:17You see what I'm saying?
02:18It's pretty clear where the ball is here.
02:21It's in the Capitals court.
02:23Which is the conversation I want to have today,
02:25because I think the debate is not really whether or not Ove wants to play.
02:32But how is the team going to feel about Ove returning next year,
02:37and what works for everybody?
02:39Everybody meaning the player in the squad.
02:42Earlier today on the Junkies, Johnny Cakes-Aulville essentially advocated,
02:46pay that man his money, give him the biggest contract, whatever he wants,
02:50keep him around, he's our sweet, precious Ove.
02:53And by the way, I don't know that that's the wrong way to think.
02:55There's going to be different camps here.
02:56That's not the camp I'm in, but that is certainly a camp.
02:59He has given us everything and then more.
03:01He is hockey in Washington, D.C.
03:04He is the reason for the sports growth and popularity and interest and for sellouts.
03:09You know, we've never really had an athlete in my time here, Danny,
03:13who you would say built a house.
03:15You know, they say like the ballpark that so-and-so built.
03:19The $600 million renovation at Capital One Arena,
03:22whatever the new version of that is, is what Ovechkin built legitimately.
03:26He created the interest and the love that currently exists in this city as far as hockey goes.
03:32There was a team before Ovechkin.
03:34They even made a cup run, occasionally had fans.
03:36Go back and look at the games around that lockout.
03:40Go back and look at the games before Alex Ovechkin became the player that he did
03:48and look at them now.
03:49It's a different sport.
03:50It's a different thing.
03:52Fandom has completely changed.
03:53He deserves whatever he gets.
03:55But there is an argument that the best way forward for this team is not to pay him a ton
04:00of money,
04:01not to guarantee him top-line minutes, not to have him on the power play two full minutes at a
04:06time.
04:07And that's the second camp.
04:08There's basically what Cake says, which is if he wants $10 million, give him $10 million.
04:13He's Alex Ovechkin.
04:14And then my side, which is if you're coming back, here's how we're going to do this.
04:19And I think that's important.
04:21This is not just a where can we sign, what would you like.
04:24Here's how this has to work.
04:26And I'm going to give him some guidelines.
04:28I didn't mean to cut you off.
04:29What has really irritated me about this, and I'm not angry or coming down on any individual person,
04:35but I hear this refrain, let the team in goals, and then kind of waving away any idea that it
04:41may not be in their best interest to pay him as such.
04:44He did, and he deserves credit for that.
04:47However, no human being, no hockey player in history has ever been put in more advantageous spots to do those
04:53sorts of things.
04:54Every empty net, it's, you know, the guys are passing up obvious scoring chances and flipping it over to Ovechkin
04:59from three-quarters of the length of the ice.
05:02Every power play, it's sort of catered and geared towards him for a power play that stunk all year long.
05:07Yes, getting top-line minutes, he's scored the most goals on the team.
05:10That's a problem.
05:11And he gets Ozone draws at a much higher rate than normal.
05:15Hadn't even gotten there, yeah.
05:15Because he doesn't take D-zone draws.
05:17I think it's single digits all throughout the season.
05:20I think there was a couple icings where he actually had to come back and be in the defensive zone
05:23towards the end of the year.
05:23But imagine that.
05:24And even still, he was a minus player.
05:26Now, again, it sounds harsh, and like I'm criticizing Ovechkin.
05:29I'm not.
05:30The greatest goalscorer ever, most important athlete in D.C. history, incredible.
05:34Everything you said about the house that Ove built is dead right.
05:37But the idea you go, I led the team in goals, and there's no further discussion, that's wrong.
05:41This is not a good defender at this point.
05:43This is not a guy that can skate around with reckless abandon on a nightly basis.
05:46It's not a guy that can match up well with the younger, fresher, faster game that has taken over the
05:52league.
05:52And, again, it sounds like I'm being harsh and critical of Alex Ovechkin.
05:55It's not the case at all.
05:56There's a lot of guys that can't do that.
05:58Well, you are being critical, and that's okay.
06:00And this is kind of my point.
06:01I believe there is this perception that you can't be critical because of what he has meant.
06:06And therein lies the issue.
06:08Yeah, critical is the wrong.
06:08I am being critical.
06:09It sounds harsher than I mean it to be.
06:12But there's a lot of guys that don't fit as well with the modern era of hockey.
06:16He's been around for 21 years, for God's sakes.
06:18Right?
06:19I mean, that happens.
06:20The game evolves.
06:21A lot of guys that are 40 in baseball can't do what they did before.
06:24So when you have to cater, do all these different things to set him up for success as you're sacrificing
06:29for the team,
06:30everybody's kind of putting it in.
06:31He's taking minutes from young guys.
06:33It's not exactly that.
06:33He's still playing 17 minutes on ice.
06:36It's the variety of minutes.
06:38The way that it's happening, right, where he's not doing any penalty kill, never has, never will, never should.
06:44But as you said, no defensive zone draw.
06:46So we have to do this in order to play a certain way.
06:49Everything runs through him.
06:50And, yes, setting him up for success, that's not the way the team is best served anymore.
06:53It was for 20 years.
06:55It's not now.
06:55I think I've almost become viewed as someone who doesn't want Ovi back, and that's not correct.
07:04I would not label myself that way.
07:06First of all, if next year just becomes another year like this one where the Caps are spinning their tires
07:14as a fringe playoff team
07:16and Ovechkin is a top-line guy getting huge minutes who gets all two minutes on the power play and
07:22he's making $10 million or whatever,
07:24I'll be sitting in the stands for 30 games again wearing red, screaming, and excited.
07:30I love Ovechkin.
07:31I love the team.
07:33I'm in.
07:34They don't have to worry about me.
07:35I'm in.
07:36But this is the time of the year where we can sit back and have a better conversation about best
07:42practices and what is important here.
07:44Is it important to just celebrate Ovechkin's career with one send-off season, which I was told all year he
07:49didn't want, by the way.
07:50Now you're signing up for that, almost certainly.
07:53But is that the goal where it's about celebrating Ovi?
07:56And, yeah, maybe you'll make the playoffs.
07:58Maybe you'll have a chance to win a round or two.
08:00But you don't have quite as good a chance to, you know, win a championship that way.
08:04Or should the priority be how are they the best team possible next year to win a Stanley Cup?
08:09Because I don't think that is possible or can be done if you're paying Ovechkin huge money, a la with
08:19the exploding cap, the percentage of the cap that he's always made.
08:22Now maybe he comes to them and says, I'll take a discount and I'll play a little bit less, but
08:27I want to hang out with the guys.
08:28I can still help you.
08:29I can still, even in a reduced role, be a 20-25 goal guy.
08:33And I think that's great.
08:35There's a path to make this all work.
08:37I don't know what his willingness and interest in that is, and I don't know how the team views it.
08:41Is that something Ted Leonsis or, you know, at the very top, you know, Chris Patrick, Brian McClellan, would they
08:47be okay even offering him that?
08:49Is that viewed as disrespectful?
08:50But this is what I would do, and it's super easy for me to say on the outside not having
08:54to deal with any possible pushback, blowback.
08:58But my opinion, all emotion removed from this, the best thing they can do is go to Ovi and say,
09:03hey, based on what you've made in your career,
09:06you should be like a $10, $11 million a year guy right now at the salary cap or what have
09:10you.
09:10We're going to give you five, five and a half, something like that.
09:13One-year deal.
09:15And you're going to play effectively like third-line type minutes.
09:19And we're going to get you out on the power play, but we're going to roll two groups.
09:23It's going to be a much more traditional, you're just one of the guys on the team, all hands on
09:26deck power play.
09:28But if he's willing to sign up for all that, Danny, let's shake hands, let's put pen to paper, and
09:33let's move forward.
09:34But we've got to noodle that with him because I think just saying it's Ovi, he gave us everything.
09:41We love him.
09:42All true.
09:44I'm not going to try to be disrespectful here if I'm the Capitals.
09:47But you're signing yourself up for a worse season if you just pay him all the money.
09:50And I think there's two camps.
09:52There's mine, which is let's be realistic.
09:55Let's not hurt ourselves in the ability to go out and get someone to help replace Ovechkin as a potential
10:0140-goal guy in a trade.
10:03Or the Cakes-Auville, we'll call it, camp, where our buddy Cakes is saying just pay him his money.
10:08This was earlier today on the Sports Junkies.
10:10This is what he had to say.
10:11I'm writing up the contract right here.
10:13If I'm Chris Patrick, at least a one-year deal, $10 million, Ovi, put your signature right here.
10:20The problem is.
10:21I just slide in front of him right now.
10:23And if he wants to, I just do this.
10:25I cross out the 10.
10:26I do two years.
10:28Right.
10:28$20 million.
10:30You only made hockey really popular here in Washington.
10:33But when it wasn't before you got here, two years, $20 million, please end your career here as you should
10:38as a Washington Capital.
10:40Two years and $20 million is preposterous.
10:43And I'm not joining on Cakes.
10:44I think that's kind of the debate.
10:46And it's very possible that they do that.
10:47A huge portion of the fan base thinks that, I think.
10:49Yeah.
10:49I think he represents maybe even the majority of the fan base.
10:52I've talked with a lot of my buddies.
10:53I've argued with some of my friends about this.
10:55They would just do that sight unseen.
10:57I think Cakes then, and maybe we can get him on the horn and ask him this.
11:00Here's the question I would ask that person.
11:03Would you rather have a legitimate chance to win a cup next year?
11:07I'd tell you you're going to be in the Eastern Conference Finals Cup mix or have another year where you
11:12get to watch Ovi score 35 goals.
11:14Which would you choose?
11:14And I do think maybe Cakes would say the second one.
11:18I wouldn't necessarily.
11:19Now, they would reject the premise, which I think is incorrect.
11:22You see what I'm saying?
11:23They would go, you are a cup contender.
11:25Add a couple pieces.
11:26Well, yes, but that's fine.
11:28But I'm just saying hypothetically.
11:31Go ahead.
11:31No, what I'm saying is it's not even hypothetical.
11:35I mean, listen, stuff happens in sports, best laid plans.
11:38But the path to being a really good team again does not include Ovechkin at $10 million or whatever the
11:45salary cap percentage is.
11:47They would reject it.
11:48They'd go, here's the other team in goals.
11:49And that's what I'm bucking against.
11:50That's what I'm arguing against.
11:51I heard J.P. say it.
11:52I heard Cakes talk about it.
11:55Barstool and Ape joined J.P. and Zabe.
11:57And he was saying it like there's the fandom of Ovi is there's a reason that pro sports aren't governed
12:02by emotion.
12:03At a certain point, you have to make a cold, cutthroat, best-for-the-program type decision.
12:08This is the hardest one of those in recent memory for any D.C. sports team, to be honest with
12:13you.
12:14My favorite players didn't end here.
12:16Art Monk did not finish in Washington.
12:17A million other guys haven't as well.
12:19And it's going to happen again.
12:21But the challenge, then, is how do you do it without offending?
12:26Because I would sign up for the scenario you laid out where you go, here's half or whatever of what
12:31you've made before.
12:32Reduced role.
12:33We're not going to do this.
12:34Everything's catered to Ovechkin thing anymore.
12:35We did this for two years where we're trying to get you the goal-scoring record.
12:38And now it's kind of like this weird, hey, it's late game.
12:42We're up by goal.
12:43We probably could use some good defense.
12:44But here's number eight also.
12:45We're not going to do that sort of stuff.
12:47We're going to try to win as many games as possible.
12:48That's the priority to and fro every second of the day.
12:52And that doesn't include Ovechkin at that money at that role anymore.
12:56And I think that's okay to say and not besmirch the legend that is Ovi.
13:00So, a couple of things.
13:01One, can they win a cup next year?
13:05Like, are they a legitimate contender with Ovi at $10 million?
13:07I would say they could.
13:09Sounds like you don't think there's any path to that.
13:11I think they absolutely could.
13:13It would take a nearly flawless offseason otherwise.
13:17Because the fact is they were a playoff team this year in a lot of ways.
13:20A couple games go differently.
13:21You could always say that I understand that.
13:22But if you actually look at underlying metrics, things like regulation wins and minutes led in games and all of
13:28these different things.
13:28They were a top ten team, frankly, at major points of the season in the NHL.
13:33So, by that standard, I think you line it back up.
13:35You play 82 right now.
13:36They're in the playoffs.
13:37And then whatever happens when you get in happens.
13:40But here is where we'll agree.
13:42And this is where I think maybe a Cakes or someone from that camp wouldn't.
13:46I would ask them, do you agree that there is a clearer path to a Stanley Cup in the next
13:52two years without Alex Ovechkin than with him?
13:58That's the question.
13:59Are they more likely to get to or win a cup in the next couple of years with or without
14:05Ovechkin making $10 million?
14:06And I would say it's without him taking up that salary cap.
14:10Now, again, that does not have to be the end-all, be-all to the discussion.
14:13For some people, it might be as simple as, dude, it's Ovechkin.
14:18And that's the answer.
14:19You've got to wear it for a year or two.
14:20And I would say you kind of did that this year.
14:22This was.
14:23Now, he's under contract already.
14:24It's not like you gave him a one-year deal.
14:26But this year was supposed to be that year in their minds.
14:29I think there's people in that building that would say, this was the swan song.
14:32We kind of just did that.
14:33You know, we did spin our tires this season as we were finalizing the development of the kids.
14:38And Ryan Leonard scored 20 goals.
14:40And you bring on Sordiff.
14:41And you bring up Ilya Protis.
14:43And you bring up Hudson.
14:44And now it's time for us to hit the NOS button.
14:46We're ready to go win with two trades that we're going to make for a top-six guy and a
14:49defenseman.
14:50And however this is going to work.
14:52But I would just come back to that question.
14:54We can open up the phones on this at 800-636-1067 because I'm fascinated for Caps fans to weigh
15:00in on this.
15:01800-636-1067.
15:03I guess I'm trying to make it succinct and, like, drill down on what I want to know.
15:08I think I would want to know in a hypothetical.
15:12Forget the legitimacy of it and all that.
15:15So we don't need to argue about whether this is right.
15:18They win a Stanley Cup next year without Ovi.
15:20Or let's just say they get to a Stanley Cup without Ovi.
15:23Or Ovi plays.
15:25Which would you prefer?
15:26Because I think a lot of people would just say Ovi plays.
15:29I'd rather that.
15:30You take my chances with Ovi.
15:32Exactly.
15:32Right.
15:33Yeah, I mean.
15:34And then the second question would be, do you agree they have a better path to championship level in the
15:40next two to three years without committing $10 million per year to Ovi?
15:44Those would be my questions.
15:45And I think, yeah, I think those are perfectly fair.
15:48Because, again, it's the hard part for it is, again, as you're human beings, you always talk about it's a
15:55people business.
15:56And in general, I would be, you know, people would hate me as the general manager.
15:59I'm getting rid of guys a year early.
16:01At the instant, I don't think we're a championship caliber team.
16:03I'm trading guys away.
16:05You know, a lot of things would happen where you guys would despise me.
16:07But this is one of those where this is easier to say the thing I'm talking about versus actually doing
16:15it because of everything that he's meant.
16:16Again, the eyes of the league were on you in a positive light for years as this goal chase happened.
16:23And the math and NHL Network is doing the, okay, so if he's inside 100 goals three years away, he's
16:30got a shot to do it at this time.
16:32And all of a sudden, like, we're counting down.
16:33That's all capital stuff, capitals, capitals, capitals, capitals.
16:36The branding, the ingratiating yourself into this marketplace for this fan base that's, you know, watched the team lose in
16:42the first round or worse over the last handful of seasons since they got to the Stanley Cup.
16:46You're basically still as popular as you ever were because of this guy and because of this chase.
16:51And maybe even more so.
16:52So I understand it's not just another player.
16:55I mean, they shipped John Carlson at the trade deadline at the 11th hour.
16:57You know, after midnight, he's getting a call saying, hey, you know, you're out of here, dude.
17:02Thanks for everything.
17:03That's a pantheon guy.
17:06That's a, you know, a Mount Rushmore capital in my view.
17:08And he was gone.
17:10This is even beyond that.
17:12So it's not easy to do the thing that I'm talking about doing.
17:15And I don't know how to walk this tightrope.
17:16It is the ultimate, hey, we've got to acknowledge our people here.
17:18But I can't just do, thanks for everything, here's a blank check.
17:23That is not the way to get to where this team needs to go.
17:26And I see that as a giant obstacle.
17:28And the fact that most of the fan base, not most, a huge percent of the fan base feels that
17:32way,
17:32it sounds like from a PR perspective, from Ted and from, you know, anybody saying stuff from the front office,
17:38that may be how they have to handle this.
17:40So the other interesting thing, too, is, like, what is the number that would make sense to pay him?
17:46I've just used $5 million as a placeholder because that just feels right to me as, like, hey, it's a
17:52one-year deal,
17:52very respectable salary.
17:54You're paid, like, one of the higher-paid players on the team still.
17:57But it's not debilitating in any way.
17:59And I believe it's kind of the threshold of being able to get done what they need to get done.
18:03Because I would like, in a free agency market for hockey, not to get too nerdy or into the nitty
18:07-gritty on this,
18:08is not great this offseason.
18:10But what they're going to do is what they always do really, really well.
18:13McClellan, Patrick, this front office, they're going to evaluate players on other teams' rosters,
18:17like they did with Strom and Oshie and Brower and Sordiff and so many others.
18:22And they're going to go out and get a prime of his career player who could come in here on
18:26the top six
18:26and score 30 goals or whatever.
18:28And they're going to be hunting around.
18:30I mean, I don't think it would be crazy for them, like, to take on a big contract.
18:33You know, Nylander or, you know, kick the tires on Austin Matthews.
18:37I don't know if you saw Breakdown Day with the Leafs yesterday,
18:39but they're kind of in shambles at this point.
18:41I think they could really swing for the fences.
18:43But the more you pay Ovi, the less dreaming you can do on, you know,
18:48who the big superstar they're bringing in here is.
18:51So what is that number?
18:54Ten is just the – Cakes today said, you know, one in ten, two in twenty.
18:58That feels like if he's going to make something similar to what he's always made in his career,
19:02which is just kind of, I would say, the common sense if there's no discount.
19:06That's the number.
19:08That does not work to me to do that and the thing I think they need to do to be
19:11cup caliber.
19:12So can you do that at seven?
19:14Feels a little rich.
19:16Would he take that?
19:17You know, if your Ovi is that disrespectful.
19:19It might be, by the way.
19:20Right.
19:20I don't know how you'd do that.
19:22Are you kidding me?
19:23After 20 years plus and me creating the Rock the Red era and giving you everything.
19:30Look around.
19:31Simba and – what's Simba's dad's name?
19:34Simba's dad's name.
19:35The Lion King.
19:36Simba's dad.
19:37Mufasa.
19:38Mufasa.
19:38Toby got it.
19:39Mufasa.
19:40Everything you see is yours, is ours, right?
19:44Everything – Ted, look.
19:46Ted, everything you see in this building I gave you.
19:49Everything the red touches.
19:50You know what I'm saying?
19:50Like – and you're going to offer me five million bucks?
19:54I'm thinking like a GM hockey guy.
19:57I don't know if that's something that the people that have the relationships that are hanging out with Ovi and
20:03his family are going to be willing to do.
20:04But I think if you're trying to win a cup next year, the hockey guy weighs the better way to
20:09do it.
20:10And I want to know what people think.
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