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Grant & Danny react to Alex Ovechkin returning to the Capitals for a 22nd season. They also have the pieces to compete.
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00:00This date will go down in D.C. sports history.
00:02Alex Ovechkin announced he is coming back for a legendary 22nd NHL season.
00:09So the news is big.
00:11That's something we expected, but still, once you hear it, it is a massive deal.
00:15The first question my friend Grant Paulson had,
00:18the first question old Fannie Mouye, a.k.a. Randy Douye, had is,
00:23okay, what money, what's the cap it?
00:25And there's a lot of bells and whistles, a lot of little roads you can go down,
00:28a lot of bonus payments, and a lot of different things.
00:31This year's cap it is just over $4 million.
00:34That's what I cared about, because that says more than just how much money
00:37against the salary cap.
00:39It says kind of what I theorized, at least it does to me,
00:41me reading between the lines.
00:42It's, this is no longer the Alex Ovechkin show,
00:45starring other people setting up Ovechkin in two minutes of power play time
00:49and reverence for Ovechkin.
00:50Nothing wrong with those things, not being critical.
00:52But those days are done.
00:53This is now an Alex Tuck show.
00:57This is now a bunch of stars that we've brought in here,
00:59a bunch of 30-goal scorers time.
01:01It's a little bit less every empty net.
01:04We're trying to feed Ovechkin.
01:06Every power play is two minutes.
01:07All the ice time is featured.
01:09You're now part of the machine.
01:10You're welcome to be here.
01:12But you are no longer the guy.
01:14You are one of the guys.
01:15The hardest thing to do in sports, possibly,
01:18is to thread the needle that the Capitals are,
01:21which is properly respecting, revering one of the all-time greats,
01:26not just in your organization where he's unequivocally the ones,
01:29but all-time in your sport while also trying to win.
01:33As that player gets older and the skill set declines some,
01:37which is happening.
01:39Now, can he score goals at this point?
01:40Of course.
01:41And I would expect that he could bounce back
01:43and go out and score 35, 40 goals next season,
01:45potentially with enough opportunities.
01:47Ideally, that's not going to be the ask.
01:49That's not going to be the necessity.
01:50They won't need him to do that.
01:52Because the secondary angle here,
01:54in addition to the Ovechkin news today,
01:56is that the Capitals have had a hell of an offseason.
02:01I think you could be a national person covering the NHL ranking teams
02:05as to who's improved themselves the most,
02:07and you'd be hard-pressed not to have Washington
02:09in whatever your top tier of clubs is,
02:11your number one, number two, number three slot,
02:14somewhere in that order, throw it into a blender,
02:16I don't really care, but they have added a ton.
02:18Few teams have done as much in terms of forward depth,
02:21in terms of goal-scoring ability,
02:24to acquire Jordan Cairo in a trade,
02:26a 30-plus goal guy three of the last four years,
02:29to have gone out and gotten Alex Tuck,
02:31who we will be talking to at 3.30 today
02:33about playing with Alex Ovechkin now.
02:35Tuck is a monstrous big dude.
02:37You put him on a line with like a PLD and a Tom Wilson,
02:40that'll be one of the most physical, feared,
02:43skilled, power-forward lines in the National Hockey League.
02:46He has scored 30-plus goals three of the last four seasons.
02:51You've got Ryan Leonard coming off of a 20-goal rookie season.
02:54You've got Wilson, who's the best power forward in the sport.
02:57Alexi Protis has poured in 30 goals in a season.
02:59His little brother, Ilya,
03:01now ready to become an important center for this team.
03:03Pierre-Luc Dubois is a tremendous two-way player.
03:06Dylan Strome's going to need a bounce back.
03:07I didn't like his season.
03:08I wonder how much of that was based on playing with Ove last year,
03:12but he'll be an interesting storyline going into the year.
03:14I think the ascending talent, Justin Sordiff,
03:16it centers the real deal.
03:18They signed Boone Jenner in free agency.
03:20They actually made four big signings yesterday,
03:22but Jenner was the one legitimate forward that they added.
03:25They are absolutely loaded.
03:27The Caps are ready to whoop some butt and take some names
03:29with what they've done this offseason.
03:32Chris Patrick is going for it,
03:33and the expectations going into the season should be very, very high
03:37because they spent a lot of money,
03:39they were ultra-aggressive,
03:40and they pushed some chips in here
03:41to try to not only make the playoffs.
03:43The expectation for this coming season should be a playoff run.
03:47They should be able to, at minimum, win a playoff series,
03:49and an Eastern Conference final is very much possible
03:52with the talent that they've assembled this year,
03:54assuming Logan Thompson can play the kind of goal
03:57that he did last year and in recent seasons.
04:00But the story here is Ove coming back
04:02and trying to figure out eventually what is his role.
04:06But, Danny, we talked about it all offseason.
04:07I did not love the idea of him eating up a ton of cap space,
04:11being a $10-11 million player,
04:13being still a top-line guy who plays 120 seconds or so on the power play.
04:18And to your point, based on $4.5 million against the cap,
04:21even if he maxes out with bonuses and incentives around $9 million,
04:24it does seem like, and we talked to Spencer Carberry about this,
04:28he is on board with taking a lesser role to win hockey games,
04:32which is awesome.
04:33Yeah, so, again, there were three prongs of how this could have gone.
04:38Retirement, thank you so much.
04:40Celebrate, even though you won't be here.
04:42Maybe you'll come back a couple times.
04:43We could throw roses at your feet.
04:44Exciting.
04:45Path two was, yep, it's still the Ovechkin show,
04:49where you, you know, write your own salary down.
04:52Whatever you put on the napkin will pay you because you're Alex Ovechkin.
04:55And what you've done, the goals record, the chase, the joy,
04:58the fact that kids around here play hockey because of you,
05:00the fact that the fan base is excited and bigger, the tent's bigger because of you.
05:04Those things are undeniable.
05:05I didn't have much interest in that, to be honest with you.
05:08Because, looking at the team, as you've correctly pointed out,
05:10one playoff series win since the Stanley Cup win,
05:14and sort of limping along with a just-okay roster while he chases the goal record,
05:19it's not that much fun anymore.
05:20You either need to tear it down or build it up.
05:23And they went the latter big time.
05:25And that goes the Goldilocks route, which is what they were able to do.
05:27So, I get the sense it was more, if you'd like to come back, we'd love to have you.
05:32Here's how it has to go, and good for him for being on board with it.
05:35Because, again, we can no longer do the OV show.
05:38It's no discredit to him.
05:38It's no disrespect.
05:39The career is the career.
05:41The Hall of Fame is the Hall of Fame.
05:42He's going to go into the Pro Hockey Hall of Fame,
05:45hopefully only having worn one jersey, the Washington one.
05:47He is great.
05:48We owe him everything.
05:49It's now also enough time removed where it's,
05:52we've been kind of pussyfooting around here,
05:54sort of spinning to neutral, needs to start revving forward here.
05:58Yeah, the multitasking that needs to be done is,
06:01the second plate to spin is talking about what he's meant to this city,
06:08as far as hockey goes.
06:09Impossible to overstate that.
06:10And what he's meant to the National Hockey League is the greatest goal scorer
06:13in the league's history, right?
06:16I think both can be done simultaneously, and we will today.
06:21To your point, I don't know how we got here.
06:26If that was the Caps telling him, here's how we're going to move forward,
06:30let us know what you think.
06:32Or if it just worked out that the way he sees the world moving forward
06:36for the Capitals and the way they do is simpatico.
06:39I actually think it's probably more that one.
06:41Like, I don't think a Ted Leonsis-run organization is calling Ovi,
06:45whether it's Patrick or McClellan or Carbs or anybody else.
06:52And I don't think they're calling Ovechkin up and going,
06:54hey, man, we're signing these guys.
06:56If you want to come back, you've got to be on the third line
06:59and take $3 million.
07:00I don't think that conversation's happening.
07:01My guess is when Ovi, for multiple years now,
07:04has been kind of one foot in, one foot out,
07:06and certainly last season, when you start to think about it,
07:09I think there's a realization that you kind of know things are changing.
07:14And my assumption would be that he was very, very aware
07:20that the best-case scenario for this team involves him taking a backseat
07:25to whatever they can do from younger, possibly higher-end goal scorers.
07:32I'm not even convinced that Tuck, who's very good and can score 35, 36 goals,
07:36or Kyrou, who's very talented and will probably score 27 to 32 goals or whatever.
07:41I'm not convinced those guys are better goal scorers right now
07:43than Ovi will be this season.
07:45I think some of that has to do with usage and opportunity, and we'll see.
07:48But I just think that Ovi probably had the correct mindset in all of this,
07:52which is, I don't need to take up a ton of cap space, and I do want to win.
07:56That's something Spencer Carberry said to us on our show last week
08:00when he joined us.
08:00Above all, O wants to win.
08:04I know sometimes we lose track of that because the goals and the individual accolades,
08:08and he's 41 years old, and you're like, he genuinely wants to win.
08:13So as we improve the forward group, if now all of a sudden we've got two more 30-goal scorers,
08:23and that means O plays a minute or two minutes less than five on five,
08:27and we're a better team, he is going to raise his arm and go, yes, I love this.
08:33Welcome back, Alex Ovechkin.
08:35The Capitals right now have the best forward group in the National Hockey League.
08:39I mean, they have gotten deep, and they are better.
08:43Chris Patrick's had himself an offseason.
08:45There's always going to be questions.
08:46Like, there's no such thing as the 27 Yankees.
08:49I got my questions defensively, I suppose.
08:52They certainly added some talent yesterday, and that will help.
08:55They'll get Rasmus Sandin back eventually.
08:57Goaltending in the National Hockey League can be volatile.
09:00You don't know if year over year a guy's going to play at the exact same level.
09:04Think about Charlie Lindgren.
09:05I think Logan Thompson's a higher caliber player.
09:07But my point is, he may not be the Vesna-type goalie that he was for stretches last year.
09:12Maybe he comes back to the pack.
09:13But there's certainly a path where their defense is a tick above league average or around there,
09:19and your goaltender is good.
09:20And with this forward group, with the 12 that they put together,
09:25I don't even know how it's going to work.
09:26Like, is Anthony Bavillier getting traded for picks to open the door for one of the young guys?
09:30Is Ethan Frank just out of luck?
09:32Is Andrew Crystal completely blocked?
09:35They're clearly—this is why I keep saying they're pushing some chips in and going for it, Danny.
09:39After the last couple seasons where they were obviously leaving open the possibility for growth
09:44for your Protuses and your McMichaels and your Hendrix Lapieres,
09:47two of the guys I just named have been traded.
09:49Yeah, don't play her anymore.
09:50And there are other guys that are just like, but what about me?
09:53Where do I go?
09:54But in the meantime, you're bringing in players in their prime.
09:56The Tuck contract's a ton of money.
09:58It's going to be an awful contract in the last few years.
10:00My guess is the Caps would privately admit that.
10:03But you're worried about trying to win a cup or two in the next five years.
10:05And they got a window.
10:07So I'm so excited.
10:08I want to hear from Caps fans today.
10:10800-636-1067.
10:13We will have Tuck on the show at 3.30.
10:15Joe Beninati at 6 here on the fan.
10:17But specifically, reacting to Ovechkin coming back for year 22,
10:21what that means for your fandom and for you as a fan of this team.
10:25I mean, some of the particulars here, I feel like we've run out of things to talk about
10:29and say when it comes to his greatness.
10:31He turns 41 in September.
10:33I just want to start with that.
10:35As someone who sits here now, 37 years old, doing this radio show with you.
10:40To be 41 years old, when you get into that age range and you're like,
10:45this guy is still playing 82 games a year.
10:48In that sport.
10:48It's not like he's a knuckleballer.
10:50It's not like he's Charlie Huff or Tim Wakefield.
10:51No, he's delivering and taking hits.
10:53He's maybe the most physical guy, offensively gifted guy on the team with Tom Wilson.
10:59That's insane.
10:59Like, we could do 30 minutes just on that, right?
11:02The Stanley Cup in 18, that flag will fly forever.
11:05Conn Smythe winner, that postseason run is the guy that got him there.
11:09I would say Kuznetsov maybe was their best player, but Ovi was right there.
11:13He ranks all-time in the NHL, first in goals, power play goals, game-winning goals,
11:17overtime goals, road goals, game-opening goals, game-tying goals,
11:22go-ahead goals, empty-net goals, second-and-even strength goals,
11:26and multi-goal games.
11:28He's the Capitals franchise leader in games played, goals, points, playoff games,
11:32playoff goals, playoff points, 50 other categories.
11:36Only player in league history, Danny, to win a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe,
11:39a Cauldre, an Art Ross, a Hart, a Ted Lindsey, a Maurice Rocket-Richard.
11:43He won nine of those, which means he led the NHL in goals.
11:47Nineteen individual awards somewhere in his house.
11:49I don't know where he keeps them.
11:50Seriously, how many rooms?
11:51Nineteen pieces of hardware.
11:53And here's the best stat.
11:55I think this is the one.
11:56This is the last one I'll give you.
11:57But this is the one that means the most, I think, to Caps fans
11:59and came up over and over again when we talked about his future.
12:03He will join Sidney Crosby this year in their 22nd season in the league.
12:06Because remember, they both went one.
12:08They went a year after each other.
12:10But because of a work stoppage, they actually were rookies debuting in the same season.
12:14Remember?
12:14That's right.
12:15So they both played the same number.
12:16This is year 22 for both of them.
12:19They joined Gordie Howe, Stan Mikita, Stevie Iserman, and one other player.
12:27So there's going to be six after this year.
12:29There's currently four ever to have played 22 seasons with one team in the NHL.
12:35He surpasses Walter Johnson, 21 years with the Senators.
12:39Most years ever played in professional D.C. sports among the big four.
12:43That's what we're talking about here.
12:45Alex Ovechkin's coming back.
12:46So take your fan hat off for a second.
12:49I know it's hard, but take your fan hat off for a second.
12:52Do you think he's a Hall of Famer, Ovechkin?
12:55That's a bit.
12:57Couldn't be more important.
12:58I mean, what's so fun is that Pittsburgh had their version, their arrivals.
13:03It almost worked out perfectly in that way, to be honest with you, where there was always a foil, each
13:07one in each city.
13:08White, where Crosby had a different game, and of course his involves whining and being endlessly praised for exhaling and
13:14blinking and whatever else, because the league decided he was the darling.
13:17But we had our rogue guy, our outsider that you couldn't ignore, and he kept knocking down all these records.
13:22He was so amazing and so sensational, and it crossed over.
13:28It's like that kitchen table thing they always talk about with politics, where it's like, these are kitchen table issues.
13:32That's what it became for hockey, where I was there in Landover, Maryland, with tens of you.
13:38I did it.
13:38I went and watched the Capitals a million times over, whatever the thing was called.
13:43Everything from USA Arena to the Capitals Center to everything in between.
13:47Watching pretty good teams honestly go about it, and the fan base was the fan base.
13:51This became that crossover event.
13:53It became that fun thing to do, and it was because of him.
13:56Yeah, it was great marketing and great taking advantage of it, and the team was fortuitous that it was the
14:011-1 year.
14:01It wasn't a Kwame Round type year.
14:03It was an Ovechkin type year when you got that first pick.
14:05But my God, was he so much fun.
14:08And that's really the part that I'll take with me and remember, and I'm glad I get one more year
14:13of it,
14:14in some capacity, is the joy that he plays with.
14:18Flashing that crooked smile, yelling with his teammates, making that play,
14:22and the jubilant, immediate post-goal reaction is the thing that will be indelible to me and so many Caps
14:29fans forever.
14:30And it's cool that it's again.
14:31And it's on, to me, the right terms here, where everybody understands where we are.
14:35There's no, hopefully, damaged feelings from it.
14:38Everybody kind of gets it.
14:39It's no insult.
14:41Max Scherzer 2016, different than Max Scherzer 2026.
14:44Time.
14:45It is undefeated.
14:46It is not an insult to say that Ove's not the same player he was before.
14:49He can't do the same things he did before.
14:51So let's not put him in that role where that's expected.
14:54It looks like that's going to be the case this year.
14:56First sportsbook I'm looking at here has the Carolina Hurricanes, still heavy favorites in the Metro, understandably.
15:03Has the Capitals fourth in the East behind the Panthers, the Hurricanes, and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
15:10And it's fairly close between Washington and Tampa Bay.
15:12But on paper, you're talking about a fringe top three team in the East and a team that should squarely
15:20be in the middle of the playoff picture.
15:22You replay last year.
15:23I think most people feel like they would have made the playoffs.
15:26They had the PLD injury and some other things that got sideways.
15:28But that was, by way of a lot of the metrics and the analytics, when you look at expected goals
15:33and wins and all those things, that was a playoff type team.
15:37They had more wins in the regular year than a team that played in the Stanley Cup, just as an
15:41example.
15:42What in their year didn't work out, that's fine.
15:44They have missed the playoffs a couple of times in the Rock the Red Ovechkin era, where the postseason is
15:49just this spring rite of passage.
15:51But the big man is back.
15:52Alex Ovechkin's coming back.
15:54I made no bones about being very, very candid, and we had, I think, some very honest conversations that you
16:02guys deserved as D.C. sports fans.
16:05We were willing to say the quiet parts out loud on this show, and I'm prideful in that, that I
16:10thought it was important to not make next year about Ovee again and to not spend all of the money
16:17and basically build this thing in his image so he goes out and scores another 45 goals or whatever.
16:24They didn't.
16:25And they threaded the needle, and it has worked.
16:28They have had the big offseason.
16:29They are not paying him a lot of money.
16:31He is taking less cash than was projected by most of the experts.
16:36And part of that is that maybe the role is smaller.
16:40But we want to get your reactions next at 800-636-1067.
16:44How about the Capitals?
16:45Maybe the deepest forward group in all the NHL after the last 10 or so days.
16:50They've added a lot of firepower, and today Alex Ovechkin announced that he is coming back.
16:56By the way, he did it with three words.
16:57He put out his own video signing the contract at what looks like some kind of hotel, resort, wherever he's
17:03vacationing.
17:04This is what Ovee said.
17:05I'm back, babes.
17:10That was it?
17:11That's it.
17:12I'm back, babes.
17:12And then he signed the contract, which was hilarious.
17:14The actual news broke via the Caps initially putting out this video that was kind of cool.
17:20It was like a little teaser, if you will.
17:22But it was just, real ones knew.
17:25The Caps fans knew.
17:26Everyone else was like, what on earth is this?
17:28But it was just zoomed in on ice skates that were being laced.
17:33But the laces were yellow.
17:36They were gold.
17:37He wears yellow laces.
17:38Have you ever noticed that?
17:39Ovee was tying up the laces on the skates.
17:42And you knew, big man's coming back.
17:45And the celebration was on.
17:46800-636-1067.
17:48G&D on the...
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