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ARLINGTON, Va. — In the midst of overhauling the Washington Capitals this offseason, Brian MacLellan received Alex Ovechkin’s seal of approval.
Ovechkin texted his general manager a thumbs up emoji for acquiring new first-line center Pierre-Luc Dubois. MacLellan was not done, getting a new goaltender in Logan Thompson and a new defenseman in Jakob Chychrun via two more trades. He also signed big blue liner Matt Roy and forwards Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh in free agency to turn over roughly a quarter of the roster.
So much for just trying to help Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record. Six years since winning the Stanley Cup for the first and only time in franchise history, the Capitals went all in to keep their playoff-contending window open for next season and beyond.
“They’ve done a great job kind of retooling, guess you could say, on the fly,” said Chychrun, who arrived from Ottawa. “They’ve been very aggressive, and it’s great to see.”
There’s reason for that.
Washington squeaked into the postseason as the second and final East wild card last season after Ovechkin, who scored eight goals in his first 43 games, went on a tear with 23 goals in 36 games as goalie Charlie Lindgren carried the team many nights. With basically all their energy expended just to get in on a tiebreaker, the Capitals were swept in the first round by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers.
“We realized where we were at last year,” MacLellan said Wednesday. “We knew we had to get better. We had to add. For Ovi, too. I mean, there’s a lot of pressure on Ovi to produce last year because we lacked the depth in that area, so hopefully he’s supported here more with a better overall team this year.”
Alex Ovechkin signed a five-year, $47.5 million deal to stay with the Washington Capitals in 2021. He made his 15th playoff appearance last season. AP Photo/Tom Brenner
Ovechkin is 42 goals from passing Gretzky with two years left on his contract. He turns 39 in…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40490363/washington-capitals-retool-keep-their-playoff-contending-window-open-ovechkin-era
Author : Associated Press
Publish date : 2024-07-03 21:42:00
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