Alex Ovechkin (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Alex Ovechkin texted the Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan a thumbs-up emoji for acquiring forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. In July, Dubois was traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. But this was not the end for MacLellan. He also got a goaltender, Logan Thompson, and a defenseman, Jakob Chychrun. He also signed blueliner Matt Roy and forwards Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh in free agency.
"Compared to the last season, we have significantly strengthened the roster," Ovechkin said exclusively to RG on August 10th. "More experienced players have joined us. Again, this is business. It was very difficult when Washington traded Orlov [defenseman Dmitry Orlov went to Boston and then moved to Carolina]. Then they traded Kuzy, who moved to the Hurricanes. We lived close to each other [in Washington', our families were friends, and we always stuck together."
"But I repeat, this is big business, and you can do nothing about it. Well, what could I do here? I liked these trades. Skilled guys joined us. That's why I sent a thumbs-up [to MacLellan]."
Washington made the playoffs last season but lost to the New York Rangers in the first round in four games. Since 2018, when the Capitals won their first Stanley Cup, they have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
"By the end of the season, everyone saw that we had a good, hard-working team," Ovechkin said. "We made the playoffs, although no one believed it. And there, we lacked depth. In the series with the New York Rangers, we played in two lines, you might say. Injuries started to happen again, and achieving something was very difficult."
Ovechkin is 42 goals from passing Wayne Gretzky with two years left on his contract. He had eight goals in his first 43 games of the last season but then scored 23 goals in 36 games.
"I didn't have any panic," Ovechkin noted. "We had a new coach, and we had many injured players before the start of the season. We lost Becky [Niklas Backstrom)], Kuzy [Evgeny Kuznetsov] was injured. It is clear that we needed to find some chemistry and build mutual understanding. I hope the next season will be more successful".
Sergey has been in sports journalism since 2007 as a reporter, editor, and manager. He has covered the Olympic Games, soccer World Cups, the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, the European championships, the Stanley Cup Finals, IOC events, and many others. Sergey interviewed the sport's greatest athletes, coaches, and executives. Since 2016, he has been an Independent Senior Editor of NHL.com/ru.
