Capitals’ Ovechkin Has No Interest In a Rebuild

As Alexander Ovechkin continues to inch closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all time goal record, his Washington Capitals team seems to drift further from a playoff spot.

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Both Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson have yet to play this season, while players like T.J. Oshie, Dmitri Orlov and Connor Brown are either out of the lineup currently or have already missed significant time. With all those injuries, it may have been obvious prior to the 2022-23 season that they may struggle, though few mentioned it. Instead, it seems most were focused on one thing when it came to this Caps team, and that was Ovechkin’s race to surpass Gretzky as the NHL’s all time goal scorer.

Ovechkin, who has 17 goals on the year, sits 97 shy of the great one for the record. He certainly won’t get there this season, but it does truly feel like a matter of when at this point, rather than if. That record is an extremely admirable one. In fact, it is a record that many thought would never be broken. Unfortunately if you’re a Caps fan, however, it may be delaying an inevitable rebuild for a team that appears to be on the decline. That said, according to owner Ted Leonsis, the team has no current plan for a rebuild, as Ovechkin has made it clear he doesn’t want one.

“He’s very cognizant of doing this the right way,” Leonsis said. “Alex said, ‘I’m not gonna be a third-line guy playing 8-10 minutes a game [where you] trot me out on the power play and let me score my goals. That’s not what I want to do. Promise me you’ll keep the team competitive [and] a playoff team.’ And he promised me to come in shape all the time and not be fixated on the record but be fixated on winning another Stanley Cup.”

From Leonsis perspective, you can understand why he would want to accommodate Ovechkin’s request. After all, this is a player who won the organization a Stanley Cup, and is undeniably their best player of all time. If he asks for the team to remain competitive moving forward, most would agree they should follow through, which appears to be the case here.

While it may prove to be the wrong decision years down the road, there is some optimism as to why this Capitals team can still be a playoff team this season. As mentioned, they have been extremely injured to start the year, though that is slowly starting to change. Wilson, who has yet to play this season, is travelling with the team on its upcoming road trip, suggesting a return is near. Having him back could be enough to put them right back in the mix, as they are currently just two points shy of the final wild card position in the Eastern Conference. The issue is that there are several teams in a similar position as them right now, meaning they will need to begin stringing several wins together in the near future.

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