OPINION:
The Pittsburgh Penguins stood on the ice after Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals handed them a 3-0 beating Sunday at Capital One Arena, waiting to shake his hand and say goodbye to the Great 8.
Ovechkin waved them off like Nikolai Volkoff refusing a tag in the ring.
If Ovechkin knows his hockey future, he is pulling off one of the all-time kayfabes — the term for a professional wrestler playing a character — in a script where he strings along his team, the owner, their fans and the entire National Hockey League with this tale of uncertainty.
In various interviews, including his postgame appearance on his boss’s sports network, he has maintained his story of indecision about his future. The sold-out crowd for what could have been his last home game stood, chanted “Ovi” and “one more year,” and hung on every word.
“Thank you very much guys,” Ovechkin said. “I love you very much. It’s been tremendous all year. We’ll see what’s going to happen.”
I believe him. It’s been the same message he delivered through the final regular season games, with questions about his future looming over not just the Capitals, but the industry. I don’t think he has made a decision yet. I don’t think this kind of deception is in him.
Ovechkin has been a transformational figure on the ice since his debut in 2005, following the season-long NHL lockout, the greatest goal scorer the game has ever seen, cementing that legacy when he broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894 last season. Ovechkin now stands at 929 and sets a new record every time he scores.
At the age of 40, appearing in 81 games, Ovechkin is, as he typically has been, the team’s leading goal scorer, with 32. Only two other skaters over 40 in the history of the league scored more in a season.
Ovechkin may not be the dynamo he once was, but he remains a valuable asset — on the ice, in the locker room and in the Washington Capitals business offices — so much so that it is hard to think about life after Ovechkin.
But the front office has been making plans for that life.
They have put together a core group of young players — Ryan Leonard, Cole Hutson’s Ilya Protas among others. They said goodbye to fan favorite and longtime Ovechkin teammate John Carlson, who was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in March.
Ovechkin’s contract is up this year, so his return would require a negotiation — and not chump change. He has been making an average of $9.5 million a year, the highest salary on the payroll.
“I look at the offseason as a choose-your-own-adventure book,” general manager Chris Patrick told The Athletic. “A scenario will come up in May, and then you’re going to have to make your decisions based on that. And then another scenario comes up in June. So we’ll just look at it that way. If he says to us, ’I’m going to retire,’ then we’ll start making decisions based on that decision. And if he says he wants to come back, we’ll make moves based on that. We’ll take the path that presents itself to us.”
If Ovechkin returns for what would likely be a goodbye season with the celebrations that come with that — and the revenue for the Capitals — you can’t shortchange him. Any new contract is going to cost the team once more.
He will likely be worth the money. His presence among the young players has value, and even though Ovechkin has seen his old teammates leave, he still seems energized.
Being surrounded by teammates in the locker room — that is likely what Ovechkin would miss the most and it is probably contributing to his indecision.
It’s what most athletes speak of missing when their careers are over. There is nothing that replicates that in life away from the competition.
There’s nothing else left to bring him back. He broke Gretzky’s record. He has his Stanley Cup, and it’s not like these Capitals are close to competing for another one.
After compiling the best record in the Eastern Conference and reaching the second round of the playoffs last season, they took a step back this year and are grasping slim hopes to return in the final days of the season. Maybe money will be a factor — everyone can use another $10 million — but Ovechkin has made $170 million over his 21 seasons, the highest earner in NHL history.
Perhaps it will just be easier this summer, with a belly full of barbecue and beer, to say goodbye.
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