Ovechkin says end of Carlson era with Capitals ‘toughest day in my career’
ARLINGTON, Va. — Alex Ovechkin awakened Friday to the information that defenseman John Carlson had been traded to the Anaheim Ducks and the truth of life on the Washington Capitals with out his longtime teammate hit him like nothing beforehand throughout his 21 NHL seasons.
“It’s obviously a sad day,” Ovechkin stated. “Probably the toughest day in my career, I’m talking about personal-wise. [stinks]. “It’s sad.”
Ovechkin has seen virtually all his teammates from Washington’s 2018 Stanley Cup championship crew transfer on. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson had been the one gamers from that crew left on the Capitals aircraft that traveled to face the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET; ABC, SN1, TVAS).
And Ovechkin, the League document holder with 921 profession targets who has performed his complete NHL profession with Washington, might be the following to go.
The 40-year-old left wing is in the ultimate season of the five-year, $47.5 million contract he signed in 2021 and has but to resolve whether or not he’ll proceed enjoying in the NHL past this season. Ovechkin advised NHL.com on Feb. 19 that his determination “probably” will wait till after the season.
The late-night commerce of Carlson, one of his closest mates after 17 seasons collectively, impacts that call and its timing stays to be seen.
“I don’t know,” Ovechkin stated. “I’m still here, so we’ll see. We’ll see what’s going to happen, but, yeah, it’s a hard one.”
From the Capitals perspective, basic supervisor Chris Patrick stated buying and selling Carlson earlier than the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline on Friday didn’t change their method to Ovechkin’s future. The determination stays as much as him.
“Alex and I will just talk about what happened and he’ll be able to vent if he wants to vent,” Patrick stated. “I have no sense on what he’s feeling. The great thing about Alex is he’s pretty singularly focused on his team, on his teammates, on playing games and on trying to win, and that’s all he’s been doing.”
Still, Carlson’s departure was the most recent sign that we’re close to the end of the Ovechkin era (2005-present), which has included 16 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances, 11 division titles, and three Presidents’ Trophy wins (first in the NHL in factors throughout common season) in addition to the 2018 Stanley Cup win.
The Capitals (31-25-7) nonetheless have an opportunity to make the playoffs this season, trailing the Bruins (34-22-5) by 4 factors for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference with 19 video games remaining, together with their head-to-head assembly in Boston on Saturday and one other in Washington on March 14.
But it is clear that Washington is wanting greater than ever to the long run, and life after Ovechkin. Trading Carlson (17 seasons) after dealing Nick Dowd (eight seasons) to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, eliminated two of the 4 longest-tenured gamers on the Capitals roster, leaving Ovechkin (21 seasons) and Wilson (13 seasons).
For Carlson, a 36-year-old who can grow to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, the Capitals acquired a conditional first-round decide in the 2026 NHL Draft and a third-round decide in the 2027 NHL Draft. For Dowd, a 35-year-old who’s signed for another season, Washington acquired goalie prospect Jesper Vikmana second-round decide in the 2029 NHL Draft and a third-round decide in the 2027 NHL Draft.
“They’re great players, and they’re going to do great where they’ve gone,” Patrick stated of Carlson and Dowd. “But at the end of the day, they’re in their mid-30s and our team is starting to have some younger guys step up, and at some point, you need to pass the torch a little bit. So, this allowed us to get some good assets for some players that, realistically, in four years from now probably aren’t on our team.”
